Classic VW
A legacy of handwritten letters
When was the last time you received a handwritten letter?
Reading through a legacy of letters captures the exchange of ideas in a sustained, generational conversation between a father and a son.
NOTES:
1) Coffeehousejunkie, “Letter writing, a vanishing art,” June 29, 2012, weblog, accessed June 16, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2012/06/29/field-notes-letter-writing-a-vanishing-art/
‘locking yourself in a prison of your own creation’
Early days of remote work
NOTES:
1) Coffeehousejunkie, “world coffee café,” June 26, 2009, weblog, accessed June 16, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2009/06/26/editing-audio-studying-for-next-weeks-poetry/
It rained all day
The open window provided a soundtrack of drizzle and drips. A song by Lorenz Dangel and Max Richter1 played on the stereo. The music reminded me of a night,2 and a poem,3 and a Nikon S600 digital camera I no longer have in my possession.
NOTES:
1) Rosie Pentreath, “Max Richter’s ‘On the Nature of Daylight’ in film and television,” July 2025, Australian Chamber Orchestra, accessed June 17, 2026, https://www.aco.com.au/news/2025-july/max-richter-on-the-nature-of-daylight-tv-film
2) Coffeehousejunkie, “Last night at the New French Bar,” April 25, 2017, weblog, accessed June 17, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2017/04/25/poem-4-last-night-at-the-new-french-bar/
3) Coffeehousejunkie, “Last night at the New French Bar,” April 25, 2017, weblog, accessed June 17, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2017/04/25/poem-4-last-night-at-the-new-french-bar/
Vanishing art of film photography
NOTES:
1) Coffeehousejunkie, “Vanishing art,” June 27, 2012, weblog, accessed June 16, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2012/06/27/11684/
Summer solstice 2026
The intent1 was to watch the sun set and watch full, strawberry moon rise on the summer solstice.2 But I fell asleep and awoke after 1 a.m. — cloudy, nighttime pondering of lessons in risk management.3 A few hours later, I watch the light brighten the room4 as I prepare for a morning walk.
NOTES:
1) Coffeehousejunkie, “Best intentions,” June 21, 2016, weblog, accessed June 16, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2016/06/21/best-intentions/
2) Bob Berman, “Summer Solstice Full Moon in June!,” The Old Farmer’s Almanac, accessed June 20, 2016 http://www.almanac.com/blog/astronomy/astronomy/summer-solstice-full-moon-june (page no longer available)
3) Gregory Orr, “Farther’s Song,” Academy of American Poets, accessed June 20, 2016 https://poets.org/poem/fathers-song
4) Charles Simic, “Secret History,” The Writer’s Almanac, June 19, 2016, accessed June 20, 2016 https://www.writersalmanac.org/episodes/20160619/
Confession about nightstand books
I may have only finished reading one or two of those books. But I definitely read both issues of Poetry magazine.
NOTES:
1) Coffeehousejunkie, “Nightstand reading,” June 20, 2011, weblog, accessed June 16, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2011/06/20/night-stand-reading/
Try something new with something old
To commemorate a poem published 20 years ago, I composed a little drawing to mark the occasion. The epsicle episode1 provides a modest response to a small poem inspired by the inventor of a summertime snack, the popsicle, is Frank Epperson.
The kagenashi art style is unfamiliar to me. Inspired by Studio Ghibli films and a newly discovered manga graphic novel, Hirayasumi, I thought I would give it a try.
NOTES:
1) Coffeehousejunkie, “Epsicle episode,” June 8, 2006, weblog, accessed June 17, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2006/06/08/epsicle-episode/
Good haunting
A good poem haunts a reader.1 Even after a decade these poems follow me.
From Vera Pavlova:2
Why is the word yes so brief?
It should be
the longest,
the hardest,
so that you could not decide in an instant to say it…
And Khaled Mattawa:3
The rule is everyone is a gypsy now.
Everyone is searching for his tribe.
And final, John Keats:4
The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees…
NOTES:
1) Coffeehousejunkie, “A good poem is like a good film — haunting,” June 14, 2010, weblog, accessed June 16, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2010/06/14/a-good-poem-is-like-a-good-film-%e2%80%94-haunting/
2) Vera Pavlova, “If There Is Something to Desire, 9, 17, 18,” June 14, 2010, Academy of American Poets (poets.org), accessed June 16, 2026, https://poets.org/poem/if-there-something-desire-9-17-18
3) Khaled Mattawa, “Ecclesiastes,” June 14, 2010, Academy of American Poets (poets.org), accessed June 16, 2026, https://poets.org/poem/ecclesiastes
4) John Keats, “On the Grasshopper and the Cricket,” (not everything is on the internet… so times you need to unplug and find a candle and book)
At Ringside
Will anyone believe it? Nearly twenty years ago The Blotter invited The Traveling Bonfires to Ringside for music and poetry.
NOTES:
1) Coffeehousejunkie, “The Traveling Bonfires invade Durham,” June 16, 2007, weblog, accessed June 16, 2026, https://coffeehousejunkie.net/2007/06/16/the-traveling-bonfires-invade-durham/
The conversation went like this
Planning the weekend playlist
A look under the hood
Scanning document with Adobe Photoshop 6.0
Step-by-Step Graphics magazine spread
Mac OS 9.2 startup screen
Before digital desktop publishing
Guess the typeface
Based on the publication date of this old book on how to build a log cabin, the typesetting of these pages was likely a Linotype machine.1
Typeface test.
1) Is the subtitle, Floor Joists, the typeface Future Bold?
2) Is the main body text Bodoni? Or Caslon?
NOTES:
1) For those interested in additional information on the history of printing and the Linotype machine…
Frank Romano, “Help Save the Linotype”, Museum of Printing (Haverhill, Massachusetts), accessed May 11, 2026, https://www.museumofprinting.org/news-and-events/help-save-the-linotype/
Magazine page layout mockups on tracing paper
Graphic designer’s library
Always learning. Always growing. A glimpse at a graphic designer’s library. Graphis Annual 84/85 The International Annual of Advertising and Editorial Graphics, Graphic Design Cookbook, Designer’s Guide to Color 5, and Best Practices for Graphic Designers, Grids and Page Layouts.
Ray Gun magazine
Stormy night reading
It was not the thunder or lightening that distracted me. It was the typeface. Was it the letter “s” or the letter “g” that offered a clue as to the typeface? Most likely Baskerville. But it could also be Caslon.
The wind and rain battered the window. The game’s afoot. The evidence was in a line across the page. Something about the letter “e” made me think I was wrong. The anatomy of the letter “e” features the eye on the top half of the oval. The finial is the tail and the open space between the top half of the letter and finial is the aperture.
The thunder faded as the rain slowed to a steady drizzle. It was the space of the aperture that made me consider that it was neither Baskerville or Caslon. For Baskerville, the eye should be higher and finial lower with a greater space in the aperture. But since this book was printed before the 1970s, maybe the original Baskerville typeface for Linotype looked different when printed. Computer typesetting replaced photo typesetting. And photo typesetting replaced Linotype. Maybe the form of the letters changed from Linotype Baskerville to digital Baskerville. The lights flickered but remained on.
The storm moved east. The downspout outside the window burbled from the rain. And I forgot what I had been reading. A mystery? Something about heroes.
A notebook page from art school
Coffeehouse Junkie 