xkcd <3

This web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language is extremely lovable. Even though I'm one of the detested liberal arts majors mentioned in the website disclaimer below, I get a lot of pleasure out of these comics. Potential future mathlete?

Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).

human typography.

I'd take this over Comic Sans any day.

being an advertising nerd: take 789

I've been on the website, www.brandtags.net for more time than I would care to admit today. The 5 huge papers I have due in the next two weeks for my online "Gender and Global Politics" class have been pushed aside in the name of browsing what one word people associate with some of the brands they interact with everyday.

According to the website, the basic idea of Brand Tags is that a brand exists entirely in people's heads. Therefore, a brand is whatever they say it is. There's a large database of popular brand names, and in order to see the results of Apple, for example, you have to tag 5 other brands with your one word opinion of them. Genius, as this ensures that the results will keep becoming more and more comprehensive. The overall results for a brand are displayed in a tag cloud with bigger and bolder font, the more popular the answer is.

This is such a simple idea, but I think it's wonderful. A company can spend all the money in the world trying to brand itself, but in the end, a brand is what the consumers think it is. Having to sum up a company or brand in one word gets to the root of consumer thought and there is so, so much interesting insight in the results.

Examples:
American Apparel: boring. cheap. hipster. nothing. porn.

Apple (the darling of the brand world): awesome. creative. cool. expensive. innovative. love.

Barbie: blonde. girl. ken. pink. plastic. slut. stupid. vishnia. whore.

Burger King: cheap. crap. disgusting. fast. greasy. gross. have it your way. (on the bright side, at least their slogan is sticking in people's heads?)

HBO: SEX AND THE CITY. (haha)

Hummer: asshole. blowjob. gas guzzler. stupid. waste.

Starbucks: burnt. corporate. everywhere. mermaid (??). seattle. ubiquitous.

Target (the only company that could maybe give Apple a run for its 'brand darling' title): affordable. awesome. better than walmart. bullseye. cheap. design. everything. fun. hip. love. value.

Wal-Mart: america. big. cheap. china. crap. evil. huge. low prices. redneck. white trash.

quelqu'un m'a dit

I'm easing back into blogging by posting random links. (No, this is really not any different than what I've always done. I am aware of this.)

I was in a small shop in Argentina about a month ago and really liked the song that was playing, even though I had no idea what language it was in. I asked the clerk who the artist was, and he replied "Carla Bruni." For some reason, I didn't process that she's the current First Lady of France without hearing the last name Sarkozy added on. Anyway, long story short, after some research I'm pretty intrigued by this woman and a big fan of her music.

reabolish slavery.

This commercial for the Not For Sale campaign is absolutely beautiful.

summer in the city.

After some Franzia last summer, Sara, Claire and I decided it would be a fantastic idea to make a list of our goals for the summer. Some were brilliant, some were ridiculous, some were unrealistic (such as 'learning Meg and Sara the domestic nonsense') and all made me extremely happy when I randomly discovered this list on my computer today. My favorites are in bold. The list is as follows:
(I would like to give our scribe, Sara, a shout out for her use of such colorful language.)

Bobby – the movie
Adventure Nature Hikes
Call Sara’s mom to find out cool Minneapolis places to go. Like lakes and shit
Picnics outside
Michael’s house (slash Loring Park and free concerts)
Pewaukee for Linda Steve drama
Lake of the Isles
Aunt Mary wants to show us around
Wayzata
St. Paul downtown = real cool man
Minneapolis Public Library = free music
Farmer’s Market at Guthrie
Giant Cherry In A Spoon
Summit Ave
St. Paul in general
White Bear Lake
Dude, Canada
Lake Minnetonka. Network = get onz boat!!!!!!
Gay 90’s
Michael’s boat in redwing
Michael networks with rich friends
Make megan friends.
MIA!
Say “all up onzies”
Dresses allllllllways.
Fresh flowers yo
Good food
Wine nights
Hot TUBBBBBBB
Biking!!!!
Downtown bike riding. Please learn
Bike riding during sunrise
Sunday morning brunch
Teach Meg and Sara how to cook. Please learn us the domestic nonsense.
Walker Art Museum!!!!
Science Museum yo
Barnes and Noble by IDS
Music festivals
State FAIR
Lollapolooza
Camping Trip
Camp on a beach
Camping in Boundary Waters
Nature Hikes to prepare for Boundary Waters
Emo dress up day
Indie concertzzz
Rilo Kiley May 22
Kate Nash May 5
Steve-Linda-Betz visits MPLS!
Ok, but Chicago
Hot Library make out. Pushed up against the book shelf wall. Hottay

Some were accomplished, some were not, and some had no chance from the very beginning.

Methinks the list needs to be expanded for this summer. Suggestions?

there's a storm gathering.

"The clouds are dark, and the winds are strong, and I am afraid. Some who advocate for same-sex marriage have taken the issue far beyond same-sex couples. They want to bring the issue into my life. My freedom will be taken away."

Advertising fail by the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.

Not only did the organization succeed at making itself look ridiculous, this ad inspired a whole slew of parodies on YouTube and received media coverage galore, none of it positive.

I prefer Mr. Colbert's version:
(Pretend that response is spelled correctly in the title)



There are approximately 30 lines I could quote here. Just watch it.