Tuesday Fun

October 8, 2013 / dwakimoto

Happy Tuesday, dear readers! I hope your week is going well. Today I just wanted to share a couple of links to some lovely, old-fashioned typewriter and typography fun. When I’m not in the library or archives, I love to work on design and letterpress projects. So it is probably no surprise that I’m sharing these resources with you today.

Although I’m the first to admit that I love word processing on a computer, there is something satisfying about the design of old typewriters that I don’t feel when I’m looking at a computer, no matter how well-designed. So I wanted to share this lovely site that has lots of photos of Antique Typewriters. No wonder some artists are recreating some of these very steampunk-esque looks for computer keyboards.

Also, who doesn’t like a good font? Use of a great typeface in a poster, handout, or website is a beautiful thing, while a poor use is often baffling. So go over to the lovely I Love Typography website to take a look at this week in fonts.

If you have favorite typography and/or design sites or resources, I’d love to hear about them in comments.

Have a wonderful day and week. I’ll be back on Friday. Allons-y!

Tuesday Fun

October 1, 2013 / dwakimoto

Happy Tuesday and happy first day of October, dear readers! I hope you are well and are having a lovely week (or as lovely as can be had given the government shutdown here in the United States). The fall quarter has started on our campus and I’m back from vacation into the craziness that is fall on a college campus. But luckily I actually like fall quarter, the enthusiasm of the new students, and the beginning of it feeling like fall in the Bay Area. However, it is hard to let go of the laid back feel of summer. So in honor of the ending of summer, I’m sharing a few photos from my recent trip and a video that should put a smile on your face this Tuesday.

I recently spent just over a week in Kauai. My first trip ever to Hawaii and it was amazing, so I had to share some photos.

Kauai Palm Trees

The hiking was fantastic. This photo below is from right before we started on a difficult hike to do part of the Alaka’i Swamp Trail.

Looking at Kalalau Valley

And the sunsets were as beautiful as everyone said they would be.

Sunset at Baby Beach

Finally I leave you with Sara Bareilles’ Brave video:

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. I’ll be back on Friday with more. Allons-y!

Tuesday Fun: Typography

September 3, 2013 / dwakimoto

Happy Tuesday, dear readers! I hope those of you in the United States had a lovely, relaxing, and fulfilling holiday weekend and that everyone else also had a good weekend (and good Monday). Today I wanted to share a couple of videos on typography that are just lovely.

The History of Typography gives a nice overview of the development of different typefaces.

From Paper to Screen is an absolutely wonderful look at the different uses of typefaces and type design on paper and movies.

I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday and rest of your week. I’m taking a vacation away from the Internet for a couple of weeks and will be back with more posts in mid-to-late September. Until then, I hope you have wonderful, productive, and fulfilling workdays and relaxing weekends. Allons-y!

Tuesday Fun

August 27, 2013 / dwakimoto

Happy Tuesday, dear readers! Can you believe we are in the last week of August already? I certainly can’t. I’m just glad my campus runs on the quarter system so I have a bit more time to prepare for the start of the school year. But today’s post has a couple of diversions that should make you smile on this, almost-the-middle-of-the-work-week day.

I find prototypes of cars fascinating and really love this video on Gizmodo of a
foldable, smartphone-controlled electric car. This would make parking a lot easier in the city.

Also, if you are like me you probably like to listen to music, at least occasionally while working. If so, check out the Sleepy Man Banjo Boy’s performance at TED. It is just wonderful.

Have a wonderful day and I’ll be on Friday. Allons-y!

Tuesday Fun

August 20, 2013 / dwakimoto

Happy Tuesday, dear readers! I hope your week is going well. I just wanted to share some fun to help you get through your day.

I think this short article on Gizmodo about popular idioms translated to actually make sense today is quite amusing.

And who doesn’t want to find out ways to be happier? Check out Lifehacker’s post on 10 things you can do to be happier backed by science.

Finally, for your Tuesday fun, check out this adorable ginger kitty and contemplate what more fun you have to look forward to this week.

Cat at Window from Beautiful Portals Tumblr

I’ll be back on Friday with more. Allons-y!

Tuesday Fun

August 6, 2013 / dwakimoto

Happy Tuesday, dear readers! Today’s post just has some fun to help you get through the beginning of the work week. Serious work tips and thoughts on Friday, as usual.

