Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The maht in the moon

Incomparable artist, friend, and wanna-be work "supervisor" Micah (or Tiny Olive, as he is sometimes known) sent me a "maht-in-the-moon" drawing today, and I knew immediately that I would have to redesign the entire site to accommodate the wonderful work he had done. I liked it so much I actually agreed to let him be my "supervisor" for the rest of the day. Hope he didn't notice I was working from home.

Micah also did the original Moon Topples cartoon and logo.

I was thinking I was going to wait a week or so until my six month Bloggiversary to unveil the new look, but I just like it too much to wait. With any luck, it looks as good on Windows machines as it does on my Mac. The "Windows preview" in Photoshop had the blues going a little supernaturally bright, and the logo turning a sickly green.

I'm especially happy that the drawing bears more of a resemblance to me than to Fonzie from Happy Days. Since adding that caricature to the site, people were always asking me to strike jukeboxes in order to make it play "Blueberry Hill." And I suppose I'll stop having to use the Ladies' Room as my "office," which was getting on the nerves of some of the Workers anyway.

Micah was tired of all the Fonzie jokes and worked from a picture this time. I stood next to the globe on his desk to give him a "moon" to work with. I've advised him that he'll have to do a new drawing each time I get a haircut. He seems to think he won't really be doing this for me.

Let me know what you think in the comments. And don't forget to stop back to find out who won the GBA(s)FC.

21 comments:

Chris said...

Very nice & don't get a haircut just yet.

Caroline said...

Very gorgeous - a bit of the John Lennon about it.

Micah is obviously very very talented and really you should allow him to do whatever and whenever based on this talent alone.

Now can you stop with the change thing for a bit. It freaks me out.

x

The Moon Topples said...

Chris: I really am overdue for a haircut. It's been almost a year. It's gotten a bit out of control...

Caroline: Thanks for your attempt at flattery with the Lennon thing. I like one or two of his songs...

Micah is indeed talented. And I like the new look enough that I think I won't be changing it for a while. It's less flexible than the old design, but much more pleasing to the eye, I think.

Sorry to freak you out.

S. Kearney said...

hey maht, this is cool, great colours, great image ... i like the other look too, but why not both ... tours of duty kind of thing! :)

Caroline said...

Not an attempt at flattery - it was an observation. I'll forgive you for freaking me out ... but please no more changes for a week or so.

A year without a haircut?? Are you without hair then? I'm confused.

The Moon Topples said...

Shameless: Glad you like it. I may use some of the older elements at some point. But for now, I think I like this too much to tinker.

Caroline: Glad I'm forgiven. I promise no big changes for at least one week.

A year with no haircut would leave you with longer hair, would it not? Unless there's some sort of inverse property of hair I am unaware of. I haven't gotten a haircut in a year largely because I got a bad haircut a year ago and was leery of repeating the experience. Also, I'm freakishly lazy.

Caroline said...

Ah! freakishly lazy is good. I was worried that indeed you had no hair and that was why it wasn't in need of a cut ... not that there's anything at all wrong with having no hair. Well there is a bit. My friend has no hair on his head and yet he has a back that needs combing/waxing. It's rather disturbing.

Hmmmm.
Back to work.

The Moon Topples said...

Caroline: My back requires no special grooming. Where would one get a back comb anyway?

Ms Melancholy said...

I like the new look a lot, but you look scarily like my ex-therapist (a lovely gentle Irish man who once fell asleep in a session...that actually tells you more about me than it does about him.) You don't masquerade as an Irish therapist, do you?

Marie said...

I like the new look too and I agree with Caroline, there is something of the John Lennon about it.

Anonymous said...

Very cool stuff, Mr. T. That Micah is indeed a very talented fellow. I like the new look.

I must admit I shall miss the ever-changing word bubble though.

Liz Dwyer said...

It's quite original and how nice that your friend hooks you up with such lovely designs. And, congratulations on the approaching 6 month anniversary!

The Moon Topples said...

Ms. M: How does the possibility that I might also be an Irish therapist make you feel?

Marie: Thanks. My guess it's the glasses and longish hair.

GT: I agree that Micah is talented, but I never got around to changing the word bubble very often anyway, which is something that always irked me about the old design.

Liz: Each time I do this, I feel I get a little farther out from the mandated look of Blogger, which is refreshing.

Designer's pride bruised, I feel compelled to point out that he did the drawing, but I did the site. The drawing is the most important part, but the pretty colors are all mine.

It is terribly nice of him to draw me, though. Especially as he cannot stand me in real life.

heartinsanfrancisco said...

It looks great! We cancers love our moon.

I've had long hair most of my life because of bad haircuts, including one by a guy named Botticelli. I thought he'd be good because of his name.

When I slunk home, avoiding my rear view mirror, my neighbor said, "Halloween already?"

Anonymous said...

Maht: The new design looks great (if I don't say so myself). I love the color scheme you chose. I think the illustration is a great likeness of you and came together rather quickly. However, I will always have a special place in my heart for the Fonz.

By the way, if you would like a version of the logo with your "Bad Hair Cut", I have reference materials for that!

To All: Just FYI, Maht shaved off his beard a few days prior to posing for the reference photo. He cleans up really nice. Haha!

Thanks for all of the lovely compliments. I'm glad that you all enjoy my artwork. Maht's a good friend and I enjoy collaborating with him.

The Moon Topples said...

HinSF: Ouch. I got made fun of for a few days, but no other detrimental effects (other than looking extremely corporate from the neck up).

TO: Ever since I watched you draw Lou Reed freehand for that disc of The Raven I gave to Kyle, I have longed to find more ways to exploit your talent for my own personal benefit. Let's hold off on the "bad hair" logo for now, though.

I should say once more, and publically, how thrilled I am with the drawing you did. I am very jealous of your talent. Maybe I'll draw you some day, so you'll understand what I'm talking about.

Unknown said...

That's a cool picture Maht - you've got a great mate there!

And I like the new changes!

Unknown said...

That's a cool picture Maht - you've got a great mate there!

And I like the new changes!

Unknown said...

crap! Sorry for repeating myself - it was blogger - honest!

Ms Melancholy said...

Surprisingly good, actually .....

Anonymous said...

allow me to join the chorus in praise of Micah's drawing and maht's design. If more websites looked as good as this blog . . . I think I would happily spend even more of my days wandering the web. Well done.