Jordan Swartz-The Rad Times #30

I’m moving abroad this fall and in preparing to do so I’ve been selling a lot¹ (most) of what I own, something I’ve done a number of times in life, having moved all over the U.S. Across many moves, through multiple states, and various housing and storage locations, there’s a stack of fifteen or so books that I’ve carried with me for over twenty years.

When people tell me they don’t like to read, I think “you haven’t found your books yet.” I didn’t like reading as a kid, but in my early teens, around the same time I found punk and hardcore, I started to discover books that spoke to me. The first few were by writers who wrote for the magazines I liked, and if I liked a book I would see who else that publisher had released, the same thing I did with bands and record labels to find new music.

Eventually this searching led to a small stack of books that I read over and over for a little less than a decades time and then I proceeded to carry them with me in sagging boxes, all across the country for the next twenty years. I thought I should reread some of them, before I donated them, over half a lifetime later. I started with Grab On to Me Tightly as if I Knew the Way (what a fucking title). It was a quick read and I finished it in a day or two; the writing was fine, the plot meandered, the narrative lacked motivation, the main character was annoying, and I enjoyed every second of it. If this had been my first time reading it, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have liked it all, but rereading it with the graciousness of hindsight, I could see why I held it in such high regard at the time. Through the prism of a life lived I was able to see what I was searching for in these stories, as a teenager who just wanted out of their hometown.²

There’s only a few of the authors from that time that I still read³, but those books were what I needed then and I’ll forever carry them with me emotionally. After that first one I decided not to reread any of the others, they aren’t meant for me now. There’s a scene in the movie Orange County where the main character finds a book buried on the beach and it changes his life, after the course of the movie he ends up burying it back in the sand for someone else to find⁴, and that’s what I’m doing. I scoured bookshelves, magazine pages, and websites to find these books and they gave me the life I have, now it’s time for someone else to dig them up and maybe it’ll give them what they need as well.

^{1.Here’s a folder of photos of the books I’m selling, reach out if something piques your interest. I’m selling them at a heavy discount, I just want to see them go to a good home.}

^{2. There’s a book called Manifesto: the Anonymous Novel, that has a plain white cover and no author. Reading the description alone irritates me now but at the time I couldn’t get enough of it.}

^{3. Mainly Chuck Klosterman. Andy Greenwald doesn’t write anymore but he does have a tv podcast that I listen to weekly.}

^{4. Spoilers on an almost 25 year old movie that did ok-ish at the box office.}

Thanks for hanging!
Be good to each other.

Over the last two years I’ve been working with Longitude on a number of branding projects for Great Wolf Lodge, those projects are finally starting to see the light of day. A small preview of some of the work can be seen on my website.

The studio will be moving the end of this month so that means I’m cleaning out. If you haven’t grabbed a copy of new collage zine Visual Affects, now’s the time. All orders come with a bunch of extra prints and stickers thrown in. As well I have some art/ design/ photo books for sale at a steep discount, reach out if something piques your interest.

I worked in restaurants and bars for years and now as a designer most of my clients are in the hospitality industry, so restaurant menus have long been at the cross section of my interests. They are great vehicles to communicate class, race, regional, and moral differences. In the New York Public Library there is a collection of menus from the early 20th century that help shed light on modern restaurant dining, and our changing tastes and traditions over time.

Ed Templeton has inspired me creatively for the better part of 25 years⁵, first as one of my favorite skaters when I was growing up and then in my late teens his art career dovetailed with my own entry into photography⁶. Epicly Later’d is a long running documentary series that highlights the history of skateboarding by telling the personal stories of some of it’s most influential people. You’d be hard pressed to find a bad episode but this one on Templeton is the one I return to most often, creativity is imbued in his daily life in every way.

^{5. I always wanted the fists board growing up but could never afford it, so a few years ago I bought it for myself for my birthday.}

^{6. His books Deformer and Golden Age of Neglect highly defined my style and subject matter of my photography.}

There’s few movies that I remember where I saw them for the first time, You Hurt My Feelings is one of those movies⁷. I saw it in May of 2023 and I went back a week later to see it again, I’ve since watched it a few times but I think about it weekly. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays an author who overhears her husband (Tobias Menzies) telling their mutual friend that he doesn’t like her new book but that he can’t tell her that. Being an artist with so many artistic friends, the underlying question that is threaded throughout the movie is one that is often on my mind; are you being supportive by being honest, are you able to be supportive while telling white lies? This was also my first exposure to the director Nicole Holofcener, who I have sense become a big fan of. Her movies are often about adults who feel stuck, whether in relationships or careers, or because of money, but all her films are thoughtful and considerate⁸.

^{7. Austin Film Society in Austin, TX. One of my favorite theaters, the programming is great.}

^{8. I heard her movies once described as being for people who read The New Yorker and I love that, as someone who reads The New Yorker.}

I’m here for anyone who is bringing craft and tactility to a progressively digital and superficial world. Noble Signs is a design studio keeping the dream alive in New York. They specialize in custom neon and hand-painted signs for restaurants and other establishments all over the city, as well as preserving and collecting classic signage through the New York Sign Museum.

Worse On Purpose - It feels like the quality of everything is rapidly dropping by the day, this site researches and advises on what companies and items are still worthwhile.

Scheme Records - I came across the Turn of Phrase/ Square One split recently and it’s been on heavy repeat. With that I’ve been digging through the Scheme discography, they haven’t been around long but they’ve put out some great stuff. Check out Method of Doubt and Feels Like Heaven

11/22/63 - A modern time traveler is shown a portal and goes back in time to try to prevent the assassination of JFK. I still wouldn’t say I’m a Stephen King fan, but I needed a palette cleanser book recently and this did just the trick.

North American English Dialects Map - I’ve yet to fully decode how to use this map but it’s still cool as hell.

Post-war film posters - Film posters inadvertently photographed by post-war town planners.