The Undergrad Catalog

One of the most important jobs I do at Bradley is edit, format, and proofread the undergraduate catalog, which comes out in print but is also available online at http://www.bradley.edu/pubs/undergrad.html.

To begin, I collect all the Senate-approved curriculum changes and course additions, deletions, and modifications. I modify the catalog text accordingly. I also read the front matter and faculty/staff listings for other changes that have occurred on campus during the year. Then, I send a proof to the campus community for review. The pages come back marked up in red with more changes.

I make the additional changes and then proofread, double check, triple check. I send this to the printer and then read the blueline proof carefully. Some would call this an incredibly tedious task. And it is. But it is also incredibly important, so I do enjoy it.

For the past several years, summers have been an overwhelming time in the Publications Office: the undergrad and grad catalogs, the telephone directory, newsletters, and more all demanded attention. Last fall, however, a new employee joined me and I have had more time for some long-neglected tasks. I took the time this year to update the font, column width, and header styles of the catalog. So, in additions to the tedious editing tasks, I also reformatted every line of the catalog.

I like the updated look. The 1950s Optima font has been replaced with the easy-on-the-eye sans serif font Myriad. The bloated columns have trimmed down and stand farther apart. The top margin has been widened for more white space—the page, I hope, will be more relaxing to the reader (prospective students and their parents, who have enough anxiety).

Optima, designed by Hermann Zapf in 1958, is very clean and crisp, but tends to be a bit sterile. Its popularity for use in newsletters, brochures, and advertising copy makes it a bit overused for the past 30 years. Still, for its time, it was a stylistic triumph.

The switch to Myriad, designed in 1992 by Twombly and Slimbach of Adobe Systems, represents a movement away from an institutional look for the catalog to a more friendly, personal style. I use Myriad for the schedule of classes and many other publications. I have Myriad Pro, which provides a wide variety of weights—so I am able to use it for heads and body text. I think it has a simplicity with flair and substance. It also is very well kerned and doesn't pose any problems in intricate combinations of letters and numbers. It is the perfect fin de siecle font!

Peoria Pickpockets

I'm sure in Peoria's storied past, when it was known throughout the midwest as a place for booze and prostitution, pickpockets were in their glory. It's a "profession" at least as old as prositituion. It seems Peoria pickpockets are enjoying a resurgence. I received an e-mail message today that told of a colleague's misfortune at Barnes & Noble.

I don't want what happened to me Sat. afternoon at a book discussion group in the Barnes & Noble Cafe to happen to anyone else: my wallet was lifted from my purse when I was sitting right there, with it beside me on the floor and closed, where I could see it out of the corner of my eye. None of the other four participants noticed anything, either. It's just that my purse was much lighter when I picked it up to leave . . .

The interesting thing is that the police, when I filed a report, said that this is a problem both there and at Borders Cafe, and to a lesser extent at Panera's, both of them.


At all of these places, customers are invited to sit down, relax, read a book, sip a coffee. Get comfortable—and less cautious. That's great, just don't take your purse. From what I have read, the great pickpocket works alone and completely blends into the environment. At Barnes and Noble, she is probably reading "The World is Flat" and enjoying a latte.

When I'm going to be in a crowded place, I like to put my ATM card, license, and keys in a secure pocket and leave my purse at home. A purse is such a target. If you have to carry one, get one that closes securely, has a shoulder strap, and looks kinda cheap. Designers create some gorgeous purses, but most are better suited for dressing-table decorations than everyday use. They draw attention to you, make you look like you have money, and often fall open easily.



Being safe also, I believe, means wearing sensible shoes. How are you going to run in heels? Wear them out to dinner or the opera, but for daily treks to work or the store, leave the pumps and spikes at home.

I had a strange experience in a grocery store the other day. Staring dumbly at all the tomato sauces I could choose from, I didn't notice two young men enter the aisle. Until they started to seriously invade my space. I began to move along and they moved too, brushing up against me at one point. I was not relieved of any possessions—maybe they were in training.

Labs Like the New Look

After months of sporadic work, I am finally ready to move my computer out of the living room and into the freshly painted office.

I have never experimented with painting a room in fun colors, so this was new. This room appears to have had some type of damage (fire, water, mold?), because it received a cheap and fast drywall and trim redo at some point. Nothing is square. The last time it was painted, someone carelessly splashed paint all over the oak hardwood floor, which had also been damaged by a leaky radiator.

A set of doors in this room exits to a small covered patio. I would like to get these in operating condition so the Labs and I can take our breaks from work and walk out onto a patio filled with beautiful pots of flowers. (Now it is just dirty with chipping paint, but I can dream!)

After this transformation of my home workspace, I want to spruce up my office . . . er cubicle at work. I was so busy when I moved in that I just tossed things into drawers or in various piles. Maybe this summer I will find time to straighten and find some more artwork for the beige walls. I would also like to buy a potted tree. I'll find room for it . . . do I really need that side chair?

Actually I am much less depressed about my cubicle since my trip last week to City Hall. The people I saw were in cramped spaces with cheap, ugly cubicle partitions. They can hear each other's keystrokes and breaths. My cube is palatial by comparison. I will, however, continue to complain about not having a window. Since darkrooms are disappearing, there is really no reason for anyone to have to work in a windowless space!!

Dylan's Theme Time Radio: coffee

I worked late this evening, trying to get the undergrad catalog done, and when I walked in the back door, my husband said. "You'll never guess what Bob Dylan's theme is the week." Our three Labs were jumping all over me, so I said "dogs." nope. "Cats?" I said as two sauntered into the kitchen. "No, no, no. He'll probably play Mississippi John Hurt . . . The theme is coffee!"

