Scott Boehmer

Category: Art

  • Digital Packrat Manifesto

    Digital Packratting is the antithesis of this trend. It requires intentional curation, because you’re limited by the amount of free space on your media server and devices—and the amount of space in your home you’re willing to devote to this crazy endeavor. Every collection becomes deeply personal, and that’s beautiful. It reminds me of when I was in college and everyone in my dorm was sharing their iTunes music libraries on the local network. I discovered so many new artists by opening up that ugly app and simply browsing through my neighbors’ collections. I even made some new friends. Mix CDs were exchanged, and browsing through unfamiliar microgenres felt like falling down a rabbit hole into a new world.

    While streaming platforms flatten music-listening into a homogenous assortment of vibes, listening to an album you’ve downloaded on Bandcamp or receiving a mix from a friend feels more like forging a connection with artists and people. As a musician, I’d much rather have people listen to my music this way. Having people download your music for free on Soulseek is still considered a badge of honor in my producer/dj circles.

    Janus Rose

    The Digital Packrat Manifesto (404 Media)

    Where possible I try to make sure I get DRM-free files that I can keep. For music, I buy mp3s, usually as albums. For movies and shows, I do mostly stream. For any movie or show that I want to actually keep, I buy discs rather than digital copies. On the rare occasions that I buy a digital copy of a movie, I make sure it is on Movies Anywhere so that there is less chance I lose access due to one tech company deciding to abandon their service. For books, I only ever buy ebooks from stores that sell without DRM, like DriveThruFiction. For other books I want to read, I’ll either buy a physical copy or borrow a copy from the library.

  • I Sit up in My Window

    The world feels pretty broken right now, but it’s still worth having some hope and determination to make it a better place. Here’s another song I like along those lines: I Sit up in My Window by Jem.

    I Sit up in My Window (JEM)

  • Society’s Kind of Like a Video Essay

    I thought this was a well-crafted message about the focus on efficiency, not just in government, but as a goal for society as a whole. Is efficiency really what we should be aiming for?

    A Video Essay About Efficiency (Pillar of Garbage)

  • The Hardest Working Font in Manhattan

    In 2007, on my first trip to New York City, I grabbed a brand-new DSLR camera and photographed all the fonts I was supposed to love. I admired American Typewriter in all of the I ❤ NYC logos, watched Akzidenz Grotesk and Helvetica fighting over the subway signs, and even caught an occasional appearance of the flawlessly-named Gotham, still a year before it skyrocketed in popularity via Barack Obama’s first campaign.

    But there was one font I didn’t even notice, even though it was everywhere around me.

    Last year in New York, I walked over 100 miles and took thousands of photos of one and one font only.

    The font’s name is Gorton.

    Marcin Wichary

    The hardest working font in Manhattan (Aresluna)

  • Paper Rings

    It’s Valentine’s Day, so here is a love song that I like: Paper Rings by Taylor Swift.

  • Two Bare Feet

    A lot of news I’ve been sharing here is unhappy and stressful, so I want to make an effort to share something I like each week. For this first post towards that goal, here’s one of my favorite songs: Two Bare Feet by Katie Melua. Enjoy!

  • When Creators are Disappointing

    It’s entirely up to you where you draw the line for yourself. It sucks to think that something into which you invested so much of yourself was created by a monster, and that you might then have to change your relationship with it. I know. But that relationship does change.

    Bryan Young

    Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling and the fall of beloved creators (Salt Lake City Weekly)

  • The New Colossus

    Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
    With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
    Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
    A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
    Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
    Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
    Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
    The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

    “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
    With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
    Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

    “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus

    The New Colossus (Wikipedia)

  • Project Gingerbread

    I made this eight years ago and it still brings me joy. Merry Christmas!

  • Standard Ebooks

    Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven project that produces new editions of public domain ebooks that are lovingly formatted, open source, free of U.S. copyright restrictions, and free of cost.

    Ebook projects like Project Gutenberg transcribe ebooks and make them available for the widest number of reading devices. Standard Ebooks takes ebooks from sources like Project Gutenberg, formats and typesets them using a carefully designed and professional-grade style manual, fully proofreads and corrects them, and then builds them to create a new edition that takes advantage of state-of-the-art ereader and browser technology.

    Standard Ebooks aren’t just a beautiful addition to your digital library—they’re a high quality standard to build your own ebooks on.

    Standard Ebooks