BookLust

Seen at a Bookstore 3

Sweet little old lady with cute hat and running shoes. Came in with her daughter. I kept staring at her, so I would remember her features. I think I was scaring her. Must try to be less conspicuous in the future....

Bookmarkable

Here's a small selection of the bookmarks that I have saved while I was a cataloguer for The Toronto Public Library. Geez.... I really gotta make that collage soon, don't I?

Indigauche

Well, it was bound to happen. I read on Bookninja that Heatheir Reisman, CEO of Indigo/Chapters Books, is going to add even more useless stuff to her stores, with the hopes that the bookstore chain will eventually morph into "the world's finest cultural department store". Heaven forbid that the bookstore chain actually was jam-packed full of books. Aside from the fact that I have no use for a woman who has too much time on her hands and too much of her husband's money to play with in order to show the rest of the culturally bereft the correct way to live, it frightens the hell out of me that this woman has so much power and is single-handedly destroying the publishing industry here in Canada. I used to like going into the Indigo stores, but I started questioning the motives of this "bookstore" chain when I noticed that Heather was selling designer Indigo bottled water. You wanna tell me what the fuck that has to do with books??

If you care about books, all books, not just the popular "hot sellers" that Queen Heather picks in between getting her nails done; if you care about authors and the publishing industry here in Canada, then please, make an effort to discover and support the independent bookstores where you live.

Cartoon Buddies

Have ya noticed that I like to do these regular feature posts? Well this is another one that I'm gonna add to the blog stew. I have had the great fortune of getting to know some of the most wonderful people in the world – cartoonists. So every now and then I'd like to mention some of the people I've met, and talk about the great work that they do.

Sandra Bell-Lundy draws the comic strip "Between Friends" which is syndicated by King Features. It's a hilarious "contemporary look at the lives of three professional women in all their angst-driven, stress-filled, caffeinated glory."

Sandra is a great gal, and has been very supportive in my own attemps at a cartooning career. She's got a new book of cartoons just out, called "Coffee Tea and Reality". So get the book, get a cup of coffee and get ready to laugh.

Blast from the Cartoon Past

Just for fun, I thought I would share with whoever is curious, the first cartoon that I ever sold. Way back when, the Toronto Sun used to have a feature in the Comics Section called "The Young Sun". Kids could send in their cartoons, and if they were lucky, they would get printed, and you'd get a big fat fin for your efforts. Five bucks in those days could get you a whole whack of candy, my friend. I had the honour of selling four cartoons between the ages of 12-14. I submitted a lot of cartoons, but maybe the editors thought I was getting too big for my britches or something. Back then, I just drew cartoons 'cuz it felt great to do it. I had no idea that you could actually earn your living doing this. Even now, the concept of making money from drawing cartoons kinda blows my mind. Every time I get a cheque in the mail for drawing funny pictures, I get this amazing rush. It's an addiction I hope I never get over.

TrenDESIGN

Over at Speak Up, there's an interesting discussion going on about "Truth before Trend" in design. When does a design technique become a trend? And why do designers choose to distance themselves from these styles as soon as they are deemed trends? Are we limiting ourselves if we never use the concepts that are most popular and will inevitabley make us more money?

All good questions. From my point of view, coming into graphic design as an older student (ok, an old broad) I just couldn't connect with a lot of the "hip" styles that I saw so much of, especially on the internet. I knew they were popular, de rigueur, but they were just not me. So it delighted me to no end when I encountered a fellow designer, a partner in crime, who though much younger than myself, also could not connect with all these trendy designs.

One day out of the blue, he emailed me this delightful image. From this one idea started a conspiratorial relationship in which we emailed each other our takes on the victims of TrenDESIGN. Stay tuned in the future for more fun TrenDESIGN pokes at the graphic design industry.

Yes, trends can be very attractive, and they can make a crap load of money, but that old adage still holds true in today's visual economy: you can have too much of a good trend.

