Bad kerning and leading makes me nuts!

I'm not kidding when I say I'm a typography buff.  When I design something, most is done in a hurry for the school yearbook.  But at least I still TRY to do all my letter and leading spacing correctly for the intention of the design.

When I see logos and websites with horrible kerning and leading, it just makes me cringe.  For instance, in this post, will I bother to edit for leading?  No.  Did I mess with the leading and kerning in my banner up top? Yes.

I was just surfing the other day and saw some truly horrible examples.  Next time I'll have to take some screen shots of good and bad examples, and of course give credit where credit is due.  I'll have to look up the legal stuff on that.

Week Two Day Three Workout

From the "Erbst Circle of Pain, Ladies Division"

Legs and Stomach

1.  Snowmobile belt stretches
     i.  4 sets of 30 seconds
2.  Calf Stretch
     i.  4 sets of 15 reps
3.  Broom Handle Squats with Lunges
     i.  4 sets of 20 reps with 4 lunges
4.  Olympic Bar Squats
     i.  Groups of 4
     ii.  Use plain bar with spotters
5.  Snowmobile stretch with 5 second hold
     i.  3 sets
6.  Bent Leg Snowmobile stretch
7.  Long Bar Squats
     i.  10 to a bar, 5 on each side
     ii.  Timed starting at 20 seconds, build to 3rd set of 40-60 seconds.
8.  2 Line pass drill
     i.  2 lines, 2 balls.

I love the workouts with medicine ball passes.  Seems more like a game than work.  Those Long Bar squats are HARD.

GASP! The Horror of it all...

One of my poor, poor, students made a grevious error last week.  He was setting up a web banner and deciding on a font.  Didn't really care for his choice, didn't fit with the content he chose.  I was talking with him and he said "Well, it's only a Font."

Horrors!!!!!  Poor kid walked right into a teaching moment.  Right then and there, I stopped the class and went into a 10 minute lecture on business identity and font choice.  Said I'd phone Billabong and Element and let them know they wasted MILLIONS of dollars in advertising money, because obviously they didn't need to pay so much attention to lettering style.  All of this was of course not a standard lecture, but a dramatic plea for the use of imagination and planning in their choices.  My victim knows me well, and had a little smile on his face the entire time.

Week Two, Day Two Workout

Hello friends!  Heard I missed a hard workout last night.  I "almost" regret it, because next time we do the hall walk it will be harder since I missed this one!

On to the workout:

Arms

1.  Standing dumbell curls with kickbacks

     i.  4 sets of 10 reps with partner

2.  Single arm kickbacks (above the head)

     i.  3 sets of 10 reps switch without a rest

3.  Hammer Curls with Front Wrist Rolls

     i.  4 sets of 10 reps

4.  Close Group Bench with Leg Outs

     i.  4 sets of 10 reps

5.  Rope Push Downs and V-Bar Pushdowns

     i.  4 sets of 10 reps

6.  Gunslingers with Partner (slowly)

     i.  Everyone has a set of dumbells

7.  Side Raises with Partner

     i.  4 sets of 10 reps

     ii.  Not too high

8.  2 Line Chest Pass with movement

Most of this stuff you can look up online if you don't know what they are.  But the group exercises is what makes these workouts so special!

Close Group Bench With Legouts:

Large plastic bar in the middle.  Two sets of three people (similar height best).  Three on one side of the bar, three on the other.  Head to head.  Laying down.  Grab bar.  Put arms straight up in the air.  Then you do all these leg exercises.  It can be changed depending on what you want to work on.  Leg outs, bicycle, One legouts, leg lifts, any particular torture you may desire.

Even though this is an arm workout, you'll notice everything else is working too.  Legs, outer abs, all sorts of muscles you didn't know you had.


The group work also lets you build camaraderie with your workout group.  I work out with some great ladies.  Some I knew, some I didn't.  Now we all know each other in passing, and are working together with a common goal.


See you Monday Ladies!

Week Two Workout One

I'm going to keep posting it by week and day, but remember that everything can be mixed and matched within reason.

Here's the reasonable part: If anyone is actually reading this blog.  Look for the patterns.  What is worked in what order.  Let your muscles relax and repair.  Sore is OK, pain is not.  At least in my opinion, and hey, it's my blog.

Mr. Erbst works us hard, but he builds the reps and weight up, not just "Here, lift this."  He's a great teacher and a wonderful motivator.  Thanks for doing this for us Mr. Erbst!

On to the workout:

Leg and Stomach

1.  Calf Stretch
     a.  4 sets of 15 reps
2.  Partner snowmobile stretch
     a.  4 sets of 30 seconds with 5 second hold

3.  Partner Broomhandle legouts with bicycle for rest

     a.  3 set of 1 minute each

4.  Partner Squats with Partner Twists

     a.  4 sets of 30 seconds each 60 reps on twists average.

5.  Partner running in place - timed

     a.  switch on the whistle

6.  Medicine Ball Circle

      a.  2 people in the middle, two balls.

7.  4 corner ball drill

Explanations:

Calf stretch - on a stair, or boards, or a step, put your toes on the board.  Put your legs down to stretch the calf.  Raise up.  We do that until we can't.

