Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
1. This was a fascinating read about the history of women brewers (and how that history got erased, of course): Women used to dominate the beer industry – until the witch accusations started pouring in
2. Love to learn about etymology:
3. This is your reminder to channel that Peggy Olson energy today (and every day):
I realize I only post about Instagram things any more, but this is extremely good: Mad Men But Everyone Is Nice, aka re-captioned scenes from the show.
I would watch the hell out of this show about awesome friends and good buddies in advertising.
Guys, I have some news I haven’t told you: This is my last day on the job as an “in house” copywriter for the craft company. Starting Tuesday, I’m headed back downtown and back to writing at an ad agency.
I hinted at it in January, but it’d been more difficult than I thought it would be to adjust to only writing for one “client” all the time. I also missed the city I’d worked in for nearly a decade–Salt Lake isn’t a major urban center, but it’s as urban as Utah gets and has some really wonderful alleys and restaurants and poems in public parks. Not being in it every day was hard for me.
The last 19 months in house taught me a lot–I did more consumer-facing stuff and I got to experience a retail product launch–but I think my heart is with the agency world. If only because then I can call Peggy Olson my spirit animal:
1:24 and 1:53 FOR THE WIN, Peggy.
1. The Smithsonian is bringing in an exhibit entitled “Yoga: The Art of Transformation.” They’re calling it “the world’s first yogic art exhibition” and there will be never-before-exhibited works of Indian art. The exhibit preview online is fascinating, not just for the Indian art but for the snippets of history with it:
“Ascetics often acted as spies”
“From the 16th to the 19th centuries, bands of armed yogis often battled over bathing rights at sacred rivers.”
Fascinating. I hope the exhibit travels.
2. Have you seen Mad Men Screenshots with Things Drawn on Them yet? It’s exactly what it says and I think it’s hilarious:
It’s been a tricky week, as I’m sure you’ve been able to tell from the shortness of the posts, but here are some things that made me happy online:
1. GRUMPY CAT. Guys, I’m losing my edge–I didn’t even know this was a meme!
2. An elephant helping a man play some ragtime on the piano:
3. And this gif from the last season of Mad Men. Someday I will re-create it.
1. Have you seen Animals Talking in All Caps yet? ALL CAPS MAKES THINGS FUNNY! (OK, no always, but this one makes me laugh so much. It’s how I feel about IKEA, too.)
2. Recently, I noticed that Jack Daniels had changed its bottle shape and label a little. (Hey, I buy whiskey pretty frequently.) Here’s a case study of the brand refresh by the agency that did it. Nice work–I especially love the new copy bits on the side panel (under “A Refined Identity).
3. And speaking of advertising, how about some Don Draper nihilism to kick off the weekend? You’ll have to click through and wait through an ad (how meta!) but it’s worth it to hear him say, “What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons.”
1. Mark your calendars and set your alarm clocks, because the metro area Target is opening on Sunday! I have been combining suburban Target trips with visits to my parents for the last SEVEN YEARS, so I will be there on 10/10/10 with bells on.
2. Happy birthday to Frank Herbert, writer of Dune, enabler of geekiness.
3. This week at work I got a chance to use the Don Draper quote to the beatnik in Season 1 of Mad Men:
Beatnik: You’re in advertising? How do you sleep at night?
Don Draper: On a mattress made of money.
How great was the first episode of Mad Men season 4 last night? I loved seeing Peggy like that and the ending was fantastic, with Don and his whiskey and this song:
Here’s that button-back top pattern from last month again. I tweaked the fit a little (lower neckline, longer sleeves, more room all over) and made it in a good cotton, and indeed I like it a lot more now.
I was going to add a collar, too, but I decided the print was enough. I also like how the plain neck makes it look like vacation wear from 1963:
Now I just need a vacation…
(Screenshot from Mad Men taken from the fabulous Tom and Lorenzo blog. If you’re not reading their posts on “Mad Style,” you should be.)