Hello, I must be going
I’m posting a new thread to prevent further disruption of the thread on embeddable web fonts. My posts on that one were disruptive and harsh, and I apologize to Typophile’s members and moderators for that.
My sincere apologies to Sii for subjecting him to prolonged scrutiny. I can see now that I overreacted. Let’s forgive each other and put it all behind us.
I will be taking a break from Typophile over the next four months. I’ve got so much work on my hands I can’t spare the time, and it pays to be pragmatic when grappling with the slippery dynamics of online fora. Life can be very strange at times. I’ve had eight of my teeth extracted in the past six weeks. That’s six weeks of swollen gums and throbbing pain as the gums heal. I’ll have dentures fitted around about May. A musician friend of mine is dying from cancer right now and it’s making me miserable. Life can be very strange.
Before I depart, I want to thank the following people:
* Tiffany for her good grace, marvellous judgement and big heart
* Eben for his practical outlook and solid moderating skills
* Stewf for his coolness and ongoing support of my type career
* Dan Reynolds for his very existence—-you’re a beautiful person Dan and I like you
* Nick Shinn, John Hudson, William and Hrant for their immense knowledge and experience
* Ricardo and Chris Lozos for their generosity and wonderful humour
* Linda and Patty for their great artistry and professionalism
* James Puckett for his dynamism and obvious potential
* Ben Mitchell and Jelmar for being great sponges and teaching me how better to teach type design
* Darrel, Haley, Zara, Yves, Russell, Tim Daley, Paul Hunt, Sharon, Richard Kegler, Joshua and every other regular here—-you’re all wonderful people whose hearts are in the right place
* Everybody else I’ve conversed with, whether we’ve agreed or disagreed, that’s not the point. The point is it’s all good. You are all good people who expand my mind and strengthen my heart
* Most of all to Joe for making it all possible.
I’ll leave you with the words to the chorus from the Stone Temple Pilots song Still Remains, written by Scott Weiland. It’s very significant for me right now because I don’t know how long the repaired arteries inside my head are going to last. I’m experiencing head pains every time I cough lately. That’s a bad sign, and if one of ’em bursts I’ll probably die. I’m not kidding, nor am I making it up to get sympathy. Life can be very strange.
Pick a song and sing a yellow nectarine
Take a bath I’ll drink the water that you leave
If you should die before me ask if you can bring a friend
Pick a flower hold your breath and drift away
While I’m away, please keep in mind one thing: It’s the spirit of the rules that counts, not the letter.
j a m e s














27.Mar.2008 7.52am
Thanks for your comments, and good luck with your work. I wish you the best health possible!
27.Mar.2008 8.04am
>My sincere apologies to Sii for subjecting him to prolonged scrutiny.
No problem, this is the way of the internets - will buy you a pint if you ever make it to one of conferences - maybe within our lifetimes ATypI or TypeCon will make it down under?
Cheers, Si
27.Mar.2008 9.56am
The upandcomers in the critique forum suffer a blow! Thanks for the energy you put into that forum specifically.
27.Mar.2008 10.16am
I had a close friend who had an artery (AVM) burst in his brain over twenty years ago, and he has been thriving since, though the first year or two were tough. So there is hope, and I wish you all the very best.
27.Mar.2008 10.19am
Sorry you are having such a rough time James, see you in the summer.
27.Mar.2008 10.39am
I wish you good health and contenment. Good luck with your projects! See you when you return.
ChrisL
27.Mar.2008 11.09am
I second the motion from Randy about the critique section. i was looking forward to getting comments from you. But best of luck and hope all goes well.
27.Mar.2008 11.13am
Hey James, thanks for the compliments, although it’s me that should thank you for your posts in my critique-thread. My typeface improved drastically because of it! Thanks.
Good luck with the work, and all the best to you / your health.
See you when you get back on here. :)
27.Mar.2008 11.24am
James,
Thanks for the kind words — and your own good humor, word play, and generosity! Best of luck with your current woes, my friend.
I have been laying low lately, but I still pop in once in a while. I know you’ll be missed around here.
All the best,
Ricardo
27.Mar.2008 12.30pm
L8R, James.
A bit of advice, try to avoid coughing :-)—I can recommend Thayers Slippery Elm Lozenges, “Nature’s Gentle Lubricant —- Prized by Opera Singers”, if it’s available in your neck of the woods, or similar. Not sure exactly how it works or if it would be appropriate for you, but if it’s better to deal with congestion by swallowing rather than coughing, something like that may help.