Partner Snowmobile Stretch - old snowmobile belts with athletic tape around two opposite parts.  You grab those parts with your feel touching.  One person pulls, the other is stretched.  Go back and forth.  When you pull, if you can keep your back straight and just pull back your arms, you get a double workout.

Broomhandle legouts - You lay down with the partners heads by each other, your feet pointing out in opposite directions.  Both of you grab the handle of the broomstick.  Put your legs out, pull your legs in.  Lots of variations on this.  Bicycles, Leg up and downs.

Partner twists:  Again with the broomhandle, you stand opposite your partner and get the distance right so you don't smack each other with the stick.  Twist and meet in the middle, go back and forth.  Switch legs that you are in the 60/40 stance once in awhile to gain coordination on both sides.

Partner squats: You're beginning to love and hate the broomstick.  Grab that puppy and go into a squat at the same time.  Use the broom handle to leverage so you think your legs aren't working as hard.  They are.

Partner running in place - Put your hands on your partner's shoulders.  They put their hands about leg level.  Run in place, trying to get your knees up to their hands.  This is a timed event.  We got up to 40 seconds that night, and have progressed to one minute since then.

Medicine ball circle - FUN!!!  Feels like play, not work.  Two people get in the middle, and throw that ball around.

Four corners:  We had four people in four corners.  This is tough to describe.  Starts in one corner.  Throw the ball, run to the end of the line at the next corner.  Keeps going in a circle, sometimes changing directions.  Sometimes adds in another ball.  Challenging, but still FUN.

I am NOT an exercise guru.  I'm posting the workouts for the people that go to these workouts.  If people out there decide to try these, like with all exercise, know what you're doing, and don't hurt yourself!

Week One Day Three Workout

Erbst Circle of Pain

A)  Partner Stretch
     i.  for 5 minutes Upper Body and Legs

B)  Leg Outs with partner with see-saw

     i. 3 sets of 30 seconds

C)  Dumbell Front Raises

     i.  3 angles change every 20 seconds

D)  Sitdown Dumbell Press

     i.  4 sets of 10 reps

E)  Laying Down E-Z Bar Pullovers

     i.  3 sets of 10 reps

F)  Olympic Bar Body Curls

     i.  2 to a bar

     ii.  4 sets of 15 reps

G)  Olympic Bar Wrist Rolls with Partner

     i.  Superset with partner kickbacks

     ii.  4 sets of 10 reps

Week One Day Two Workout

Erbst Circle of Pain

Chest

1. Broom handle stretch with partner
   4 sets of 30 sec
2. Dumbell Wrist Rolls
   3 sets of 20 sec
3. Dumbell pushups on your knees
   4 sets of 10 reps with your partner then switch
4. Flat Bench
   4 sets of 10 reps
5. Flat Bench Flies
   3 sets of 10 reps
6. Standing Flies superset with side raises
   3 sets of 10 reps
7. Partner and individual stretch

Doesn’t seem like a lot on paper, but we felt it the next day!

Week One Day One Workout

Erbst Circle of Pain

Week One Day One

1. Intro to Class
   1. Time
   2. Days
   3. Length of Class
   4. What you will need to do each day when you arrive
   5. Stretch out the body part we are covering for the day
   6. What you need to bring to class
      1. Water Bottle
      2. Towel
      3. Good Attitude
   7. Check on any injured areas.
2. Legs and Stomach
   1. Snowmobile stretch
      1. 4 sets of 30 sec.
   2. Broomhandle twists
      1. 4 sets of 30 sec.
   3. Calf stretch
      1. 3 sets of 15 reps
   4. Broomhandle Partner twists
      1. 4 sets of 30 sec.
   5. Partner Broomhandle squats
      1. 4 sets of 30 sec.
   6. Partner Broomhandle legouts
      1. Leg raises and bicycle.
   7. Medicine Ball Circle
      1. Bent legs one person in middle

The meaning of my name

Iris - yes, it's a flower, but it is also the center of your eye that adjusts to light. I use it as an analogy in class concerning aperture settings. People usually think that it's the pupil that adjusts, but it's really the Iris that is moving, not the pupil.

Fleuron - Flowery dingbat. Says it all. I like gardening, I'm a font addict and loooove typography as an art form. And yes, I can be a dingbat, as in not bright. I'm the classic straight man for my sons and husband. For those that don't know, a dingbat is also a default windows font.

Admin is crazy, or I'm too negative

I didn't mean to become a teacher, it just happened. I love the kids. Every stinkin' one of them. Even the ones I don't particularly like.

I think I'm pretty good at it, and there is always room for improvement. So why is it that every time administration comes up with an idea to make us "Better Teachers" I think it is possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard? I try not to be negative and say that administration must know what they are doing, but I don't think they did the math on their latest idea.

As a teaser, I'll just say that since I'm NOT a math teacher, I asked one to crunch some numbers for me. I'll get back on here and report the idea and the subsequent research on it.

Went to the work out tonight, and it was great. I'm having a hard time moving though, and the front of my leg hurts. Hot shower and IBU's are my friend. I'll be posting a bunch of workouts over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!