Pre-Order Deux NOW!

March 4, 2010 at 12:57 am | In Deux, News | Leave a Comment

Yes, I’m straight up taking pre-orders through paypal (credit cards also accepted). So reserve your copy now. It’s gonna be awesome and three quarters.

In short: 5 bucks gets you the e-book on April 4th.
20 gets you the e-book on April 4th and a signed paperback on it’s way to you mid-April.
50 gets you the e-book and 3 paperbacks. Sweet deal huh?

Yeah, shipping is included. Canadian? Yeah I’ll send you a copy for 5 dollars more to cover shipping (that’s US dollars, eh?)

Just head over to http://deuxbook.com and place your order. Tell everyone you know, and at least 10 people you don’t know.

This isn’t on the website, but order at least one paperback before April 4th and I’ll put your name or website in the book. All buyers ($5 and up) will get a shoutout here on the website!

And for those of you wanting to get credit as part of the street team (contact me for more info), here’s a brand-spankin’ new flyer for you to litter your town/city/municipality with:

deuxbook.comThanks!

Deux Cover Design Complete!

February 25, 2010 at 7:54 pm | In Deux, News | Leave a Comment

EDIT: This is not the cover I will be using, but instead something completely different and much much cooler. Stay tuned!

Well, the front cover anyway. I’m nowhere finished writing the book but I like to jump around on getting different aspects done  throughout the process.

Here’s a really lo-res preview:

You’ll just have to wait and see what makes the dark areas special. I also haven’t decided on this version or inverting the black and white. I think the white pops more though.

More updates to come as even more progress is made.

Penmanship 360

February 23, 2010 at 6:55 pm | In Fun, Writing | Leave a Comment

Here’s a fun little exercise I came up with today that works your brain, hands and paper. Something like that.

Basically, there are four main orientations text can be written with two directions for each (“forwards” and “backwards”*) as shown in this diagram:

A: “upright” left to right and right to left
B: “upside down” left to right and right to left
C: 90 degree CCW bottom to top and top to bottom
D: 90 degrees CW bottom to top and top to bottom

The exercise is basically to pick any phrase and write them in all 8 orientation/direction combinations and try to get the most legible result possible. I suggest doing the entire exercise for a single phrase multiple times. The first time focus on accuracy, and later attempts go for efficiency and speed.

I find it interesting how similar some motions are similar to different letters just in different orientations. The best examples of this are “c,n, and u” and “w,m, E and 3.” What are some other similar shapes you can find in rotated letters?

*Note: the “backwards” directions are only backwards in the order that the letters are written, they are NOT mirror images. That can be a whole other layer to add to the exercise upping the permutations to 16 possibilities.

So that’s my penmanship exercise, Penmanship 360. Let’s call the advanced exercise with mirror text Penmanship OdE.

Wurds: “Aard”

February 21, 2010 at 12:37 am | In Wurds | Leave a Comment

As in aardvark, aardwolf, and aardragon.

It appears that “aard” is Dutch for earth. Little ‘e’. I assume that means it refers to soil/dirt/ground rather than the planet. Otherwise we all could be called Aardlings. (Hans, correct me anytime)

I propose we English speakers, or rather English-only speakers (as opposed to people who speak English and Dutch) start using the word “aard” because 1) it sounds funny by itself 2) it’s inoffensive but with ‘junk’ overtones 3) it can replace the word ”hard” in conversation without anyone even noticing.

A fully maximized “aard” sentence…

This aard is really aard, I’m aardly able to dig in so that I can plant this Aard Holly in preparation for celebrating Aard Day.

Wurd.

parallel universe

February 19, 2010 at 12:42 pm | In News | Leave a Comment

Hey all, I decided to set up a tumblr account to try things out. Never fear, this site isn’t going anywhere. Instead, the other site will be this one’s idiot twin. Like… random thoughts, perhaps obscene conversations and topics, and more links to other content (videos, photos, news, etc) with my commentary. So, check it out if you want. http://erikjskinner.tumblr.com

That’s all. I’ll try to class this place up a bit now that most of the stupid can go over there. Enjoy.

Next Page »

Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.