I usually skim the announcement section of my college alumni magazine, and that might be all I get a chance to read. The other night while waiting for a large file to transfer, I picked up the latest issue and flipped a few more pages than usual. I'm not sure why but my eyes came to rest on the obituary section and a familiar name surprised me.
Heinz Klinkon was my junior year typography teacher for 2 quarters. I had transferred into his class midyear due to a scheduling conflict, and I immediately felt lost. I thought the feeling was because I had missed some important explanation of the course and expectations. With time, I realized that this explanation had never existed and it was up to me to search out a meaning, ask for help, and to do the work.
Heinz was fair and honest to a fault. He would stare intently at the work on the wall until he would invite you to offer your own critique. If your work was good, the reward was a "Wowah". If you had tried to get by with subpar work, he would matter-of-factly tell you (and the class) that there was more work to be done, and to come back when it was completed. When you've spent all night on a project and you're just relieved to be done, having to go back to it again...well it more than stings. Fair, of course, but that's some tough love.
The discipline of typography is difficult to describe verbally. Carefully crafted pieces sometimes fail, and spontaneous designs may sing. You need to experience the trial and error of design and layout to appreciate type as an art. This was news to me as a student, and I remained lost in Heinz's class for the better part of the year. I had a few successes, but I remember during one project he announced to the class that I had done something "genius" which was followed by "genius for making something so stupid." It knocked the wind out of me, but Heinz laughed loudly and showed that he meant no harm. I even got a decent grade on the project and maybe scored a point in his book for being a good sport.
I don't think Heinz ever said anything unintentionally. His words were carefully chosen, and there were long spans of silence during which you were left to wonder where the conversation would go next. For this reason, his praise carried great weight, and he inspired many of us to work harder than we had in other classes. The theme of the class seemed to be "why just complete a project when you could make something beautiful?"
I was terrified of meeting with Heinz for my private review at the end of the quarter. During my freshman year I had a professor tell me I wasn't suited to be a designer, and now 2 years later I was afraid of how much honesty I could handle. It went better than expected. I left his office feeling reassured and more than a little relieved. He told me I would be okay, to keep working, and to not read too many design magazines.
I wish I could say I knew Heinz Klinkon well on a personal level, but I am honored to say that he was my teacher. When I learned that he had died, I quickly searched for more information online and was delighted to find blog entries from other former students. Heinz taught us many things while in school, and those lessons are still being understood and reinforced as we go about our work. It may take me another 13 years to fully appreciate all of them! And to my dear German professor, I hope that gives you a good hearty laugh!
One of these days, I'll update the design for this blog and the beans' blog, but for now at least I'm posting again!
I didn't finish a single knitting project last year, and last month I finished the baby blanket I had started last February. It felt good to complete something, and I've got a new one on the needles now. Hopefully it will take less than a year to finish. I used to be able to do a baby blanket in a month or so.
Tony won our pedometer contest so he is now the proud owner of Guitar Hero. The contest wasn't even close. When I'm at my busiest at work and getting little sleep, I move less than when I have free time and sleep. I also realized that my eating habits and appetite are a wreck when I'm not sleeping. It's definitely obvious what I need to do for my own well-being, but figuring out how to do it is a lot harder.
We're doing the contest again this month and Tony's already in the lead, but I'm not giving up that easily!
I finished my first drawing in almost 10 years in February and it was part of a local art show. It was really exciting to draw again and to participate in a show. There are very talented artists here in little Culpeper, and it was a honor to be included in their company.
I've got the art bug again and I took a one-day workshop on woodcut printing and another one on poured paint. Both were good ways for me to get reacquainted with my artsy side.
I'll share photos soon...but for now I'm off to bed!
Wearing a pedometer every day has opened my eyes to how grossly inactive I am. Tony regularly has at least double the number of step as I do and it's because he's chasing the kids around and I'm usually at my desk. Of course I try to set up my work space for maximum efficiency...which means I rarely need to get up!