Bound by Love

In the June '04 issue of Walrus Magazine Ethan Gilsdorf has written an interesting article about bookbinding and the attempts that are being made to save this dying art (is it dying? some people would disagree). It's a fascinating article, and there are some lovely pictures showing the time-consuming step-by-step process involved in repairing a rare book. But I am very disappointed that either Mr. Gilsdorf or the editors at Walrus felt it only necessary to focus on this french bookbinder Edwidge Birlouez and her school Les Ateliers d'Or, which is apparently the only French institution soley devoted to vocational training in bookbinding. It would have been nice if the article at least mentioned The Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, otherwise known very fondly as CBBAG, found right here in Toronto.

So I will mention CBBAG. The goals of CBBAG are as follows:

To create a spirit of community among hand workers in the book arts and with those who love books;

To promote greater public awareness of the book arts;

To increase educational opportunities and foster excellence through exhibitions, workshops, lectures, and publications.

It's a wonderful group of talented, enthusiastic book-loving people who want to share their passion and knowledge in the book arts. There are a wide variety of workshops, and not just in bookbinding; there are courses in box making, paper making and decorating, letterpress printing and paper conservation, all taught by experts in their various fields.

The scan you see (sorry, don't have a digital camera yet) are two books I made in the Bookbinding I course, which I took part in last year. I learned a great deal, made some wonderful new friends, and can't wait to take new courses as soon as possible. CBBAG now even provides a Home Study Program for those not able to attend the classes, or for those who want some great video reference to refer to whenever the need arises.

So there you go. Wonderful people saving and cherishing the dying art of bookbinding right in our own city. Could have saved yourself the trip to France, Walrus.

It is a Small Island

Today I found out thanks to Michele, that Andrea Levy won the Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel Small Island. Andrea Levy is another author that I have just recently discovered, and only because of my mother's special interest in Ms. Levy. My mother is from Jamaica, as is Andrea Levy's family (Ms. Levy was born and grew up in England). My mom is pretty darn good at Jamaican geneology, and a while back Ms. Levy got in touch with Mom, to do research on her family geneology. The funny thing is, my mother's maiden name is Levy, but so far she has not been able to find any family connection between her family and Andrea's family. But I'm convinced that there is a connection. The picture of Ms. Levy (her face is right next to her book) looks remarkably like my first cousin, who's maiden name is also Levy. I've put an old photo of my mother (sorry, Mom!) next to Andrea, and although the pic of Mom is not the best quality, I think there is a resemblance. My grandfather Micheal Levy is below. I think the Levy nose is there. And of course I had to put my grandmother in, well, just because she is so lovely.

Because Mom was nattering on so much about Ms. Levy, I decided to read Andrea Levy's book Fruit of the Lemon. It's about a young lady in England in the 70's discovering her Jamaican roots. The book has a special signifigance for me, because as an adult, I am much more interested in my Jamaican background as well. It certainly helps that my mother is so knowledgeable in geneology, and so eager to share what she knows about our Jamaican background. So many rich, fascinating stories. Jamaican people are full of character, I must say.

So congratulations Andrea. And even if we aren't related we are all connected, for what is it that Jamaicans say of each other? Out of many, one people.

Forget Well-Hung, are you Well-Read?

Well, it seems today that every blogger and their cat has been talking about what Penguin UK is doing to try and get men to buy more fiction. "Good Looking Women Want Good Booking Men" is the glaring headline on the site, along with a very hot chicky-poo in a Bond-girl-style bikini, who, forgive me for being so presumptuous, probably hasn't read a damned book in her life.

Apparently "a new independent survey carried out by NOP proves that women prefer men who read books." Or at least men who appear to be reading books: "You may not even need to read it, just bend the covers, let it stick out of your pocket and the book will do the talking!" Uh.... yeah. Personally, I like a man who can discuss a book, not just stick it in the front of his pants and get all macho. Word to all those hopeful horny guys out there.... you can't read a book by osmosis, even if it's in your back pocket next to your sweet fine tush.

Oh, and please note the cartoon above, which I drew a quite few months ago. Seems I'm one step ahead of the people at Penguin. And let's not forget this recent post. I think Penguin should be asking me for tips on how to increase their sales.

Barbara, My Hero

Here's a link to a great interview with the talented writer, photographer and book designer Barbara Hodgson, via the great site Heavenly Monkey.

So like, if Barbara Hodgson and Chip Kidd were to hook up, what kind of kid would come out of that union?