General/Miscellany

August 2016 recap

2016/08/27 — Leave a comment

I had expected to be out and about tonight—a rare occurrence, to be sure, but not completely out of the question—but a late bedtime last night turned into not enough sleep (aided by my trusty alarm cats), so I am at home instead, watching Young Frankenstein.

August turned out to be quite a month. Though I cannot say that I am ‘I have to check my calendar’ busy by any stretch of the imagination, a lot happened this month: Continue reading

ART 53, day 52

2016/08/16 — Leave a comment

This Is Fifty-three, day 52

After a delay while CreateSpace technical support reviewed my file for the color version of This Is Fifty-three, I have finally been able to order a printed proof of the book. The anticipated delivery date is Wednesday of next week.

(16 August 2016)

Poetry Marathon 2016: My recap

2016/08/14 — Leave a comment

Yesterday, I participated in my first poetry marathon. Well, technically the half marathon. Twelve new poems in twelve hours. This morning, I’m very tired.

The whole exercise was deceptively difficult—not that I thought it would be so easy, but when I sit down with my big sketchbook to write, I often will write three or four poems at a time, taking maybe twenty minutes or so. That’s what I was thinking would happen when I signed up. Continue reading

ART 53, day 5x

2016/08/12 — Leave a comment

This Is Fifty-Three, day 5x

Yesterday, I had to change a URL that unexpectedly changed. Until I can order printed proofs (still waiting on some $), that is about the extent of any adjustments I will be making at this point. So, technically, yesterday was day 50, and today (once the revised digital proofs are ready) will be 51—but I am just going to call it day 5x for now; when I order the printed proofs, or if I get the sudden, malicious urge to make some dramatic change, I will post an update with a real number. Until then, assume no significant developments.

(12 August 2016)

UPDATE: Oh, CreateSpace! You do amuse me so…

Following the latest review, CreateSpace notified me that three pages of my book have ‘illegible text’. Here are screenshots of the pages in question:

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 18.53.21

Page 103. I can only assume they were looking at the background image, which was made in part from text (I think it was either code, or an image file read with a text editor) as part of my 365 project about six years ago. As you can see, the text of the poem does not overlap any of the denser parts of the image, so it is actually very legible.

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 18.53.42

Page 106. I can make out the text. It’s pretty large for type (except for that one line, which is more the typical size for body text), so I am not sure how this is a problem.

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 18.54.22

Page 161. Okay, here they almost have a point. I say ‘almost’ because the text on page 161 (to the right) is treated as a graphic, not as type. The type that appears in the upper half of the page is partly legible; in the lower half of the page, it is an overlapping mess o’ type. However, the actual text, the poem that people are supposed to read, is on page 160.

And none of these came up as problems during previous reviews. So relax, dear CreateSpace. Sometimes you have to let art just…flow…over you… (Gratuitous Big Chill reference for the win!)

 

(12 August 2016)

UPDATE UPDATE: Oh! And they just notified me that the other edition has passed review and is ready for ordering proofs. The poem on page 106 (the middle screenshot shown above) is rendered EXACTLY the same, only without the background photo…

 

(12 August 2016)