The Red, White and Blue - But Around Here It's Mostly White

This is what it looked like in my neck of the woods on Election Day. Oh, where has Fall gone?

Boy am I glad this day is here - the day when America votes. I may sound very patriotic by this statement - and while I do care about our nation and it's future - I am mostly glad this day is here because now there will be no more annoying political ads. No more opinionated e-mails filling my inbox from people telling me how I should vote. And no more 24 hour news coverage of the election. McCain, Obama, Obama, McCain ... I will be glad when it all dies down.

I live in Oregon and here we mail in (or drop off) our ballots; so I voted days ago. I like the convenience of voting from my own home even though it appears more patriotic to go to the polls and stand in line to vote like most of the country. But what can I say, I like that I don't have to pump my own gas too. It was actually a good thing that I already voted because when I woke up this morning, the town was blanketed with an inch of snow; this would not have been a motivating factor to get me stand to in line outside to vote (although I would have done it if necessary).

This is my front walk ... and what is left of October.

So while the snow is beautiful (and not entirely welcome as I am not yet ready to let go of Fall), I would like to look at it as symbolizing a new beginning for our country. I hope the Lord will give America a clean slate ... and that whomever ends up running this hurting nation will help to make it great again.

Blog Fodder

The Fruits of All Hallow's Eve

We had a fun Halloween this year. The kids' costumes turned out well; we went trick-or-treating with great success in the candy department; and I managed to actually carve a pumpkin or two.

I made little pumpkin houses this year. It was fun gathering the sticks to make the window panes (my daughter helped).

As I was carving the pumpkins I started to feel adventurous and decided to keep the seeds to roast and enjoy as a snack. It was a lot of work separating the seeds from the mushy, orange guts and thoroughly washing them. It was nice to eat them when they were fresh from the oven, but the husks are like eating sawdust. I chose to peel off the husks and just eat the green seed inside which tasted pretty good. Then yesterday I was at the store and saw that I could have just bought the seeds in bulk and saved myself a lot of trouble. Oh well, I am still proud of my efforts!

Free Coffee for Voters

I did it, I voted. I feel a great sense of accomplishment by having done so. And now I will receive a little reward by going into my local Starbucks on November 4th and getting a free tall cup of coffee ... that is if I tell them "I voted". It is all a part of their V2V campaign to get people to have a voice in this election and make your community a better place to live. So, if the satisfaction of knowing you are exercising your rights to vote in this country isn't enough of an incentive, maybe a FREE cup of Starbucks brew is.

Lights Out, Little Cookies

Mother's Cookies is shutting down. That's right, no more pink and white Frosted Animal Cookies, and no more of my personal favorite: Taffy cookies. Now, while I don't buy many cookies from the store, I still feel a great sadness that this American tradition is no more. What do I do now if I want a Taffy cookie? Where do I go? Who do I turn to? Yesterday I was in the grocery store and saw that indeed there were only three types of Mother's Cookies left on the shelf and in very few quantities. Forget the Wall Street bailout, we need to bail out Mother's Cookies! I plan to buy one of the t-shirts shown above. I doubt it will fix the company's bankruptcy problems, but it may the only thing left of those beloved little confections.

Paws Under the Door

My son is so silly. He loves to come into my office when I am working and close the door. He then gets mad that it is closed but he can't open it himself. Today he was grunting and whining so that I would open it and then he erupted in a high pitched giggle. I looked to see what he thought was so funny and saw my cat's paws sticking out from underneath the door. The cat and my son then continued to play, touching each other's "paws" and this provided much entertainment for some time - times like these make me so glad we have all the billions of toys taking up precious real estate in our house.

A Graphic Designer's Approach to Voting

The Vice Presidential debate is tonight and I plan to watch it. I think perhaps that this debate will be more interesting than the Presidential debate because Joe Biden and Sarah Palin are pretty unfamiliar to me. In fact I had never heard of Sarah Palin until the day she was announced as John McCain's pick for VP.

I consider myself to be pretty apolitical, but I do vote - I always vote, it is responsibility I take seriously. But I don't know who I will vote for yet. My values tend to align better with a conservative plan, but I don't always vote republican. I am all for change in the White House, but I don't know which candidate will bring it. So, how do I determine my vote? I feel that Obama conducted himself better during the debate so should I vote for him? I think it is bold of McCain to choose a woman for his running mate so should I vote for him? What do I do? I think I will have to take a graphic designer's approach: who has the best logo and website!

Let's start with McCain/Palin. Their campaign's graphic style has a more formal look and focuses on McCain's military background with the presence of the star and muted colors. Their logo is very balanced and I am impressed that Palin's name has the same boldness and size as McCain's - that shows equality in a visual way. As for their website, it is pretty straight forward but isn't as clean as I would like. The colors muddle together and it looks a bit boring. I do like the celestial feel of the background on the top banner though.

This campaign sign has a military and almost maritime look to it.

The "I'm for" looks out of place, and the yellow color is a dull.

Whether you like Palin or not, you have to admit this button rocks!

Moving on the Obama/Biden. Their campaign's graphic style is modern and relatable. The colors are vibrant and even fun. The logo with the "O" is clever and I have nothing negative to say about it. I love how the flag looks like rows of crops with a sun rising on the horizon. Obama's name is bigger than Biden and is in white which makes it pop more against the bright blue background. Their website is clean, clear and well organized.

The colors in this sign are perfect. They evoke emotion and pride - the red, white and blue!

I am not a "supporter" of either campaign, but if I was for Obama I would love to wear this pin.

In reviewing the graphic styles of these two campaigns I would have to say that Obama wins! His designer or group of designers are excellent. But, alas I cannot make a reasonable decision based on graphics alone, so I guess I'll have to actually pay attention to the issues and debates. One thing I know is whoever wins, this is will be a very historical event and that to me is exciting.