I’m heading home for the weekend since it’s the time of year when it gets real pretty where I’m from. It’s been a long time since I was home last and it’ll be nice to see everyone. Especially my bro Tom who is 12 today. Happy Birthday!

I’ve got my camera so pictures from my planned hike through the woods with my dog are forthcoming.

Why the bear? Because it’s awesome!

AllMyLiesAreWishes is the Deathstar of web sites—it’s still under construction. Slowly but surely I’m implementing my original design ideas as well as the occasional new change that strikes me in the middle of the night. In case you haven’t noticed there have been three typographic changes within the past few days.

Bigger

The “Recommended Reading” section at the bottom of every post was looking a little weak. the links weren’t jumping out at you like I thought they should. I switched over to gorgeous Georgia and big-uped the size. I think they’re much more eye catching and effective now. Don’t you just want to click on them?

Tighter

I tightened up the kerning on all the headlines to -1 which makes them “tight but not touching” which, in turn, makes my pants a little tighter. That was crass, I’m sorry.

Wider

I had already darkened the type for the main body copy a few weeks ago but I still felt like readability could be improved. I bumped the font size up one point (now at 13px) and increased the leading to give the content room to breath. Longer winded posts (like I write any other kind) shouldn’t look as daunting anymore.

Expect more of these edits as time goes on. Once I’m finally happy with the site it’ll probably be May and I’ll be designing it all over again since I promised myself I’d participate in the festivities this year. I’ve already got ideas…

Links to screenshots for posterity. When this post is old and people are reading it many styles from now it won’t make sense unless there’s captures of what I was talking about.

I just watched the Journeyman pilot last night. I’m usually skeptical about shows dealing with time travel as they tend to be irresponsible with their rules and mythology and fall into the traps of paradox. This show, however, was a pleasant surprise.

I’m not going to summarize the plot, that’s been done elsewhere. I will say that the show did some interesting things with the subject matter. Here we have a story that asks what it would actually be like if a man suddenly started jumping back in time and was missing from his present life, often for days. A lot of doubt and suspicion of the protagonist Dan’s mental health state is the answer. Can he convince his wife that he isn’t cheating/gambling/sleeping around/using drugs?

The other thing I found interesting was the character of Livia. Besides being played by an actor with an utterly ridiculous name (it has six ‘O’s, come on), she was the most intriguing part of the show to me. For those who didn’t watch, here’s the idea: Dan and Livia used to be engaged. Livia died in a plane crash. Dan ends up married to a woman who, at the time Livia was alive, was dating Dan’s brother. Now as Dan goes back in time, he sees Livia before they met, while they were together, he even sees Past Dan with her and his brother and future wife. This sets up some really great dramatic tension. I have two examples.

The first came when Future Dan needs some information from Past Livia. He waits for Past Dan to leave the room then enters. The fact that he’s ten years older isn’t noticed, nor is the coincidence that he happens to be wearing the same clothes mentioned. He has just listened to his brother’s girlfriend, who he knows he marries in the future, give a toast to his own engagement to Livia. After getting the info he needs, he gets up to leave and Livia kisses him goodbye and says “I love you.” He begrudgingly returns the kiss and sentiment all the while guiltily looking over at his future wife who, since this is the past, has no mutual feelings of infidelity. That’s quality drama.

The second comes when Future Dan is visiting his old apartment that he shared with Livia. She comes home and finds him, again not noticing that he’s ten years older. She is pleased at this happenstance and decides a nooner is in order. Future Dan, who still has feelings for Livia, is at first agreeable to the idea, but a stroke of guilt (or maybe just the heeby-jeebies) makes him take a sudden exit. He better cut that shit out or Past Livia might get pissed at Past Dan and Future Dan would suddenly have memories of her leaving him, not her dying in a plane crash.

The other thing about the show that I noticed was the prominent inclusion of the iPhone that Dan carries. Kudos to the producers for getting this into a series so quickly and also for not featuring it so much it feels like an ad. I realized, as Dan frantically Googled a name while running through an office building, that the iPhone is the best thing to happen to the thriller genre since the laptop. It’s a portable device that has a large, high resolution screen that allows characters to make and receive calls, access the full Internet replete with graphics, watch videos, and send email. And it’s all real so there’s no “buy-in” for the viewer to believe in or doubt the tool. The screen is perfect for over-the-shoulder shots of a character frantically looking for something or trying to find an answer before it’s too late. It also serves as a plot device since any exposition can be written off with a quick YouTube video, as it was last night. Mark my words, we’re going to see much more of this.

PS. I knew that Dan (Kevin McKidd) looked familiar. No it’s not Rome. It’s #22 on his list that I recognize him from.

Black people, They’re Just Us!

I’m having a moment. The kind of moment that’s highlighted by a clarity so crystal clear it’s enough for one to believe that the rest of his or her life is visible on the horizon. The kind of clarity that only a half bottle of good Spanish red wine can bring.

I’m sure most people never knew I have a food blog. Sacre Bleu! allowed me to chronicle my food adventures and drop knowledge of a culinary sort. I put it on hiatus a few weeks ago to focus on work, more work, another blog (which I’ll announce here eventually), and my social life. Tonight, while reading some of the really awesome food blogs and following the amazing world that is the restaurant scene in NYC, I had a realization. I’m not a food blogger.

For the uninitiated, let me elaborate. Food blogs come in a few varieties. Some are written by people who cook a lot and share their experiences with their readers. I just don’t  have the time to do this regularly. Then there are the blogs like Deglazed which follow a man’s journey in a professional kitchen. Things are finally lining up for me in the Interactive world so that’d be a stupid move. That leaves the mean, judgmental blogs—and I just don’t have the snark to keep that up full time.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love food. I’ll still go on and on about how every meal from every culture is essentially the same. I’ll still force my co-workers to try my successful (and failed) experiments. I’ll still (poorly) photograph my progress. I’ll still throw dinner parties (look at the pretty ladies!). I just won’t blog about it. That’s a lie. I’ll blog about it here, I just won’t run a separate blog dedicated to food.

Eventually, when the other initials in J-A-K and I open our restaurant, maybe I’ll take all my food posts and repurpose them to help promote the place but until then I’m a proud cook, and a prouder non-food blogger.

PS. I’ll be blogging about my first truly original recipe sometime this week. It’s called “Deconstructed Chicken Soup” and it’s going to be legendary.

PPS. I write alarmingly better after a bottle of wine. Hmm… If Langston Hughes was blazed when he told stories, maybe I should be wine-tipsy when I write my blogs. Too egotistic a comparison?

PPPS. Check out the rest of the Justin Bakes Biscuits on a Sunday photo essay.