If you are familiar with MJH—brilliant guitar stylist and songwriter—you know he loved to sing about "Maxell House."

[spoken]
This is the "Coffee Blues", I likes a certain brand
- Maxwell's House - it's good till the last drop,
just like it says on the can. I used to have a girl
cookin' a good Maxwell House. She moved away.
Some said to Memphis and some said to Leland,
but I found her. I wanted her to cook me some
good Maxwell's House. You understand,
if I can get me just a spoonful of Maxwell's House,
do me much good as two or three cups this other coffee)

Well much to my disappointment Dylan skipped this gem, but he did play some other greats: songs about sitting round with you best friend smoking cigarettes and drinking that rich amber liquid, that, like he says, "makes a poor man feel like
nobility."

Dylan's "Theme Time Radio," only available on XM Satellite, is the reason we now have this service. We cancelled our basic cable ($15/month) and signed up for XM ($12/month). In addition to the Dylan show, we also like to listen to Al Franken, who rants about George Bush once a day and keeps us fairly well informed. The best part of his show is his visit each Thursday with news guru Tom Oliphant (of the News Hour and the bow tie), who he introduces each week with a few bars of the "Baby Elephant Walk."

We also like to listen to the Folk Village and The Loft (which features and eclectic mix of singer-songwriters.) If we need entertained, we can turn to the old-time radio channel: The Shadow, Suspense, and the Lux Radio Theatre.

I believe that XM Radio is a much better value than cable. When "Theme Time Radio" is on, it is priceless.

flags at the graves of soldiers

Today is Memorial Day. I took off Friday, so have enjoyed a four-day weekend. On Monday morning, I planned what jobs I could get done around the house during the remains of the weekend. I called my Mother, and then started to think I should drive down to Camp Butler to put flowers on my father's grave. I wanted to stay home and paint and garden, but patriotic duty seemed to call. I could also stop by and till Mom's garden, which would be fun.

My father was not a decorated soldier. I think he got thrown into the brig several times for not returning to the ship on time or other insubordinations. Many WWII veterans spoke proudly of their service. My father felt incredible guilt for the Japanese planes he shot down in the Pacific. He felt anger for the exposure to radiation he received when he and his shipmates were sent into Nagasaki after the bomb dropped. He never talked about his service. He traveled outside of Sangamon County reluctantly. We never took vacations. Travel, to him, meant unpleasantness. After sailing almost every mile of the U.S. coastline and most of the South Pacific, he wanted to stay home.

So, when I found his marker in the crowded cremation section, by following the dates of death, I remembered that it told an umimpressive record: gunners mate 3rd class. My mom had given me the only remnants of spring left blooming in her yard: some floppy, wind-blown mock orange blossoms. Camp Butler has bins of metal vases that fit securely in the ground, but by late afternoon on Memorial Day, the bins were empty. I got a water bottle from the car, but the profusely blossomed branches tipped it over. The ground, still somewhat soft from recent rain, let me poke the branches around the stone. I then poured the water over the dirt.

If you haven't been to a national cemetery on Memorial Day, I think it worth the drive. Flags line each throughway and a small flag is set at the end of each grave. Not knowing the tradition, I wanted to move my father's flag closer to the stone, nearer the flowers, for aesthetic reasons. When I got in the car, Performance Today was on the radio, broadcasting Memorial Day services from Arlington National Cemetery. I learned that the "Old Guard" stays at Arlington all weekend during "flags in" to make sure that a flag stands one foot away from the base of each grave.

Dad did love flowers, but I realized that even more he loved coffee. I decided that next time I visited his grave I would start a new tradition of bringing a thermos of coffee. I will pour two cups. To one I will add two packets of sugar, stir it vigorously, and then send the spoon (metal) dancing across the stone, just as Dad would fling a spoon, dripping coffee, across our oak kitchen table about 10 times a day. I will then say a word, set the sugared one down, and drink strongly from mine, black.

I think that would be better than flowers.

new tech

We could send publications out as a DVD - with a nice accompanying booklet - like CD liner notes - telling people what's inside and providing crucial information for people who never play the disc. We could interview people, include videos, and save some paper!

Podcasts: potential. Easy to record a message and have it posted within minutes. Link it prominently.

Blogs, blogs, blogs. Chatty, with a charming personality! Blogs could be a community effort. One voice but several writers. Lots of great digital photos - point, click, download, comment.

Many new-tech ways to communicate.

explore
experiment

Coffee and the airport

I recently had the good fortune to be able to attend a design conference in Seattle. In Seattle, I found out, they have at least one and sometimes two coffee shops per block. My dream city!

Before deplaning in Seattle, however, I had to catch a wee-morning flight in Peoria. Thank goodness I don't live that far from the airport, as I think I was half asleep driving there.

As I approached the security gate, I noticed, off to the side, a coffee vending machine. For the mere price of one dollar, you could get a paper cup full of scalding hot coffee. I pushed aside other passengers, I think, to get to it.

After several attempts, I found in my bag a dollar bill the machine would accept. I selected the super strong dark brew option. The paper cup dropped and began to fill. A recorded voice motioned me to the security area. I had my carry-on, my coat, my shoes, and my paper cup of coffee. Take any of the above, but not the coffee, I thought.

Hoping not to splash boiling coffee on a TSA agent, I continued to balance the hot paper cup, as I removed my coat and backpack and sent them through the conveyor for inspection.

As I entered the secure terminal, a savvy Bradley student, who evidently travels often, put her dollar into a machine and drew a cup of hot Maxwell House. "Oh, I wish I would have known this was here," I told her.

"I had to keep reminding myself," she said, "that I could wait. It was hard."