Got up nice and early and had a killer green chile burrito at the world-famous Frontier Restaurant.

This place is New Mexico to the bone! Fast, furious, and all kinds of kick-ass shit on the walls. Everything from old Native American rugs to John Wayne paintings, and everything in between that might've roamed the New Mexican high plains at one time.

Albuquerque's finest couple Maresa and Jason were gracious enough to take me to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. I had to see it. The nameplate logo alone peaked my interest a couple years back. Great stuff.

I've been afraid of nuclear this and that since I was eight or nine, hearing about the MX missile race on the nightly news while eating dinner. I still remember the newscast graphics of those scary-ass missiles, and the fear that America, and more specifically, Central Lake, Michigan would be wiped off the map by those scary Russkies.

And years later, the shit still freaks me out. So much power. So reckless. Such a scientific triumph on one hand, and such a threat to humanity on the other.

The museum was super interesting. The history of nuclear science, Fat Man, Little Boy, geiger counters, a wide array of atomic pop culture and a couple of big-ass bombers out back.

Thank you Foutz family! Much appreciated. And thank you Nick!

And thank you to the Albuquerque advertising community for flying my carcass down there for a couple days of seeing incredible New Mexico design, meeting great folks to judge with and basically being pampered by an incredible Addy staff. I'm still full from all those meals. Had a hell of a time. Thank you!

Checkowski! I'll be watching you! Don't forget me when you hit the big time, man!

Up early and judging tons of New Mexico advertising and design! The stuff is looking great right off the bat!

That's all I'm gonna say, people. These proceedings are top-secret, at a top-secret location, drinking top-secret Starbucks and shit. Top-secret.

The shot above was found rummaging around the top-secret location I can't say anything about.

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CHECK OUT THE FOLKS I GET TO MEET + HANG OUT WITH:

01. Matt Checkowski, Director, Graphic Designer, Department of the 4th Dimension, Los Angeles

02. Paul Fafsel, Creative Director, Grey Worldwide, New York City

03. Pum Lefebure, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Design Army, Washington, D.C.

04. Melissa Blaser, Associate Creative Director, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Boulder

Some serious talent! I'm bringing up the low end of the judging spectrum. With ferocity!

If I'm lucky, I'm gonna go AWOL and hit Mecca Music and Books to rescue all the rippin' vinyl out of Albuquerque.

I flew down this morning to Albuquerque to judge the New Mexico Addy Awards.

Had a quick layover in Salt Lake City, and was down to Albuquerque by 2pm. Smooth sailing the whole way. Thank you, Southwest. Nice color scheme.

But you know, I can't say too much more about my work down here, as advertising careers are on the line and shit around the greater Albuquerque. All because of my "expertise in the judging arena." Top secret shit. Yikes.

I can say this much: The bed in my room had 12 pillows on it. Serious. You shoulda seen me in the robe!

BIG, BEAUTIFUL DOWNLOADS: The absolutely incredible archive of old tool catalogs doing business as "Rose Antique Tools." Incredible. Such an absolute wealth of American typography and grit. Thank you, sir.

Savor this stuff, people. Savor the beauty in the fact that some guy took the time to scan them in, make PDFs and upload them for tool enthusiasts. Hours and hours of time. Be thankful. I sure am. Fuckin' incredible. Again, thank you. (Noah Lambert was kind enough to send this one, and deserves a pat on the back for the generosity. Thanks.)

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ABOUT TIME: SF takes on the turds with the signs. Kill 'em with humor. Kill 'em dead.

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THE GUYS WHO MADE XEROX, WELL, XEROX: Chermayeff and Geismar's "The Dual Ladder." (Thanks to Ryan Werth, this link is here for you to click. Thanks!)

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WARMS MY HEART, PAGE BY PAGE: Field Notes hits the big time on JCrew.com! I only got one question for 'em: Which way to the big and tall section?

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FRANK WAS ON THE DDC FACTORY FLOOR: And so was Sturgill, no slouch in his own right. Frank Chimero came by and we shot the shit on just about everything and we're here to tell ya: He's a real nice fella. Big talent, people. He'll be teaching the kids at PSU the next couple months under the watchful, wild eyes of Kate Bingaman-Burt. Lots of links.

