Deli-cious Hanukkah Treat

Happy Thanksgivukkah, everybody! At least, that's what Boston mayor Thomas Menino is officially proclaiming the holiday. It's the coinciding of the beginnings of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, which, according to the proclamation, "will not happen again for more than 79,000 years" (notably, this is a disputed calculation, since it seems likely that the Jewish calendar will be adjusted sometime between now and then to keep the holidays aligned to the seasons). Regardless of whether or not this Thanksgivukkah is unique, Tufts is celebrating with the unofficial opening of a brand new kosher deli on campus, located just inside Jumbo Express.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Melt

Last month, I solicited the help of friends on Facebook in order to compile a list of campus "secrets" for use on a bulletin board on my hall. You know, things like "Carmichael has a hidden stash of popsicles across from the pizza station," or "You can ride the elevator from the bottom of Downling Hall to the top of the hill, even after the building is closed." But the real value of having lived on this campus for so many years comes from learning the ins and outs of our dining halls. In a rush during Stir-Fry night at Carm? Microwave your own "stir-fry" with the help of the sauces they keep over there. Not gonna wait in line for a Dewick Sundae Sunday? Fill a bowl with whipped cream, add fruit from the salad bar, and go crazy at the toppings station. But here's the gem of dining hall cooking: the chocolate peanut butter cookie sandwich melt.

Oh yes. This.

How (Not) to be Open-Minded

This week, I invited one of my friends to come see the new "Ender's Game" movie, the recent film adaptation of one of my all-time favorite books. Her reply: "I'm conflicted. I want to see it, but there is that boycott." As it turns out, Orson Scott Card (the author of the Ender's Game series and one of the best writers of our time) is conservative when it comes to social issues. Specifically, he's anti-gay. And for that reason, LGBT activists and allies are calling for a boycott of the movie. In the name of tolerance, we should not watch a movie which profits an intolerant person. In the name of openness, we should close ourselves to anything produced by people with bad views. I humbly submit: Poppycock.

Ender's Game is about kids in space. Sort of.

Fall Photos and Painted Pumpkins

Now that November is here and the colder weather is coming, let's take a quick look at what fall looked like at Tufts... mostly through macro-shots of leaves and pumpkins.

Notably, not a close-up of a leaf. 

Fonts from Your Dorm Room

     "It looks like the kind of font they'd have on a top-secret envelope, marked CONFIDENTIAL," Andrew said. I nodded in agreement.
     "But does it say, 'I'm going to kill you?'"
     "I think so. It's good."

Wacom Bamboo writing tablet

As a web designer, I'm often hunting down fonts on the web to use in my projects. I'm no typography expert, but I've always been attracted to the perfect handwriting of the occasional classmate or the bizarre typeface on a new poster. So when I was starting to edit the look and feel of a website Andrew and I are building for an upcoming game of Assassins, I had to find the fonts to convey the perfect mixture of casual, spooky, and murder-mystery. But where do fonts come from? But if I had a little more artistic skill, could I make my own fonts? And what in the world is sans-serif? That, dear reader, is contained below.