Hello, Friends. Here's issue #18 of Studio Notes—quick bits delivered to you each Friday. I'm kicking this week off with something incredibly important that everyone should know about.

🍊

I've been really getting into oranges lately. Specifically, Cara Cara or Red Velvet oranges. It helps that orange season coincides with the frigid New England winter. This Tupperware Orange Peeler is one handy little plastic tool. It's the size of a toothbrush, but has this clever "skate" on one end that is really satisfying to use. Digs in just the right amount to slice through the peel only. The other end pries the peel back. I love this thing. Something Mel got at a Tupperware Party back in the late 90s. The official Tupperware site doesn't seem to carry them but fortunately they're still out there.

🎭

This very well might be a web-wide trend I'm unaware of, but James McNicholas' dramatic monologues of popular song lyrics impressed me. His commitment with subtle expressions and sometimes elaborate-for-instagram makeup is fun to watch. Particularly, Crazy by Gnarls Barkley and Livin' On a Prayer and Sounds of Silence. The dude is downright haunting.

🍸

A tip of the cap to bartender, Devin, at The Babe here in Salem, Mass. He explained why the Manhattan (favorite cocktail of my grandfather, Roy, and myself) is called a Manhattan—not because of where it was invented, but that the recipe is 2-1-2 like the area code of NYC: 2 parts bourbon, 1 part vermouth, and 2 dashes of bitters. Even if false, it's an easy way to remember.

🍄

A correction from last week's issue! I mentioned that I loved the E.T. game for the Atari 2600 (which I still do) but I mistakenly said the game was a pioneer of side-scrolling platform games. I was actually thinking of Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle. It came out in 1982 and plays like a sad, desolate version of Super Mario. But back in the day—it was magical. I loved this game. And I realize this correction will resonate with exactly 1 or maybe 2 of you, but I thought it was important. Just like plastic orange peelers are important.

What are you working on?

Work has begun in earnest on our next typeface, we're called "Scorekard". It's based on an ancient, paper, baseball scorecard device I found a photo of. More about that later. Also, I hope it's obvious I misspell most of my typeface names intentionally 🤓 So many names are already taken!

Have a fantastic week, despite the world seemingly eroding before our eyes. It's hard to "promote" your small business that seems so insignificant most of the time, but push forward we must.

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