DON'T MISS THIS ONE:An inside look at Frank Chimero.

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THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A NEW PAIR OF KICKS: "Red Wing 875 - Mens - 6-inch" Made in America, people. And I look goooood in 'em! Truth hurts. You bet. Gonna break 'em in all over Europe next week.

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LATE LAST NIGHT: The Hurt Locker with Leigh and Garold. Pretty damn good, but, uh, the best of the year? I don't know if I'm backing those claims. But then again, what the hell do I know? I'm still hot for The Road. Pins and needles the whole time, though. Intense stuff.

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ON THE PLAYER:

01. Richard Buckner - Since
02. Melvins - Houdini
03. Dinosaur Jr. - Whatevers Cool With Me "Sideways," an all time favorite of the DDC.

INCREDIBLE GRAPHIC DESIGN FROM DOWN UNDER: Re:Collection.

Sure, you've prob'ly seen it already, but hell, it's the first time I am, and I'm blown away. Great, great stuff. (Thank you, Robert Corr. Good eye, man!)

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JUST ABOUT THE BEST THING I'VE SEEN ALL MONTH: Ohiobarns.com. Yes! I got bogged down in the Bicentennial Barns section. Holy shit. (Thank you, James!)

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JUST BECAUSE: Go dig around the Burlesque store, and buy something nice that you can pass enjoy for yer whole life, and pass on to the generations ahead of you. Heirlooms, man. Like this kick-ass "Desktop Action Set."

Tell 'em "Draplin sentcha." You bet. Minnesota dry goods of the highest caliber.

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HERE'S A GREAT ONE: Barton County Abstract & Title Co., Great Bend, Kansas. I woke up to this one. Sent in by Josh Peters. Thanks, man.

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FROM BROTHER RYNO'S RECENT ART SHOW IN MINNEAPOLIS: "Milton Friedman rainbow's out a steaming pile of shit." Always interesting. Hard to say. Snapped by photo journalist PJ Chmiel of Paw Paw, Mich.

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ON THE PLAYER:

01. Son House - Father of the Delta Blues Damn.
02. Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
03. Boris - Pink

Today is my dad's 67th birthday. I'd give my left nut to be home with him today, enjoying the coconut cream pie mom is making for him as these words go to print.

If you know what's good for you, you'll leave him a birthday greeting. Make the old man's day with some colorful words. Let it fly. In our comments section. Get it going.

Happy 67th, Dad. Here's to the next 67! The entire DDC Factory Floor salutes you!

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:

Son: "About time you called back."
Dad: "I just got my egg roll. Can't talk now. Mom says I'm talking too loud."
Son: "At China Fair, right?"
Dad: "No, in downtown Beijing. Of course we're at China Fair, asshole."
Son: "I'll hop a flight and come mess you up."
Dad: "Take a number, bitch."
Son: "Sheeeyat."
Dad: "Call me later. I got a couple choice words for your interweb site."
Son: "You got it."
Dad: "Shitchyah."

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COOL VANS: My dad used to have a Volkswagen bus. "With the little windows in the roof." is how he tells it. Here's some cool vans Jared found on the internet. Great type. (Thank you, Mr. Eberhardt.)

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ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU KEEP GOING: An old box of transistor packages. (Greg Howard found this one. Thanks!)

- - - -

DEAR EVERYONE: Check out Arian Behzadi's flickr cache. Some kick-ass stuff in there. Like this! Arian wrote in to show me his work. Here's what he had to say: "I am currently studying Biology at UC Davis. In between classes, however, I do personal and commissioned visual design work. I have always found parallels between art and the sciences so a lot of my studies find their way into my artwork."

We can get behind that. Hell yes. Biology + Design + Pure Awesome = Arian Behzadi.

Good luck, man!

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ON THE PLAYER:

01. Son House - Father of the Delta Blues
02. The Soft Pack - 12" EP
03. Cash Money - Halos Of Smoke And Fire

Up early and on the The Five heading south by 7:45 am. With Mark Phillips, heading down to the annual Eugene Record show.

