Despite never using the left thumb to type, my left hand has to do the heavy lifting when it comes to the number of letters it's responsible for.

Left hand is responsible for 15 letters:
qwertasdfgzxcvb

Right hand takes care of 11 letters:
yuiophjklnm

Maybe that's why I use my right thumb for the space bar, my left hand is too busy typing the majority of the letters.

I've started a new art series where I write a prayer on a sticky note and place it on a public pay phone. Read more about it in the art section of spudart.org at: http://www.spudart.org/blogs/art_comments/4665_0_6_0_C/

For those who type with both of your hands set in the "proper" position on the keyboard, do you use your right thumb or your left thumb to hit the space bar? I always use my right thumb. My poor left thumb does jack crap. It never ever EVER gets to hit a key.

Image courtesy feuilllu via creative commons

The South Pole has reached negative 90 degrees fourteen times so far this year. The lowest being –95 on June 14 and June 23. Can they break negative 100?

Here's the temperatures for June:
http://www.wunderground.com/history/station/89009/2008/6/1/MonthlyHistory.html

When you want to separate a bunch of information on one line, what do you use? Let us look at some options.

The pipe
Your Name | Fancypants Title | Acme Widgets
Classic, although it's essential to use two spaces before and after the pipe, otherwise it looks like an l (that's a lower case L)

The bullet
Your Name • Fancypants Title • Acme Widgets
Very institutional

The tilde
Your Name ~ Fancypants Title ~ Acme Widgets
So early 2000s. This is like putting an orbital shape by your logo. Don't do it! oh noooo!

The plus sign
Your Name + Fancypants Title + Acme Widgets
Cute, as it's a math sign. What does your name, title, and company add up to? It would be funny to have an equal sign in there somewhere. What that would equal, i have no idea.

The double slash
Your Name // Fancypants Title // Acme Widgets
Hip. Very hip.

The dollar sign
Your Name $ Fancypants Title $ Acme Widgets
Oh good gravy, I hope there is nobody on this planet using this. But you know there is. Somewhere.

The greater-than sign
Your Name > Fancypants Title > Acme Widgets
What is this? A navigational breadcrumb? I think not. Let's not mix our metaphors here.

The double greater-than sign
Your Name » Fancypants Title » Acme Widgets
Cousin to the greater-than sign is this funky double-version. It's like a set of twin cousins.

The coolest character to use (and the point of this blog post) The division sign
Your Name ÷ Fancypants Title ÷ Acme Widgets
It's got it all. A dash. Two dots. And the joy of mathematical richness. Dividing. What happens when you divide your name and then divide that by your title and then your company? Who knows? But it's really cool to think about. And we all know that when you line up a bunch of division signs, they make a stitched line effect. Now that's just frankencool.

When you put a bunch of division symbols next to each other, they look like a stitched line. The horziontal lines are the seam. The dots are the holes where the thread goes through.

I was playing with my email signature and thought the division symbol was pretty cool. Who uses that in their email signature? Nobody that's who. Here's my email sig in all its divisional glory:

Tänan!
(That’s thank you in Estonian. Pronounced “TA-nahn.”)

Matt Maldre ÷ Artist/Designer ÷ Spudart Productions
http://www.spudart.org ÷ matt@spudart.org ÷ 312-505-3830
÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷  ÷ 
To view the entire series of “thank you” in other languages,
visit: http://www.43things.com/things/view/1692376

See! It's totally like a stitched line. Oh you know it.

Tomorrow's blog post will touch on other symbols you can use in your email signatures. (Hint, the division symbol wins)

photo courtesy Library of Congress

What if this was the regular road uniform for the 2008 Cubs? Goodbye red, white, and blue. Welcome pure charcoal gray.

(image from benandclare)


(image from neowneow)

Who knew that Springfield, Illinois had such a cool building? I like how the dome is stretched taller. And that silver color. Very cool. (I encountered this discovery from a photo on a chicagoist post about the state worker rally).

whoat

definition:
Interjection. (used to express surprise or confusion. a combination between "whoa" and "what").

example:
as in, "Whoat! You must be kidding!"

