Tag: Alice Always

Love You Zoomer! One Boomer’s Response to OK Boomer

A while back, I read an article about a student who designed a t-shirt that read, OK Boomer. As a graphic designer, I wanted to create a design that speaks back.

This particular design was reminiscent of the old plastic grocery bags that I still see now from time to time: they had the words Thank You printed in rows of red outlined words with the middle row in solid text. I remember seeing the original ones in the 1980s. Back then, they were created in Cooper Black font. I know this because I worked in art advertising and in the pre-Mac era, we only had a limited number of standard fonts. Cooper Black stood out as one of the thickest typefaces and was unique in its rounded serifs. I remember it fondly as a fun font.

The reason why the OK Boomer design grabbed my attention wasn’t the typography; that was an old idea updated for today’s marketplace. It wasn’t because I was a Baby Boomer; that’s nothing new. I’ve been one my whole life. What got me was the last line: Have A Terrible Day. It’s petty and mean, even if it’s supposed to be sarcastic.

I perceive sarcasm as the biting chihuahua of humor. Yeah, those little doggies look funny when they bark and jump in the air, but if one of them takes a nip at your ankle, it’s not so funny anymore.

The words we use matter, even if it is a joke. If it gives off negative energy of any kind, it is projecting more negativity into the world.

Once more…

The words we use matter, even if it is a joke. If it gives off negative energy of any kind, it is projecting more negativity into the world.

The last line of the original Thank you bag design read Have a nice day! Yes, it’s a cliche that is an automatic response in some people. I like it because of its positivity, leaving people on a friendly note.

Recently, I have gotten into the habit of saying, Have a wonderful day! Because when I say that, it makes me think of a day full of wonder. Since everyone has a different idea of a wonderful day, it just creates more positive, wonderful energy.

When I created my Love You Collection, I started with Love You Millennial because I had thought that the OK Boomer design was created by one. When I went back to find the news article, it was someone younger, a Zoomer. A Zoomer speaking to a Boomer. Two rhyming generations with the “oo” sound. Oo! It’s as groovy as it gets.

In the process of creation, I did more research and came up with more designs. I used a sans-serif font because it flowed better with the longer words.

Take a look at my designs for my Love You Collection. More ideas came to me in the process of creation, so I decided to add more images. I’ve always been interested in creating inspirational pieces. If something someone creates uplifts another, we all benefit.

Variety of shirt styles on Amazon.

I made designs for other generations and more. I included Love Yourself for self-love and Love One Another bible verse. Because I’m a native Chicagoan, I created Love Yous Guys. And Love Y’all for my Southern friends.

Here are the approximate dates for the generations:

Greatest Generation 1901-1924
Silent Generation 1925-1945
Baby Boomers 1946-1964
Busters (Gen X) 1965-1979
Millennials (Gen Y) 1980-1994
Zoomers (Gen Z) 1995-2012
Generation Alpha 2013-2025

Buy t-shirts, mugs, and more products on Pixels. Also available on shirts at Amazon. We can all benefit from a more loving world where we all learn from each other, regardless of age. And yeah, this Boomer could sure use some help from the younger generations!

Always,
Alice Always

P.S. I’m looking to collaborate on this and other online platforms. I would also like to expand into licensing. Contact me if you are a like-minded art agent, social media expert, established t-shirt seller, marketing wiz, or someone who can help me otherwise grow my Alice Always brand.

P.P.S. Please feel free to share this blog post and spread the love.

Coming Full Circle on the New Moon Fall Equinox (Or the Spring Equinox if You are Down Under)

I published my first Alice Always blog post exactly one year ago today on the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Here’s a link in case you are new, which I’m sure a lot of you are as I did nothing to promote it.

I was wrestling with the insecurities that I’ve always felt within me. I kept the blog hidden, talking about it to only a few people. I didn’t promote it at all, not even on my Facebook page. I had created a special Twitter account, @AliceIsAlways, but I didn’t always link my posts to it. Even though I knew it was important to me to work on it, I went through the year putting this blog on the perpetual back burner. I hardly posted at all.

I didn’t make a priority even though I knew it would be something completely different.

Why not?

Because I was scared that it would be successful, and then I would finally be seen.

I also had a little problem of falling asleep and forgetting who I am.

On top of that, there was this strange dance with I’ve been doing with time. It kept running out.

Tonight, I will start promoting it. Tonight, I will publish a post with my Twitter accounts and on Facebook, even if I have to stay up past my bedtime and no one sees it until tomorrow.