01. Steel Pole Bathtub - The Miracle of Sound in Motion
02. Boris - Smile
03. Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs
04. Swell - "Too Many Days Without Thinking" 7 inch
05. Early Day Miners - "Southern Myth" 7 inch
06. John Fahey - Sea Changes and Coelacanths
07. Tele:Funken / Flying Saucer Attack - Distant Station
08. Aerial M - S/T
09. Poison Idea - Latest Will and Testament
10. Poison Idea - Record Collectors are Pretentious Assholes

Hangovers: Just as fun at 36 as they were at 18. Fuck. Flew home this morning, and wanted to strangle a little kid who wouldn't shut the fuck up, or sit still, a row over from me. Something like that.

Got "kinda hammered" last night at the Wu-Tang singing group show.

SOME PROOF: "DDC vs. RZA! We tight!"

I checked with the online Wu-Tang Name Generator, just to be official: Aaron Draplin = "Lazy-Assed Destroyer." Got a good ring to it.

Nice guy. Gonna watch Ghostdog and think about him. Ninjas and shit.

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WHEN YOU BOIL IT DOWN: Here's the main thing I got from Denver: Jeff Baker turned me on to opening bananas from the bottom end, instead of using the stem thing at the top. "That's how gorillas do it."

And that just might've been the coolest thing I've heard/learned all of January. Thanks Baker, you gorilla.

Running around downtown Denver. Tradeshow stuff. With dudes.

Man, it's early. Puffy eyes and breath that could rival a certain dachshund. Flying with Goo over to Denver for a couple days of handshakes and general conversation at the Snowsports Tradeshow.

Got in early and caught a ride into the city with Floyd and Jeff from Nemo. Walked around the show some, hung with Martino and George, Brad, Holden people, Snowboard mag dudes, Giro folks, etc. My buddies who I work with.

Had a nice supper with Giro folks and promptly hit the sheets, tired as hell.

SERIOUSLY: One of my favorite logos of all time: Kendall Motor Oil. Incredible.

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THE FRIENDLY SKIES: Flying to Denver tomorrow morning for the annual SIA tradeshow. Snowboard stuff and ski stuff. They moved the show from Las Vegas to Denver this year, and I can't help but be a little sad. I loved going down to Vegas. People watching, meals, gambling, booze, etc. The whole time. It's fun seeing all the folks from the industry, both people I hang with and work for in one setting. You get to see all the new work, and see where your brands stand on a very visual level. I've always enjoyed the tradeshow circuit.

Goo and I fly out early tomorrow morning to go hang with our clients some. Wrapping stuff up all day long, today, gearing up for the next couple days in the Rockies.

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DAYWRECKER WARNING: Fortune Magazine's Visual Achievements. Good lord. Be careful in there.

I've got a good stack at the shop. Old as hell. Big format. Ah hell, like you care. Dig into: "Diagrams!"

Scary shit like this.

- - - -

CUTE ATTACK: Little Remy! Not everything on the DDC Factory Floor is hard, ugly and caustic. When little Remy comes by the place gets real soft. Goo and Fran's little man.

- - - -

KING OF THE BREEDS: Check out this smarmy little black and tan right here. (Thanks, Schille!)

- - - -

THINK YOU GOT IT ROUGH? TRY THIS LINE OF WORK: Fighting in Afghanistan. Here's a new doc coming out called Battle for Hearts and Minds.

Fuck, man. So heavy. Burly shit. Just makes me sad to see those young kids put in that position, trying to communicate with another world, with bullets, muscle and fear. Everyone is scared in that situation. One has to wonder if it's worth it? All of it. Any of it? HIstory tells us it isn't. That's a hard one to have on the mind. I have great respect for those soldiers, cuz that "line of work" is the hardest one going in a scarier and scarier world. Tough stuff. Makes me pretty thankful for the jobs I roll my sleeves up on.

- - - -

ON THE PLAYER:

01. Dolorean - You Can't Win
02. Sonics - Fire & Ice
03. The Jim Jones Revue - S/T

BACK ON THE ESTATE SALE CIRCUIT, WITH VENGEANCE: And we made a Flickr set to prove it. Now remember, this is the shit that we left behind. You should see the shit we actually made off with! Here goes: "Junkin' Report, January 2010."

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A MAP THAT MIGHT'VE CHANGED A WHOLE GENERATION: The map Kerouac drew for his road trip. (Found over at beaucolburn.com. Hell yes, Beau!)

