This evening, I was considering the notion of fate. I don’t happen to believe in the concept. But surely, even if you do, even if you imagine your life to be guided by A Higher Authority, you submit and live your life as best you can.
Which is my way of introducing a kind of poem that I wrote. I woke one morning, several months ago, with that random and absurd anxiety that seems trivial later but hits you all-consuming at the time. Rather than stare at the ceiling (my usual solution), I wrote down a few thoughts.
The result is an argument against fate in which two guys battle, neither wins, and a third (through no fault of his own beyond the telling of the event) loses. I call it:
There we were at the Raven’s 9
I was there with a friend of mine
He held a stick of ore and pine
(my state of health was in decline)
He set a shot to wooden tee
I was there with this friend of me
He swung his stick out to the sea
(I witnessed it; it’s their story)
A mile away, around a bend
Far from me and my mentioned friend
A garden set with Man to tend
(that I was well I won’t pretend)
He swung and let that bullet fly
We watched the shot arc thru the sky
(I saw it faint; I’m hardly spry)
My friend swears no; I swear he lie
What happened next we’ll never know
My friend saw else but I saw so:
A land to till with rake and hoe
(our mem’ries checked by afterglow:)
That Man he caught it in his hand
Far from us in a distant land
He bent and aimed and spun his stand
Returned it like a rubber band
(The Man he kicked a muddy boot
How we saw that is in dispute
I have my friend here to refute)
I meanwhile searched for final root
The puck returned to apogee
“That Man won’t die!” such agony!
And with my friend, now, I agree
(for here I passed; it entered me)
I really enjoyed reading it,
I really enjoyed reading it, interesting! Thank you for sharing!
Attack of the Numerals
Okay now this is really strange that I’m not the only one dreaming of numbers. Although, my remembrance wasn’t as dramatic. haha! I do recall the number 1 and how it came to be with a base and pointed upward. Also, the two and they were both taunting me with their designs. I woke up.
Shutterstock Vectors & Adobe Illustrator
Hello, Deke. I purchased a vector set of ornate borders from Shutterstock, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to use them. I want to use them to accent portraits of individuals - they can be used as “name tags” or as borders for the entire photo.
I am having limited success separating each vector ornate out on the sheet. (Do I use the artboard feature??). I am also having trouble adding text to them - I want my text to mirror the pretty text appearing in the vector object but can’t figure out how to do this.
I’ve looked through many of the Illustrator courses on Lynda.com and have not found an example of how to use Vector sets purchased from online vendors like Shutterstock.
Can you cover this in one of the Deke’s Techniques courses? I would greatly appreciate it.
~Annette
I am using Adobe Illustrator CS5
Shutterstock Vector Set example: http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?searchterm=ornate+borders&search_group=&lang=en&search_source=search_form#id=72064387
Some of the best stuff
...that I come up with in my music and lyrics (and more) is based on dreams. Dreams are a powerful instrument not to be underestimated.