Ezra Hilyer

Hillview

Ezra Hilyer — Mon, 07 May 2012 02:57:54 +0000

There exists a small displaced band of hippies who have escaped the turn of time, and are still happily weed-smokingly living out their days in this small town. They are resolutely happy in their ignorance that it is no-longer 1968, and that there is no danger of the draft.
I encountered this little band of flower-children while working. Although I was there to fix the reception of their cable TV, I doubt that any of them even noticed that I was there. There were four of them, all sprawled on the faded couch, like dead flies stuck to the rim of a glass, no one moved at my approach. The air was thick with the sickly sweet scent of weed, and the TV was mostly snow, only the outlines of figures moved on the old RCA Floor Console. I had come to make the snow go away, and so that is what I did.
I repaired a bad connection, and this solved the problem. I worked silently because I couldn’t think of anything to say, and the stoned bodies on the sofa didn’t bother to interact with me in the least. I felt as though I had stepped into and then back out of a small time distortion. There had been nothing in the room to indicate that I was in any other decade than the 1960s, everything there would have been at home in that decade, nothing betrayed that this was indeed a new century, and the 60s a distant memory.
When I took my leave (Of the only person in the house who was lucid) I glanced back once toward the room, and shrugged at the oddity of what I had just seen.
Oh-well, only one more day in the life of a cable-guy.

A Sincerely Name Rush

Ezra Hilyer — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:05:24 +0000

Today I received an email from ‘Sincerely’, informing me that I could now secure my name as a subdomain page on their site, and since I use, and love their products, (Printed cards that are snail-mailed for you, from your iphone or ipad.) I went ahead and secured my first name: Ezra

So if you would like a card from me, just go to sincerely.com/ezra and add your address to my address book.

This is really a great idea, there are so many people who would love to get a real paper card that they can save, or stick on the refrigerator. I know my mom does!

A few years ago facebook did the same thing, and I was able to secure my last-name : facebook.com/hilyer, and at the time there was a huge name rush on. People stayed up until midnight to get their name before anyone else did. I even heard of Facebook domain parties set up just for this purpose. To a lesser extent, this same thing happened to Twitter at first. I remember people grabbing Twitter handles as rapidly as they could hoping they might someday be worth something, and some have proven to be valuable in the long-run.

I do not expect Sincerely to explode in the same way as Facebook and Twitter, (There just isn’t the mass appeal at this point for physically mailed cards), but I think that this move was a smart one. There are so many other directions that Sincerely can go with this in time. Flowers, gifts, singing telegrams, etcetera.

This move shows that they are working hard to build a confident and trusting base of users. (much like Amazon.com did in the late 90s)
The more customers trust Sincerely, the better placed they will be to challenge other companies in this small market segment.

I wish them well.

-Ezra Hilyer

The Constellation Of Music

Ezra Hilyer — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:43:37 +0000

This is a screenshot from an iPad app called: Planetary. It is a graphical representation of a music library. (In this example you can see a selection of artists in my library)

I use it when I want a beautiful interactive view of my music, or just to browse through and enjoy.

Check it out, and best of all its free!

Daytimer Distressed Leather Binder Modification

Ezra Hilyer — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:00:30 +0000

A few years ago I was using the Daytimer system. I kept all of my appointments and meetings with the daytimer. In that pre-iPhone world, keeping my life on paper was the way it was done.
I enjoyed using the system, and even continued to try and use it after the iPhone, but it was just redundant, so I gave up.

But for posterity’s sake, I thought I would share this little hack that I liked so much.

I took my new Daytimer Distressed Leather Open Binder, and added this watch face to it:

I removed the face from the band, and then tried several different positions for the face, and ended up putting it on the closure band.

I think it turned out really well.

But, after a few years, it looks even better. These things age really well.

My Moleskine Today.

Ezra Hilyer — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 02:42:27 +0000

Rocking a Lamy Al Star today. With 1.1 Italic Nib.

The Search For The Perfect Adhesive Runner.

Ezra Hilyer — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:11:22 +0000

I am always cutting up stuff and pasting them into my Moleskine. Having a ready source of glue, or other adhesive is always trouble. Glue-sticks melt in the sun; double sided tape is tough to transport, I even tried a Glue Pen, and that was a mess. The only thing that is working for me right now are adhesive runners.

I have been using one made by Elmers that I bought for a few dollars, and it seems to be working, but a bit larger than I wanted. I tried the pink one from Therm-o-web, and found that it wasn’t up to the task. for one thing; it is more a tape runner, and so doesn’t release as quickly as I want. It leaves globs of sticky stuff on the edges of the photos. I don’t like that!
So for now I am back to the Elmers, but I am still looking. If you know of a good compact runner (glue dots preferably) please let me know.

The other idea might be sheets of adhesive dots that I can cut to size, and peel off, but i haven’t found anything like that yet.

-Ezra

The Source Of Poetry

Ezra Hilyer — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:37:18 +0000

Poetry is not something that simply spills from the mind unbidden.

No, Poetry is an essence that travels from one being to the next; it is shared by ingestion of life.

A life absent from the poetic expressions found in the trees, the fall colors, the simple poetry of life will never give birth to anything more than a crusty paper of a lie.
One who lives on a steady diet of hard truth, dipped deep in the stone well of natural poetry will become suffused with the stuff until it weeps from the very pores, and spills dark ink upon the page already stained with tears.

-Ezra

My New Favorite Pen: The Kuretake Letter Pen

Ezra Hilyer — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:29:07 +0000

I am enamored with my new pen: the Kuretake Letter Pen. It has a really fine point that allows for heavier lines when pressed hard, it makes really beautiful lettering, and gives my normal handwriting a bit of pretty flair. 

I just loooove it! 

(BTW: I got it from www.jetpens.com )

Whats In Your Moleskine Pocket?

Ezra Hilyer — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:24:55 +0000

My Moleskine is a vital part of my life, it serves as a permanent record of the daily thoughts and ideas of my life. I hope to one day pass on all of my accumulated journals to the fire of forgetfulness.
 In the pocket, I keep a $20 bill for emergencies, and a couple of Moo cards for interactions with new people. I never go anywhere without my Mole! 

Inspiration Kit

Ezra Hilyer — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:18:11 +0000

Inspiration rarely gives warning; so I must be ready!

   When I suddenly get the urge to make art; I dig into the dark depths of my messenger bag, and pull out my trusty Moleskine Watercolor Notebook and my Winsor & Newton Bijou Box.
   Then, I search for the soft brown wrapped Ple Ple Pen Case, and unwrap my tools: Pilot Parallel Pen, Sakura Waterbrush, Cross Triple Pen, Lamy Safari with EF Nib, Tasche Fine Black Pen, and the prize: a fine Sable Brush Pen.

   All of these objects, I arrange neatly on the bench beside me, and then Open my Bijou box filled with richly pigmented watercolors, I then snap the elastic from the Moleskine, and seizing my water-brush, I dive into a different world: one that I create upon the virginal page.   

What colors will flow from the bristles today? What pigment of very thought, will I bleed upon the page?

   I never know. 