GoWild: How to Turn Yourself into a Font for Free

So, I'm a procrastinator. I'd like to say I'm a recovering procrastinator, but I'm not there yet. The down side to putting all my tasks off until the last minute are the periodic moments of panic scattered throughout a typical week.

No middle ground for me! It's either a sense of calm and well-being as I ignore the work piling up. Or, it's the terror that strikes hours before the deadline. In the past, I tried to reform myself. Now, I just blame the problem on genetics and my childhood. It's easier that way.

The upside to my procrastinating ways is all the cool stuff I find on the internet while I'm distracting myself from my to-do list.

Take this website for example: www.fontcapture.com. It's a fun and easy tool to convert your own handwriting into a true type font that you can use on your computer like any other font -- even in design programs like InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Best part? It's free.

The process involves four easy steps:

1. Go to the website and download the template.
2. Print the template and fill it like (like I did above) with your handwriting sample.
3. Scan the completed template and upload it to the site.
4. Name your new font and download it.

Once you have it on your computer's harddrive, you can install it like any font. Possible uses? Create a new font for a design layout. Print nearly hand-written looking letters to friends and family. Fill out forms. "Sign" documents. Fool the teacher into thinking your mother wrote a doctor's note.

Or, if you're like me, you can finally realize just how bad your handwriting really is. You can download my font file to see for yourself. Ha! Have fun...

"Lord, Save Us From Your Followers" review on front page of Crosswalk.com

I'm not trying to brag or anything, it's just always cool to see something you've written put out there for others to read.

We all have so much to think about everyday. There's the mundane stuff like what socks to pick out of the drawer. There's the routine stuff like what lane to pick in a freeway traffic jam. Then there's the important stuff like what we believe and how we treat others.

There are a lot of voices out there offering input on all those decisions. I used to think that we need less voices. Less clutter. Less debate. Now, I think we need more. More diverse opinions. More voices. More opportunities to measure our thoughts against other viewpoints. Because none of us have it all figured out. And few of us have most of it figured out.

There was a time when I was afraid of being wrong. Now, I think I'm more afraid of being right about everything. Part of me hopes how I see things isn't exactly how things really are. Part of me hopes there are still surprises around the corner, still perspective-altering conversations, still a future larger than the role I'm playing.

I guess that's why I'm excited about my latest article for crosswalk.com. It's not much. Really. I'm just happy to be part of the conversation.

I love those moments when I come across a little nugget of information or a little story from another's point of view and it makes me think. It knocks me off of mental autopilot and makes me feel human again. Refreshes my belief in the power of ideas, and the consequences of my choices.

Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to kick up a bit of turbulence in someone's air space. Make them grab the wheel again for themselves make a mid-course adjustment. Make them feel alive again.

That would be awesome.

curious & foxy

Check out this colorful little guy! I'm finally having a chance to process a photo here and there from my trip to Santa Rosa Island. I thought I'd share...

He's a critically endangered Santa Rosa variety of Island Fox. They are endemic to Santa Rosa Island which, I learned, means they're native too the island and are only found there. A few of these foxes are also kept and bred at the Santa Barbara Zoo. These creatures are curious and playful and grow to be no larger than a house cat.

Santa Rosa is part of an isolated national park where only a few dozen people visit annually. With limited contact with humans, this fox didn't have any fear of me. Once I worked my self into a position down wind of him on a hill, he couldn't leave me alone. He was so curious and playful that I finally had to shoo him away before he climbed onto my lap! What can I say? Foxes love me.

You can see a few more great shots of him on my flickr page.