The Howdygram 2: I keep myself entertained with composition and high-speed typing.

Saturday, February 8, 2020

I keep myself entertained with composition and high-speed typing.

Happy Saturday afternoon from Howdygram headquarters. Sam is taking a nap, so this is a great opportunity to work on my favorite hobby — the Howdygram! — and keep myself entertained with composition and high-speed typing. Welcome!

I promised to keep you posted … and so I shall. There were three activities scheduled for yesterday, and unfortunately I actually missed every one of them! Read on ...

I BLEW MY PODIATRIST APPOINTMENT YESTERDAY. I didn’t wake up in time to call Dr. Wright’s office to confirm. As a matter of fact, I didn’t wake up AT ALL. I slept nearly 20 hours straight … from 3:30 in the morning until 11:45 p.m., at which time I enjoyed a leftover bowl of hot and sour soup and watched a wonderful movie with Sam. We saw Dark Victory (1939) starring Bette Davis, George Brent and Geraldine Fitzgerald. This is the movie where Humphrey Bogart plays Bette Davis’ horse trainer with curly hair and an atrocious Irish brogue. However, Bogart’s attempt to sound Irish isn’t nearly as pathetic as his comical Mexican accent in Virginia City (1940).

SAM CANCELLED MY C.N.A. VISIT YESTERDAY. We hated this woman! Trish had been coming here for the last few days, a substitute C.N.A. from a home health agency (not from our hospice) … but she had zero personality, no “bedside manner,” she was lazy, she was boring, I didn’t like her hair and I’m not sure she ever knew what the fuck she was doing half the time. So … Sam called the hospice first thing in the morning to discontinue Trish (and request somebody else), but apparently she didn’t get the message and showed up anyway. I was asleep and Sam wouldn’t let her in. Thank you, Sam!

I SLEPT THROUGH THE MAID. She was here for two hours vacuuming the entire house — including around my hospital bed — plus dusting, polishing and clunking around in the kitchen … and I never heard a thing.

I’ve got four great free fonts for you today, boys and girls, and I love all of them! I think my favorites are “Blamo!” and “Forth Smith,” because “Blamo!” is fun and “Forth Smith” is probably the fanciest damn font I’ve ever owned. It offers hundreds of alternate characters and swashy letterforms and includes an entirely separate font (“Forth Smith Swash”) that’s all curlicues, giving you a million creative ways to jazz things up. Download links will appear after the graphic.

Blamo! • Berlinda • Nicolera • Forth Smith

I enjoyed a mini-splurge a little while ago, snagging three new collections at 50% off from my favorite shop on Etsy.com. These coordinate beautifully with all the other collections I’ve purchased recently, and I’m excited to have them. I can’t wait to start designing!

I guess that’s it for today. It’s 6 p.m., I’m ready for food, and I’ve been watching Juarez (1939) starring Brian Aherne, Bette Davis and Paul Muni for the last 45 minutes. It’s a strange movie. I guess this was supposed to be a “blockbuster,” but it’s badly cast with lots of old white men painted brown to look Mexican, including Donald Crisp and John Garfield. I think Paul Muni’s hair and makeup are the weirdest of them all (see below). He makes Benito Juarez look like a flying monkey in a top hat.