27.Mar.2008 12.34pm
I mean, you must be new here. It’s the most egotistical thing in the world to issue a speech more reminiscent of one delivered by a character on an American television series on his last episode. You don’t want to read or post, then don’t read or post. We don’t need or want an explanation, in part because we don’t have an orchestra and bimbos in evening gowns to get you off the damned stage.
Worse, you made this a whole new thread. What is it like to be so important, James?
—
Joe Clark
http://joeclark.org/
27.Mar.2008 12.49pm
I hope that the next few months are good for you, James. As for the rest of us, I’m pretty sure that we’ll all still be here when you come back. I think that Typophile is easy enough to catch up on; the threads tend not to go anywhere (usually).
27.Mar.2008 1.06pm
mmm. Joe, Who’s we? And, the internets are is full of bimbos in ball gowns. Where have you been?
James. I look forward to your return.
& I second Nick’s advice.
-=®=-
27.Mar.2008 1.12pm
*hug*
Also I’m totally a bimbo in a ball gown.
27.Mar.2008 1.27pm
>What is it like to be so important
We’re all important, Joe. —Or unimportant, depending on your view. I take the side of ’important’.
27.Mar.2008 1.42pm
wow, joeclark - you getting teeth pulled as well ?
best to you james. courage. smiling emoticon.
27.Mar.2008 1.45pm
I was a little surprised by this thread initially, but ultimately read it as a fond appreciation of this forum and really enjoyed the way James took the time to single out individual contributions. I hope James returns in good health and good form.
Joe Clark is a good candidate for The Silence Brigade.
27.Mar.2008 1.48pm
Come back soon, James. Your insights and humor will be sorely missed.
Cordially,
Ernie
27.Mar.2008 1.48pm
Oouch. Good luck with those teeth!
27.Mar.2008 4.44pm
Peace, health, happiness, and success to you, James, and everyone else on Typophile.
Sharon
27.Mar.2008 6.07pm
See you then. Take good care of yourself. I have used that product Nick was talking about. It’s not a miracle but it helps.
Worse, you made this a whole new thread.
That was my idea so you can now commence kicking me instead if you like.
27.Mar.2008 7.02pm
It’s the most egotistical thing in the world
to post a url that is yourname.* after every post you make assuming that people can not waste precious seconds navigating their way to read more of your pearls of wisdom.
Joe, your being an asshole negates any authority you claim to possess.
James, take care.
27.Mar.2008 7.10pm
I had 25 teeth pulled at the one time, so can understand the pain you were having. Saves on toothpaste and floss though. Hope things look up sometime soon for you.
27.Mar.2008 7.24pm
best regards and best wishes for improved health. You will be missed.
27.Mar.2008 9.15pm
I’ve always been amazed how being really physically uncomfortable/pained for a long time makes me really grumpy, even when I don’t always realize it at the time. Not that that could happen to anybody else, of course. :)
I hope things look up for you and work goes well.
And don’t pay any attention to JC. (Hmmm, those initials - surely it can’t be a coincidence!)
Cheers,
T
28.Mar.2008 12.06am
Best wishes as always, James. And hurry back, dang it. You’ll be missed. (Anyone who wrote “I could eat alphabet soup and crap out a better font than that” would be missed.)
Cheers,
Richard
28.Mar.2008 1.41am
(Anyone who wrote “I could eat alphabet soup and crap out a better font than that” would be missed.)
>> hahaha, excellent.
take care james, and if you can find the time, at least, to let us know about your health from time to time, that would be greatly appreciated by some, including me.
dr
-ps- i’m always happy to learn some stuff. today, i learn that the guy who’s organizing the typeface of toronto subway is a jerk. bad luck for canada.
28.Mar.2008 1.43am
Joe Clark, that was detestable.
28.Mar.2008 4.06am
Mr. James, even the strangers wish you the best. Be well! Relax... (if you dare).
Andre
29.Mar.2008 1.21am
I’m a mimbo in a tux too!!!
I personally know what it means to experience extreme tooth pain- hope you feel better soon. And Typophile is a real time waster too. My ass is so flat from sitting in front of my mac (and I was born with a flat ass anyway)- its gonna start caving in- a concave ass imagine that!
Resist the temptation to check back. Its the same ’ol stuff and fonts are material things anyway. Take a break and enjoy your friend that is battling cancer for as long as he can hang in there.
All my best,
Mikey :-)
Joe Clark... You are as scathing as you are relevant. Try harder next time.
29.Mar.2008 10.27pm
“I could eat alphabet soup and crap out a better font than that”
... Wish all we aspiring typographers could say the same. Best of luck in all, and thanks for all the insight.
30.Mar.2008 10.46am
Re: Joe Clark’s comments. It’s okay for him to have an opinion even if you don’t agree. There is no need to pound him.
