font conference

ok, ok, yea.  you have to be a type-nerd to understand this!  its great!

you’re insane!  nobody uses microsoft works!

Closed Zone

small steps to losing weight

i found an interesting article on CNN here that talked about small steps that can help you lose a lot of weight.

i read somewhere, i can’t remember, “if you have no time for exercise when you are young, then make sure you have time for sickness when you are older.”

1. Old: whole milk

New: 1 percent milk

Let’s say you have milk with your cereal and then a glass of milk some other time during the day. Drinking 1 percent milk instead of whole milk saves you 100 calories.

2. Old: whole bagel

New: half a bagel

Give the other half of your bagel to a friend, and you’ll save 100 calories. Depending on the size of the bagel, you could save even more.

3. Old: chocolate ice cream

New: chocolate yogurt or a Popsicle

Swap out the ice cream for the yogurt, and you’re consuming 100 fewer calories. You’ll save nearly that much if you have a Popsicle instead of the ice cream.

4. Old: latte made with whole milk

New: latte made with skim milk

Order a nonfat latte instead of a regular latte, and you’ll save 90 calories.

5. Old: be a couch potato

New: take a 20-minute walk

forced to eat garbage.

this: i make so much dua for the muslims.

and for myself: ثم لتسئلن يومئذ عن النعيم

inspirational history of my craft

check this out.

not everyone can be a designer

the first thing my graphic design 1 professor told us was:

you may think that the devil is in the details, but in fact it is design that is in the details.  the amount of attention you give to the details of your design defines your work.

i always remember that when i am moving an image back and forth a difference of 1/12th of an inch in my work.

find out more here.

5 dangerous things for kids

ever wanted to do something “dangerous” as a kid, but your parents stopped you?

Gever Tulley says that no matter what you do, kids will look for dangerous experiences, so why not expose them to danger that is under your control?

i don’t know how far the argument can be taken in either direction.  what do you think?

Find out more here.

condemning terrorism

i join my fellow muslims on the blogosphere who condemn the terrorist attacks that took place in Mumbai, India last week.

i am not accusing muslims of doing this, nor do i feel that muslims in america should rush to “apologize” for an act they did not take part in.

my condemnation stems from the islamic belief that all life is sacred, and i join the international community, muslim and non-muslim, in doing so.

MuslimMatters.org

Mujahideen Ryder

if you are a blogger who also condemns these attacks please place a link to your post in the comments.

4 ways we’re ruining our children

a very interesting article i found here

many times we blame our parents for how we “turned out.” but do we really think about how we are going to raise our own kids? a lot of youth at the local masjid claim that their parents don’t spoil them enough, and that they will spoil the mess out of their own kids….but is that really a good thing?

something to think about.

Maus

had to read this comic book for class.

basically the author, Art Spiegelman, chronicles his father’s experiences during holocaust via illustration; a comic-novel.  he goes back and forth between the past (his father’s experiences) and the present (his father telling him the story). both stories are equally important in understanding the devastating effects of the holocaust on this family.

the book is very moving, and the imagery had me wiping my eyes quite a few times.  here is an excerpt from the paper i had to write about it.  “McCloud” refers to Scott McCloud and his work “Understanding Comics.”

Throughout the work, Spiegelman changes the texture of the line he draws to elicit a specific “emotional or sensual response in the viewer” (McCloud 121).  In a normal present-day frame, the lines are normal, and drawn with relatively equal weight and direction. However, Spiegelman draws the Holocaust frames with more texture through varied, expressive lines and crosshatches.  In doing so, he heightens the ominous sense of panic and terror experienced by Vladek, and the reader.  This clear distinction in style can be seen in the drawing of a present-day Vladek, drawn with normal line, layered over the horrific image of Anja’s father “tearing his hair out and crying” while being captured by the Germans in classic film noir manner (115). 
Through even more expressive line use, Spiegelman heightens the drama and sorrow in a four-page insert describing the suicide of his mother and his failing mental state afterwards (101-104).  By varying his line style, Spiegelman succeeds in molding the reader’s emotions and feelings, forcing them into sympathy for his message.
Spiegelman’s most successful use of line comes at the end of the book, where the reader is left with an illustration of the gates of the Auschwitz concentration camp (157). The despair and hopelessness of the 2.5 million victims of the gas chambers runs through every expressive line, crosshatch, and shade (Rudolf 193).  One cannot help but weep when thinking about Vladek, and the tragically altered lives of all those who lived through the nightmare of Auschwitz.