Cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce

Five things from this week

1: *plays Closing Time by Semisonic*

It’s the end of the semester so this ^ is all my students this week (and then me grading their work).

If you’re a student…

✨ May all of your tests and final projects go well ✨ Please take care of yourself and get some sleep!

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2: RIP MCA

A student showed me how to make this cool grain texture. Thanks, Linnea!

Adam Yauch (aka MCA) died on this day 12 years ago.

Beastie Boys are one of those bands I’ve had on repeat for years (mostly Hello Nasty). Their lyrics are so visual… Cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce… I’ll stir fry you in my wok… My number's beyond what you can dial… Engine running hotter than a boiling kettle… I've got more rhymes than I've got gray hairs…

Here’s my favorite video of them performing:

I love their sense of humor and earnestness.

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3: Everyone’s Getting Involved

Speaking of good music, a Talking Heads tribute album titled Everyone’s Getting Involved is coming out in July. Listen to four of the songs here (featuring Paramore, Teezo Touchdown, Lorde and girl in red).

David Byrne is a creative person I come back to time and time again. The well does not run dry.

His book Bicycle Diaries is a delightful view of the world from a bicycle. His bike racks are functional, beautiful and well placed. His interview with himself is weird and sincere. Speaking In Tongues is one of my all time favorite albums (here’s a playlist of covers of This Must Be the Place).

Watch the iconic 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense (restored for its 40th anniversary by A24). They also made a zine to accompany the album and you’d be silly to think I’m not buying it.

I love the design of the album and the way they’re treating video as a graphic. Whoever is in charge of design over at A24 is doing a good job.

More on David Byrne and Talking Heads later.

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4: Thanks!

Thanks for reading this newsletter and for being alive. The world needs you.

The drawings I made to create the animation.

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5: CMYK PD

Jacob Souva (

Drawing a Blank

) wrote this post to explain how he thinks about color. It’s a great, insightful read. His fourth point is Red is not Red and he begins his explanation by writing, “This one is tricky, but let me explain before you get all up in arms and contact the authorities (CYMK PD?)”

I thought this was hilarious. CMYK PD?! What if there was an entire police department solely dedicated to putting color criminals behind bars? They would have CMYK vehicles with CMYK flashing lights, CMYK uniforms and of course CMYK badges (pictured above).

Even though they would probably look cool, I’m glad the CMYK PD doesn’t exist and people like Jacob are able to encourage others to explore unconventional colors.

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ALSO:

• Behind the scenes of a beautiful book inspired by screen printing and riso –

  the hideout

• Incredible animations made using the Prixel press kit – Kasey Golden

• 3D printed keychains made by UW-Madison Professor Taekyeom Lee:

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“How about we go to bed.” “How about no.”