Then, tomorrow, on September 23, 2017, I will step into my power, proclaim my Queenship as a silly Goo and yet again be the child who dances like no one is watching.

Tomorrow, I will embrace my inner Elsa and let go of the limiting beliefs that have kept me in a prison of my own mind.

Doomsday Gloomers (yes, I just made a new word and phrase) and also some Biblical Book of Revelations Buffs (oh, the joy of alliteration!) are saying that tomorrow will be the End of the World. Some say a rogue planet called Nibiru will play bumper cars with Earth.

Some say its the beginning of The Tribulation, the seven years leading up to Armageddon, the battle at the End of the World.

I began my tribulation 7 years ago when my mom died, so I’m done with that. If tomorrow is my personal Armageddon, then the old me will die and a new me will rise like a Pheonix from the ashes and I will claim my birthright to be the most curiouser and curiouser person that I can be!

I AM ALICE!

Always,
Alice Always

 

 

 

My Curiouser and Curiouser Fascination with Words, Words, Words

In Act II of the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is found in the library by Polonius where they engage in a conversation. At one point Polonius asks Hamlet what he is reading and his response is: “Words, words, words.”

It is one of my favorite lines from Willie the Bard, nothing is more succinct and to the point. Yes, Prince Hamlet could have replied with a simple one syllable “Words”, but as another late great Prince so aptly sang it in his song, “Joy in Repetition“:

There’s joy in repetition
There’s joy in repetition
There’s joy in repetition
There’s joy in repetition

If you read Alice in Wonderland (or saw any of the movies), you would know that the author Lewis Carroll used words that were unusual, to say the least. A word like curiouser appears to be poor grammar because it does not follow the standard rules of the English language. The -er ending is almost never used with words of more than two syllables.

According to the Old English Dictionary, the word curiouser was first used by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland in 1865, as the phrase “curiouser and curiouser”. The OED cites this phrase only, and does not treat curiouser as a word by itself; the phrase has the meaning “increasingly strange”.

I think that by repeating the word twice, you are reinforcing it and expounding of the notion of curiouser, making what is already strange, stranger even still.

I like to look at “curiouser and curiouser” and see it as something that attracts your attention, something that you never saw before, like almost everything in the Alice books. Every new experience makes Alice think and that is what words do for me.

I enjoy researching the etymology of words, or word origins if you prefer. It can be fascinating to find out where words come from, how they evolve and their impact on our consciousness.

Always,
Alice Always

Who is Alice Always and Why Does This Alice in Wonderland Look Like A Peanuts Character?

When it came to writing this blog, I wanted to adopt a playful theme, something that people would immediately recognize as childlike without being too childish. I wanted it to exude that innocence of childhood and for me, that is typified by the Peanuts cartoon strip by Charles M. Schulz.

I really can relate to each of the characters in Peanuts.

Snoopy is my wonderful imagination, and like his escapades, I often find myself in my own reverie. Sally is the little sister that I have always felt like, even though I am a big sister to my little sister. Linus with his security blanket and philosophical temperament, is my the ultimate dreamer self, believing in things that no one else does like the Great Pumpkin. Lucy as the psychiatrist exemplifies my fascination with psychology and her own self-absorption is something that makes me reflect upon mine. Schroeder is the artist in me, creating art for art’s sake and truly immersed in the world of music as I immerse in painting as my art. And like Charlie Brown, I am prone to depression and anxiety and tend to over-analyze both myself and whatever situation I find myself in.

I could write entire books on each character and how each of us can relate to the Peanuts gang in our own way. Perhaps someday I will write more on this blog about them.

You can tell I have a fascination with Peanuts. I obviously also have one with Alice in Wonderland. So what better way to celebrate this by creating a mashup? Before The Peanuts Movie came out, the website peanutsizeme.com was created to promote it. I’m glad it’s still up because I really enjoy playing with it. I created a character there and I Photoshopped it a bit to make it appear more like Alice In Wonderland. Because I didn’t want to infringe on copyright, I emailed the people at Peanuts about using it on my blog, but I never heard back. So, no news is good news, right?

I am currently writing two books about Alice in Wonderland. After these are finished, I anticipate more. One book is entitled Alice Awakes, which is about spiritual awakening and imagination. The second book is a children’s book that is about Alice returning to Wonderland. There is more info to come on these books and I hope that you will enjoy them someday.

Alice Always is a facet of myself. She is a persona that is me as a curiouser and curiouser being in the world of imagination.

Remember when you were a kid and you would pretend to be whoever you wanted to be? Well, I’m here to tell you that you can still be that person.

I am . . .

Always,
Alice Always