5 points

1. Jeff VanderMeer wrote the excellent and encompassing book City of Saints and Madmen, which I referred to in my Pinewoods posts. (It's that fungal fantasy, and he's the fellow who asked to use some of my fungus fotos for promotional material.) All of you should read it, not least because his "Fonts Used in This Book" section consists of four pages of invented font histories set in the world of the book:

   Brooding and dusky, Palatino reflects the obsessions of its creator, the Truffidian monk Michael Palatino. Palatino spent 20 years in the silence of Zamilon, studying texts buried in basements and subterranean tunnels accessible only by air ducts or crawl spaces. Palatino eventually emerged from the darkness, trailing behind him enlightenment, several rare religious books, and a font he had developed while lost in a cave.

2. Another book in the same world, Shriek: an Afterword, is due out on Tuesday.


3. There's an intriguing short film based on Shriek which will be touring the country (and other countries) this summer and fall. These showings will involve freebies and nift. (Unaffiliated with Freebies & Nift, Importers.)


4. One of the stops will be Cambridge's Pandemonium Books & Games, on Friday August 18th.


5. I will be in Boston on Sunday, August 20th, for the wedding of Joshua and kelilah.

Hmmmm.