To Blog or Not to Blog

This blog hasn't been getting much play from me lately, so I'm going to start experimenting to see what kind of blogging style makes me want to come back for more.

At the moment it is primarily a place for me to put all the grotesque detritus that needs a place to hang out comfortably while I decide whether or not it makes the team (thesis). Like they (who, someone) say, what you leave out is as important as what you include. This probably means there will be some random posts.

Hopefully none describing my grotesque sock drawer or lint collection, but no guarantees I'm afraid.

I'm currently writing a paper called "I'll take part of your face and make it mine": Identity, Race and the Grotesk Body in Superhero Comics for my university's annual postgraduate conference. I will be presenting a paper on a related topic at the Gender, Bodies and Technology Conference in Virginia next year, which is very groovy, but also adds certain pressures.

After reading bell hooks as part of my ruminations on race and the grotesque, I came across this video of hooks talking about the value of popular culture as a research topic. I like putting faces to names. Now I will picture her as I read.

Grotext

Did you know the grotesque had its very own font? When I heard the name 'Grotext' I assumed it would be something a bit wild, maybe like this...

No, this is Hirsute Futura. Surely a grotesque font would be a little controversial or thrilling? Something like this...


BloodFeast. Perfect for university assignments, resumes and party invitations. What about a creepy monster font?



Oh yeah. At the very least something wacky and weird. How about Tim Yarzhombeck's typography of beards!

So many options. So what is the grotesque font?


According to the Karsten Luecke Type Foundry: "Grotext preserves a human touch. And history. Whereas most contemporary typefaces assimilate lowercase and uppercase, Grotext does the opposite and emphasizes the difference: Its narrow lowercase make it a space-saver. Its uppercase are wide & classically proportioned... its shapes give it a technical flair."

Um, well. I guess it's... tidy. At least it has technical flair. Right?