I'm realizing now that the plateau I've hit with my weight has little to do with what I'm eating and more to do with the fact that I'm lucky if I get 3,000 steps in a day. The good news is that I met my goal of going to the gym a couple weeks ago, and I cancelled my old membership and signed up at a new, more family-friendly gym. The new gym has free child care with a nice playroom and another mom from Cole's preschool class goes there with her 2 kids that are the same ages as Cole and Joy. We're going to meet there tomorrow with the little ones while the big kids are at preschool.
To prove my point the first time I went and worked out I had over 12,000 steps—which is like a whole work week's worth of steps for me. I went again tonight, and even with a shorter workout I broke the 10,000 mark.
Tony has been kicking my butt with the contest and there's not much time left, so it's going to take a lot of gym time to catch up.
In other news, I've signed up for a one-day workshop at the arts center on woodcuts which should be fun. I enjoyed an etching elective I took in college, but with acid baths and lots of toxic stuff it's not very likely I'll get to do that again. Woodcuts with the exception of sharp tools will be a lot safer! I'm excited to try to get back to artsy fartsy stuff.
I did fantastic with my diet this week...until I went back to NJ for the weekend. It's completely my own fault because I didn't pack the shake mix in my mad dash to get all of us out the door. Packing is no easy task when you have to remember pull-ups, diapers, inhalers, and 2 kinds of toothpaste...and that doesn't include anything for me! And then there's the work stuff to...laptop and a copy of all my active jobs.
Oh well, I'll get back to the routine tomorrow, and to keep things interesting Tony and I are starting a contest. We have identical pedometers and we're going to keep track of our steps each day. The person with the most steps by the end of February gets to pick our next Wii game. If Tony wins, it's Guitar Hero and if I win it's Dance, Dance Revolution, at least my way we'll get more exercise too!
I write resolutions every year and sometimes I even keep a few, but I've been having better success with mini resolutions. Mini resolutions are a goal I set for myself for the week, like taking my vitamins every day. If I can make my goal for the week, I choose a new mini resolution for the next week, but if I don't take my vitamins every day that week, then I try again the next week. So my goals have been to take my vitamins in the morning, and then take my Metamucil (how's that for sharing!) every night. The catch to all this is that if I stop taking my vitamins again, I have to start that mini resolution all over again.
Anyway, this goofy way of thinking is helping me feel a bit better because at least it feels like progress even if it's not huge life changes! I had been doing this at one point last summer and I made the mistake of telling Tony about it after I had built up about 2 months of momentum. I asked him if there was something he thought I should be doing and he rattled off a long list of things I could be doing better at work and around house and with kids... and well, I was derailed for a bit after that. My trick only works if I focus on one goal at a time!
This week's goal is to stick to my diet. That's a more ambitious one, but internet, I'm counting on you to help hold me to it :-)
During the lull between Christmas and New Year's, I did some things I haven't done in a very long time. I slept. I read a book, non-fiction even. I decided to take a vacation, actually 2 vacations. I remembered that I am an optimist. I didn't check my e-mail for an entire day. I considered wearing a dress. I picked up my knitting.
The week felt like a wonderful indulgence when it was really what my life could be like all the time if I change priorities. I have poured myself into my work for the last 2 years, and not as an escape, as a financial necessity. Not that it hasn't served as a crutch at times, but really it is fear of not having enough to pay the bills that keeps me awake at my computer at night.
BUT, I have been missing so much more than sleep. I miss spending time with Tony and the kids. I miss my family in NJ and friends both near and far. I miss singing and dancing and playing and knitting and drawing and making stuff and taking trips and exercising...yes even exercising.
I've realized that when I'm working and stressed I often hold my breath until my chest aches a bit. I'm sure that's not good for me, and I remember how good the deep yoga breathing used to feel when I took classes and how a minute or two of just focused breathing would make my stress melt away.
A friend of mine who is also a designer was told by her eye doctor that she doesn't blink often enough while working. We had a good laugh about it at the time and ways to fix her problem. Set a timer to remind yourself to blink. Blink slowly. Have someone take your picture every few minutes. You're sure to blink! Lots of ways to give her more normal eyes while making herself appear like a nut.
