The Muse

In today’s Dining In section of the New York Times, Sarah Kershaw writes about “menu psychology” — the science (or art?) of designing a menu that will most entice diners. So, really, someone does understand that the “99″ in just about every price (not limited to food items) does very little to promote quality.

One concept that strikes me is the similarities between a simple menu and a well-crafted manuscript. Kershaw brings up the analogy of music and lyrics, where one may be great but is utterly destroyed by the other (think of a ear-catching pop tune with absolutely horrendous lyrics), and the same may be said for a manuscript. Think carefully about the layout. If your story is about love and the human condition, you probably don’t want a font that is sharp-edged and bold. Or, if you’re going for an academic journal, you don’t want your tracking or leading so far apart that the page looks as though it’s mostly empty space.

A quarrel I have with the way some restaurants mentioned in this article do things is the melodramatic wording in the menu. Saying something is “slammed with flavor” is a turn-off for me, because I appreciate the nuances in food. (You’ll notice that places such as Applebee’s and Huddle House go for the thick wording, while higher-end places go for simple and pithy copy.) I can go to the local supermarket and pick up a Little Debbie cake that is “slammed with flavor,” or I can visit my local baker and get a blueberry scone that has many different flavorful, quality ingredients that work together. One is dominated with sugar and chocolate, the other allows me to experience many of the quality ingredients that the baker uses. I prefer nuance.

When creating your manuscript, I suppose you could ask yourself, “Do I want the equivalent of a laminated chain restaurant menu the size of a legal pad, or a simple, cogent menu from a quality independent place?”

        

fowlerjk life, style & usage, writing business, food, layout, menu, nyt, restaurant, typesetting, writing

I don’t normally eat at Hardee’s, but it was a favorite stop as a kid, and I was taken back to childhood after stopping for a biscuit last week.

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Fall comes. We gently retreat. The sun hides behind the clouds, sometimes peeking out enough to remind us that it’s there, but usually is in retreat behind the gray veil, thin enough to just see the pale circle.

We become slightly more introspective. Our patios and back yards are carefully covered with tarps and strewn with leaves. We are inside, eating warm comfort food, thinking a lot about ourselves. The church year gently pushes this along–bright Spring music moves to more somber tunes of Advent and Lent. We wait. Gently.

When we venture out, we have retreated from our shorts & flip-flops, now nestled in jackets and clogs. The trees, once brilliant with buds and green leaves, pull life into themselves, leaving a dappled mark of death, celebrated by long drives and countless photos. Under the falling, speckled canopy, we contemplate home improvement, the crisp air flecked with coffee and sawdust.

        

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I stopped on the way to work this morning for a Cinnamon ‘N’ Raisin biscuit from Hardee’s. (I still refuse to buy Thickburgers because of their ad campaigns, but the biscuits are hard to beat.) I haven’t had one of those for a very long time.

At first bite, I was immediately taken back to when my Dad and I would go to Hardee’s on our way to my elementary school. If I was dressed early enough, we would go and have breakfast there as a treat. I remember the smell of the dining room, the sweetness of the icing, the cold orange juice on my otherwise empty stomach, and the fact that I would wait for the icing to cool before I ate the biscuit. I preferred my icing a little thicker than it was served.

        

fowlerjk life family, memories, writing

It’s no secret that a bit of tweaking is necessary in iTunes to effectively manage a decently-sized classical music library. Being somewhat OCD, my initial imports of classical music into iTunes really put me in a funk, because the metadata imported from CDDB just made things almost impossible to sort through. After some thought about how I wanted to arrange the music, a good bit of trial & error on my iPod, and some help from more organized music fans, I’ve come up with a viable solution. Read more…

        

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Something so basic and simple as rain can help us frame our own lives against the perspectives of others. It can also help us realize how far we’ve come in life.

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Today I sat with my father and grandfather (and the rest of my family, of course) and had a great lunch, followed by a few hours of family time. I came home and looked at the news, and out of what must have been a sick sense of curiosity, I saw the YouTube video of what will undoubtedly be the poster incident for the Iran election protests: a young girl named Neda cut down by a policeman’s bullet, her father crying over her as her life slips away.

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I’m a coffee geek. Back in college, if I was in a library (which was most of the time), I had some sort of espresso beverage nearby. I don’t drink nearly as much as I used to, but it’s a daily ritual, at the least. I spent many hours in Clemson’s Cooper Library writing lit crit papers with a tall mocha from Java City sitting beside my laptop. In 2003, during a summer at the College of Charleston for a couple of Latin classes (Clemson didn’t offer them at the time), I spent much of my time in the old library.

Fast-forward to today. My wife & I stopped by the local Starbucks. We prefer independent joints, but the spring semester is finished at Clemson and the hours of other (independent) coffee shops are spotty. I ordered an iced mocha. I haven’t had one of those in quite some time, having developed a taste for the simpler iced latte. As I sat and enjoyed the drink, I started thinking about the summer of 2003.

Why? There’s a Starbucks across the street from the old college library in Charleston, and I would often walk across Calhoun to get an iced mocha. The taste became forever associated with that summer, those hours in the cool library studying Latin and listening to classic Chicago, then walking out into the sun and muggy air of Charleston. Iced espresso beverages vary in taste, and I know I’ve had an iced mocha between now and 2003, but not one from Starbucks. Taking that first sip from the straw really brought me back to a great summer.

        

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I spend a lot of my day looking at a computer display — like most of you, I imagine. One of many considerations when spending a lot of time in front of a computer is eyestrain. Rest breaks (10 seconds looking at a far-off object every 10 minutes, for example) are good practice, and there are plenty of widgets and programs to remind you to do this – but what about reducing the causes on the computer’s end?

F.lux (Mac, Windows, Linux) does that. With the help of geographic location data and (if you use a Mac) the ambient light sensor, F.lux adjusts your screen to match the light in the room. This isn’t simply about reducing brightness. F.lux handles multiple factors (e.g. color temperature) to make your screen easier on the eyes.

Small changes such as this should go a long way in reducing eyestrain. I’m 27, I’ve worn glasses since middle school, and am just starting to adjust to contact lenses. My optometrist recently recommended reading glasses when working on the computer or reading to help take the load off my contact lenses. It’s a small change, but it’s helped my eyestrain. F.lux is one more tool in the arsenal.

        

fowlerjk life, sle ergonomics, software, usability

Two of my favorite things in one link: The Atlantic Monthly and coffee. Jerry Baldwin, of Starbucks fame, has written a concise manifesto for those of us who use the French Press, or press pot.

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