I’m always in awe of people who are super talented as athletes and I think free running just looks pretty amazing. Add Star Wars and I’m completely sold:

Also, a lovely cat photo to keep you relaxed as I think cats know how to relax better than just about any other animal.

Kitty in Window from Beautiful Portals Tumblr

Have a great day! I’ll be back on Friday. Allons-y!

Tuesday Fun to Share

July 30, 2013 / dwakimoto

Hello, dear readers! I hope your week is going well. Since many blogs seem to have Friday Fun posts, I thought that Tuesday should get some love as well. So today I have one useful article to share a few fun things to share as well. So get ready for statistics, reader species, and lemon waffles.

First up, a useful post on statistics by Lifehacker, 4 common statistical misconceptions you should avoid. I am of the opinion that everyone should know at least basic statistics and this post will help out a bit in that regard. I think it is especially handy for when you are reading newspaper articles that include statistics, which are oftentimes misleading.

I love this graphic, What Reader Species Are You?, by Laura E. Kelly. It is fun to read and share, as well as try to determine where you fit in the classification schema.

Finally, if you need a tasty recipe for lemons, check out Joy the Baker’s lemon ricotta waffles with poppy seeds and be happy that it’s summer. The smell of citrus always makes me think of summer holidays.

I hope you have a great week and I’ll be back on Friday with more. Allons-y!

And some days you just need some fun

July 23, 2013 / dwakimoto

Hello, dear readers. Some days, you just really need to have some fun. So for today’s post, I just wanted to share some fun things that you can check out as a break from work today. Nothing really library or archives or technology or job related today. More of that on Friday.

I really enjoy cool artwork and maps and this Gizmodo post can you identify these movies drawn out as treasure maps combines both. Check them out and see how many you can identify.

I am hoping to get a waffle maker soon (*fingers crossed*) and am looking forward to making these lemon ricotta waffles with poppy seeds from Joy the Baker. They look scrumptious!

Also, happily there was a photo of Pickles, the Hobbiton cat, posted over at Hobbit Houses a few days ago that I thought I’d share. Because, let’s face it, I can’t resist a cat in Hobbiton.

“Pickles: The Hobbit Cat” from Hobbit Houses on Tumblr

I hope you have a wonderful day and week. Allons-y!

More Travel Tips for Summer

July 9, 2013 / dwakimoto / 1 Comment

Hello, dear readers! As it is summer (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), I thought I’d share some travel tips as we are definitely in high travel season now. Use them to make your planning and traveling experiences more enjoyable.

Gizmodo has some nice tips on how to book travel online for less. I love a good travel deal and using these tips should help you find a better deal on your travel.

Lifehacker periodically has good articles on travel tips, especially for flying. For example, it is good to know you should ask for cash instead of a voucher when you’re bumped from a flight. It is also a good idea to check out your air travel rights before your next flight.

I also think their article on travel concessions that aren’t always worth it is a good read. It will help you weigh the pros and cons of various concessions, such as red-eye flights, before you book your travel.

So some things you can’t really plan for, no matter how many tips you learn. For example, I just had an unexpected wrench thrown into my summer plans when the airline told me they no longer fly out of my home airport on the day I had planned to leave and wanted to fly me in and out of two different airports. Luckily, I did some research (like a good librarian), and had some flexibility in my schedule, so I was able to arrange to come back another day in order to fly in and out of the same airport. Plus the airline customer service people were very nice and helpful. But although you can’t plan for everything, you can learn as much as possible to help you if you ever run into some unforeseen complications on your travels.

I hope you have a wonderful time traveling this summer, if you are traveling, and a wonderful time at home, if you are doing a stay-cation. I’ll be back soon with more. Allons-y!

Some Talks That Inspire Me

May 10, 2013 / dwakimoto

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope your week went well. It seems like at my university everyone is getting over a cold this week. Since we are coming into the weekend I just wanted to share some talks I’ve watched recently that have inspired me. These three talks, well one is actually a poem, demonstrate to me how powerful good speakers can be and why the binary we keep hearing in higher education of “sage on the stage” versus the now popular “guide on the side” is not as binary an issue as some would make it out to be. Great speakers can inspire us still, if we just take the time to listen. Enjoy!

This first video I just watched this week and is Angela Lee Duckworth talking about how grit is the key to success.

This video is another TED Talk (don’t you just love TED Talks?). I had my students watch this talk by Amy Cuddy about the power of body language (power posing). Most of my students found Dr. Cuddy’s talk very inspiring and I hope you do, too.