Every Tuesday after sunset in 2008 from July 15 to August 22, Chicago will show free movies on a 50-foot by 34-foot screen in Chicago's downtown Grant Park at 100 S. Lake Shore Drive. (It's south of Millennium Park, and north of the Art Institute).

The 2008 Movies in the Park lineup:
8:57 p.m. July 15: “All About Eve” (1950)
8:51 p.m. July 22: “The Odd Couple” (1968)
8:44 p.m. July 29: “The Blues Brothers” (1980)
8:35 p.m. Aug. 5: “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951)
8:25 p.m. Aug. 12: “Touch of Evil” (1958)
8:15 p.m. Aug. 19: “An Affair to Remember” (1957)
8:03 p.m. Aug. 26: “Grease” (1978)

What to bring:
• Blanket to lay on or chairs to sit upon.
• Blanket to wrap up in. It may get quite chilly at night!
• Munchies to delight the tastebuds
• Plastic alligators to protect your spot
• Drinks, but no alcohol. No booze in Chicago's parks, man.
• Items to pass the time: card games, book.
• Umbrellas (Films will be shown in rainy weather as long as lightning, strong winds or other severe conditions are not present.)

When to go:
• People start staking out their spots early As soon you get off work at 5pm. GO! Expect about 9,000 people to show up.

Where to sit:
• Just like a traditional theatre, don't sit too close to the front. Try for center.
• Watch out for dog poopies
• Sit behind people who have a blanket down and ask if they will be getting chairs later. Don't sit down with blank grass in front of you. People with chairs might arrive and block your view.
• If you bring chairs with you, try to sit in front of people with chairs. It's just common courtesy. Sit in front of people with a blanket and they will get pissed off at you.

Do you have anything to add to this list?
Any fun experiences to share? Please leave them in the comments below.

------
Chicago Outdoor Film Festival-Grant Park
Butler Field, Grant Park
100 S. Lake Shore Drive

Grab a blanket, pack a picnic and spend Tuesday nights watching classic movies for free under the stars. Cyclists can take advantage of free bike valet parking at the northwest corner of Lake Shore Drive and Monroe Street.
Phone: 312-744-3315
Price: Free.

(in case you're wondering, here's the list of movies played at previous Movies in the Park in 2005, 2006, and 2007.)

Rock-n-cherry-rocky-road

definition:
Interjection/Slang. (used to express delight or joy).

example:
as in, "Rock-n-cherry-rocky-road! That bicycle is incredible!"

first usage:
Andertoons Cartoon Blog: "Parts of the Tribune Tower remind me of this cube. Too bad our actual cubes don't look like this. That would roooooock-n-cherry-rocky-road."

You know when someone is past the Gen Y or Gen X generation when they wear a braided belt. Those things died out in the 90s. Let them be buried circa 1995.

Y'know those braided belts that people wear on your pants under belt loops. They are not big (the big ones that women wear over dresses and stuff are nice), but i'm talking about the regular belt size that people wear with a shirt. THOSE braided belts.

If you see someone over the age of 30 wearing the dorky braided belt, you know they belong to that older generation. If you fit that description, get a clue and TRASH THE BRAIDED BELT.

Barack Obama (democrat)
A boar am back

John McCain (republican)
Jam Inch Con

Ralph Nader (independent)
Harder Plan

Chuck Baldwin (constitution)
Wild Cab Chunk

Bob Barr (libertarian)
Barb Orb

------------------------------------------------
Dropped out:

Ron Paul (republican)
Our Plan

Hillary Clinton (democrat)
Lo Tyrannic Hill

After seeing the photos in this post and this post, I want to visit Amsterdam.

I love Chicago's river. Amsterdam's river here has such neat little boats all along the sides. It's so naturally part of a community with the houses and fun bikes. I would love to photograph their river.

I have added over one thousand photos of other flickr users to my favorites on flickr. You can see all 1,038 in one big image file. Or if you would like to see the individual images, download this zip file and open the html file in your browser.