March 2019

You Are Not a Tool

To me, that combination of many things — of not being tied to one particular tool — is where the power often lies.

The Tragedy of Baltimore

In 2017, it recorded 342 murders — its highest per-capita rate ever, more than double Chicago’s, far higher than any other city of 500,000 or more residents and, astonishingly, a larger absolute number of killings than in New York, a city 14 times… See more →

Today’s the 20th anniversary of The Matrix, so it’s also the 20th anniversary of the first time I saw someone take a phone call in a theater

Reading @zeldman’s Designing with Web Standards. twitter.com/ParissAthena/s…

Severe design flaw in Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s Msgr. McGolrick Park: There are a zillion benches here and NONE OF THEM FACE THE DOG PARK.

I’ve reached the point in The West Wing where I need to seek out the presumably bustling fan fiction community devoted to Mrs. Landingham.

I was correct to assume that Steve Albini giving a tour of Electrical Audio is a great way to spend a half hour. youtu.be/NwkF3-JmSeA

RIP Scott Walker. May we all learn from his example and find the courage to follow our muse into uncharted territory.

When do we change our national anthem to “Send in the Clowns”? twitter.com/nytimes/status…

Like any good punk thing, Turn It Around encouraged me to remember what’s important to me and participate in it. letterboxd.com/robweychert/fi…

It’s easy to ding this doc for its nearly three-hour run time, which seems self-indulgent. I don’t think its length is one of its strengths, but I didn’t find it to be a slog either. Mostly I just enjoyed hanging out with its characters and hearing their stories, and I was especially tickled to hear members of the apocalyptic Neurosis geeking out over how much they love Green Day. Being something of an outsider who… See more →

Okay, I know, fine, I’ll quit Twitter.

Just did my monthly Instagram check and it took me 20 minutes to figure out the five-tap rain dance now required to see posts I’ve liked. 👍🏻

Found a mysterious object sewn into my suitcase lining. As big as a postcard and thick as five. Do I cut open the lining like a paranoiac?

Scenes from a sidewalk.

It’s cool that we’re paying athletes $430 million while teachers get to choose between eating and self-financing classroom supplies. twitter.com/nytimes/status…

Look at this gorgeous 3D paper lettering from Alia Bright! (via @Colossal) aliabright.com

If I speak
at one constant volume
at one constant pitch
at one constant rhythm
right into your ear
you still won’t hear twitter.com/robweychert/st…

The new @otobokebeaver single makes me happy and I’d like it very much if they played some non-festival US dates. otobokebeaver.bandcamp.com/track/dont-lig…

Today’s small victory.

Don’t talk to me about the 2020 presidential election until two weeks before my primary.

So much sadgasm in the reminiscences flooding @thetrocadero’s mentions right now. 😭

I’ve spent more time at @thetrocadero than any other music venue. I don’t go much anymore, but hope it stays afloat. tinnitus.robweychert.com/venue/trocader…

Just this week I wrote about how @thetrocadero’s old handbills inspired the design of my new site. v6.robweychert.com/blog/2019/03/c…

Well this is a massive bummer. No official word yet, but apparently @thetrocadero is closing. phillymag.com/news/2019/03/1…

“To me, that combination of many things — of not being tied to one particular tool — is where the power often lies.” brendandawes.com/blog/youarenot…

I haven’t seen many Bond movies and most of them are streaming now so I’ve started from the beginning. Call it my… dude diligence. 💫

What percentage of iOS Live Photos are taken intentionally?

Thank you for reading! Pedantic but important distinction: the table markup is semantic and incidental to the layout. twitter.com/simoncoudevill…

Isabelle Huppert’s demented performance is more than this movie deserves and not enough to save it. One might expect the filmmakers to have some fun with this kind of pure pulp, but the whole thing is rote and flat, with plainspoken design and direction and a script that pulls every punch. The closest it comes to generating tension is triggering flashbacks from The Piano Teacher, seemingly intentionally. So maybe just watch that instead.

I’ve never had so much fun breaking my brain! twitter.com/robweychert/st…

I wrote about how I’m using CSS Grid and variable fonts in the design of Tinnitus Tracker, my new live music diary. v6.robweychert.com/blog/2019/03/c…

Thanks to Tinnitus Tracker’s many browsing options, there are more than 1,000 lists of shows on the site, making the show list the most prevalent design pattern. It was clear from the start that this would be the case, and the design of event listings is something I’ve given a lot of thought as a designer and music fan, so it was the first thing I explored in early sketches and mockups.

My initial… See more →

Dude on my flight last night celebrated International Women’s Day by mansplaining air travel to another man.

In my dream, a homeowner said my website design influenced his decision not to sell to me. I woke up mid-explanation and it is killing me.

Spent the afternoon listening to @JesseSykes while driving across the desert. 😌

“They just rub me the wrong way.” —@ChamberMonster, on penguins