30.Mar.2008 11.19am
Eben, Joe Clark has managed to rub some of us the wrong way in other contexts. He asked me for a favor recently and then proceeded to condescend to me and lecture me on email etiquette. It was by far the most unpleasant exchange I have ever had with a fellow Typophile. And now he insults a respected typophile who is going through hard times.
I say pound away!
30.Mar.2008 12.53pm
Eben,
Sure there is a need to pound Joe. He seemed to be claiming to speak for the entire Typophile community in insulting James as to what “we” “don’t need or want.”
James A has irked me on a couple of occasions, but here he is making a public apology for something, and sharing some personal information. I appreciate both of those choices, and I see them as reflecting humility and humanity rather than egotism. I certainly don’t appreciate somebody else seeming to think they can speak for the entire Typophile community in putting James down for doing this.
But then again, maybe this just means I’m part of the cabal? :) (Just teasing, really.)
Cheers,
T
30.Mar.2008 6.55pm
Thomas, Patty, Russelll,
I know I can’t prevent you or anyone from giving Joe what for except to make some points which either will or won’t make sense to you.
Some of this might sound like my trying to “teach your grandma to suck eggs”. But isn’t meant as condescension. Instead I am trying to see if I can (re)establish common/shared ideas about this.
a) It’s James’ thread not Joe’s and the more you ( or anyone ) pounds away at Joe the more it becomes about Joe albeit in a negative way. To me this seems unfortunate. This was in part the reason I asked James to make his own thread - this thread.
b) A very related point is that information which is too random/mixed becomes less valuable to the users of Typophile. Granted this isn’t a Type heavy thread, (it’s personal) but the point is applicable to Typophile threads in general.
This why the guidelines say Don’t hijack other threads:
Don’t post irrelevant queries within another thread; create a new thread. You can post a new topic by scrolling to the bottom of one of the main forum pages and clicking on the “Post a new topic” link.
b) James himself* is an advocate of avoiding extending conflicts bad feelings on Typophile or elsewhere. One way of extending these bad feelings is to reply to negativity with ire even if you are fully justified.
d) That Typophile is a bit too full of “pounding” is in part why James is taking a break.
Typophile will be the kind of place we make collectively it.
Agree or disagree but please make a new thread about it if you want to reply to me. It’s valid to link to that new thread here.
*He can correct me if I am putting false words in his mouth when he gets back, but I I think I am very probably on safe ground here.
30.Mar.2008 7.39pm
In order to deal out the shame you need to establish yourself in a Beta role. Maybe Joe, as an aspiring alpha, is out of the bounds. And now I’ve highjacked another thread and crossed Eben’s advise. Glad I’m not really a wolf.
30.Mar.2008 8.08pm
ok. Sorry.
Actually, Joe is a decent, caring and highly committed guy and I like & respect him. I didn’t mean for the post I’ve just edited to bash him, but to explain that something from Joe that Patty took exception to wasn’t, in my opinion, meant to cause offense. Obviously I missed the mark.
I also like and respect James. I didn’t mean for my contributions to this thread to take anything away from what he has to say, I had hoped to sort of disarm Joe’s negative remarks a little bit with my first post here.
-=®=-
30.Mar.2008 10.25pm
1) james has been harsh and owned up to the fallibility of it all, which takes guts. i’ve known wacked-out medical pain in my day and it’s a real mood killer.
2) joeclark’s presumptive “we” and amazingly unsympathetic little rant.
speak for yourself, sir, and consider an apology.
what font says “sigh” ?
30.Mar.2008 10.58pm
James - I wish you many productive and fulfilling days ahead.
31.Mar.2008 6.56am
First of all, and last of all—-cut the cards!
This isn’t really a discussion thread. It’s a goodbye for the time being thread. The best thing to do now is stop posting on it. That’s all well-wishing we need for the time being.
Eben: *He can correct me if I am putting false words in his mouth when he gets back, but I I think I am very probably on safe ground here.
Very safe ground Eben. Everyone on this thread owes it to themselves to listen to what Eben is saying and take it on-board. I mean it. Let Joe’s comments stand and stop making personal remarks about him. I was uncivil and made many personal remarks about people here the other day in an attempt to draw attention to incivility and the problems that hubris creates. That was the wrong way to go about it. You may not agree with Joe but berating him for his remarks is just more incivility and does nothing to create an environment of trust and good faith.
An uncivil environment is a poor environment to discuss typography in. Yes, we all believe our view is the definitive one, but we must be as broad-minded and tolerant as possible to stay civil.
Keep in mind why you joined the community in the first place.
I’m outta here.
j a m e s