- - - -

BACK IN MICHIGAN, A MAN TAKES ON THE FASHION INDUSTRY...: ...one dust pan at a time.

- - - -

YOU CAN LIVE IN THEM: Jess Gibson, that footage-editing motherfucker, comes in real hot with this link called, "Vans And The Places They Are." Just like it says.

Oh yeah, Evan Rose, you Vermont tree sap hunk of shit, you might like this link. You know, if you have the time and all to check it in between high-level meetings.

I drove the van down to the shop today. Always a bitch to park down here, as he doesn't fit down in the subterranean parking. Like, two inches too tall. Competing for the street parking is a mess. Nevertheless, I often think about end-of-the-world scenarios involving "living in my van" and "reinforcing walls for machine gun fire" and other fucked-up Mad Max situations. What's that mean? The pessimist in me, maybe.

- - - -

COOL TYPE, COOL STUFF: The Friends of Type unleashed their first print series. Some kick-ass stuff in there. Spruce up a dead room with one of these. Beautifully printed. Act now!

- - - -

ON THE PLAYER:

01. Mike Johnson - Year of Mondays
02. Eric Bachman - To The Races
03. Son Volt - Straightaways

Mom and Aunt Mary flew back to Michigan, and it hurts. It was great to have them here. Last night Aunt Mary made a killer batch of chicken & dumplings, just like I remember as a youngling. Family dynamics, people. Sounding real tough, eh? Bigger they are, harder they fall.

- - - -

A SHARP CHAINSAW IS A SAFE CHAINSAW: Vintage Chainsaw Collection. Hours and hours of enjoyment in this one.

Man, I've got a story for everything. For every link!

I learned how to use a chainsaw in the summer of 1992. I was a tree trimmer for Townsend Tree, who had a contract with Cherryland Electric trimming a 15 year cycle of powerlines. Every 15 years they'd come back around, and trim the overgrowth messing with the power lines. It was harrowing stuff. Falling branches, bald-faced hornets, swamp bogs, summer heat, concerned homeowners and ornery foreman.

Anyhoo, I learned how to sharpen a chainsaw blade that summer, and keep them tuned up and ready for action. Best part of the day was getting them ready. We used Stihl stuff. I remember that.

(Thanks for the link, Geoffrey Cecil!)

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LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING YOU, MAN: Frank Chimero is coming to Portland! Great, great stuff. It's been awhile since I dug around on his site, and man, he's organized as hell, with all kinds of new stuff to enjoy. Dig in.

For the record: To anyone who fucks with Mr. Chimero while he's in Portland, just know you are fuckin' with the entire DDC enterprise. Hard fact.

- - - -

EITHER YOU GET IT, OR YOU DON'T: Dave Carnie talks about old skate zines. (via the Lewman super Tweet feed)

- - - -

ON THE PLAYER, KEEPIN' SHIT MELLOW AROUND THE SHOP:

01. Neil Young - Unplugged
02. The Anomoanon - Envoi Villian
03. Bill Fox - No Shelter From The Smoke

Didn't put pants on all day. Just hung around the house with everyone. Watched some tube, played some Monopoly, had a feast and caught up on family news. A great day off the clock.

The image above was on the backside of an package I found in a dead man's basement, somewhere on Portland's north side.

"Hammer these things into your chair legs, to protect your hardwood floors." Or something close to that.

Hit a couple kick-ass estate sales today with Mom, Aunt Mary, Leah, Ewan and Leigh. Whole crew. Outnumbered by dames 2 to 1. Tough odds.

Highlight of the day was getting pulled over by a nice lady cop on 82nd, for talking on my mobile device.

Oops.

Portland passed a law on January 1st outlawing the use of all mobile devices while driving. "Hands-Free." Being the lawbreaker I am, there I was, just yapping it up with Jess about the goods he scored on the other side of town, and she spotted me, we locked eyes, I kinda smiled a hlafwit smile, and she started following me, on the came the lights and pulled me over in a Taco Bell parking lot. Busted. With my whole family as witnesses.

I quickly apologized and she let me off with a warning.

"Let me that be a lesson for you," she says.

"Go eat a donut," is what is was on mind. Just kidding. I fessed up for my shortcoming and so it goes. Lesson learned.