• Winter Preview

    The Winter Walk Home from school included two memorable rituals: Dipping our un-mittened hands in 25¢ Tom Thumb coffee (how old IS she?) and passing by a very high retaining wall.

    The wall held up the yard of our enemies: Two freckle-faced, red-headed brothers. These boys went to a Public School and as if that isn’t bad enough, they took great pleasure in tormenting me.

    I will remind you that this is what I looked like:fran-school-photo

    Why would anyone want to harm such a sweet creature?

    Armed with boulders of snow, poised-and-ready atop the wall — they would wait. Down Vincent Avenue I trudged: snow-pants under my plaid skirt, grease-covered hand-me-down coat, knit cap with sheepskin earflaps.

    Again, why would anyone want to harm such a sweet creature?

    I won’t tell you the ending.

    We had a dusting of snow the other day but I knew better than to break out the snow-pants and knit cap. It was merely a teaser, a preview, an appetizer, an AMUSE-GUEULE.

    Speaking of snow, here’s a new card: each-and-every-snowflake

    November 14, 2012
  • Winternship™ & Skin Suits

    Zeichen Press has never had a Wintertime Intern.

    Until now.

    I expect the new “intern” to make me laugh. It’s an important job. She also claims she will sort type and organize cards but we’ll see. WE’LL SEE.

    In other news: I made ANOTHER Thinking Of You card. I thought and thought about what sort of message I’d like to receive if I were down-in-the-dumps, and I came up with this:thinking-creepyMy sister wanted me to show The-Softer-Side-Of-Fran, but all I could think of was Marshmallow Fluff® and then I just wanted to sit on the beach and pull hermit crabs out of their shells.

    What is wrong with me?

    November 8, 2012
  • Snail Mail : Our Bread & Butter

    There has been an ethical debate raging regarding snail shell art. Some feel that humans have the right to decorate the shells of living snails.

    Inner City Snail art by London artist Slinkachu.

    Where do I stand? The following new birthday card reveals my feelings on this sensitive subject:snail-mail-birthdayPlease respect my freedom of speech.

    Speaking of freedom: Come down to Foiled Again on Saturday night for some free wine. While you’re there, you could buy some of our cards!

    Two birds! One stone!downtown-journal

    November 1, 2012
  • Insomnia and the Woolly Mammoth

    I can’t wait until scientists clone the Woolly Mammoth.

    Some might call it reckless curiosity, I call it Vegas-style science. Implanting salvaged Woolly Mammoth nuclei into an unsuspecting Asian Elephant sounds safe to me — what could happen? 

    Meanwhile, I lay awake and imagine receiving (or not receiving) a baby Woolly Mammoth as a gift. thanks-for-almost-everything2

    October 27, 2012
  • I’ve Never Been To Paris

    But I did take French in high school so I know all about magnetephones, l’autobus, et la lunettes pour Luc.

    For the foreseeable future, I will stay within a 30 mile radius of the Zeichen Press headquarters and dream of faraway lands.merciFeeling the need for a Field Trip, I went to the Other Side Of Minneapolis and visited Rex Mills. I walked through the front door, broke the tenth commandment, (You shall not covet - geez, get your mind out of the gutter) pretended I had something in my eye, snapped some photos, threw a drink in the owner’s face, stole five pounds of ink, and left.rex-mills-klugeThat man in the photograph is not the owner — Rex Mills has Press Operators.

    I will kidnap him as soon as my taser gun arrives in the mail.

    October 21, 2012
  • But Wait, There’s More!

    Bears have it best — fattening up and slipping into their Wintertime coma. I sit here, like a fool, planning my Wintertime Wardrobe — if I never had to shower, I would wear my neck to ankle long-underwear uninterrupted.

    I have Faith that Winter will eventually turn to Spring.

    In Spring, I will tear off my layers of long-underwear. I will bury my Smartwool in the backyard. I will shun my calf-length coat like an old boyfriend. (I can’t believe I was with YOU!!)

    In Spring, kids graduate from educational institutions. And because I am a Giver, I give you these: New graduation cards. Don’t be like, “Why are you thinking about graduation in October?”

    Just accept the greeting card calendar. ACCEPT IT.so-long-suckas-boyso-long-suckasdear-school

    October 15, 2012
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  • Gratitude For Summer Intern Expressed Through Semaphore (Etc.)

    I wrapped myself in bacon yesterday for a phone interview with Mpls. St. Paul magazine.

    I was, I’m sure, delicious.

    She wanted to talk about the new book but I wanted to talk about the last episode of Long Island Medium.

    long island medium

    She said she was too “busy” to talk about what I wanted to talk about. What? Too busy to care??

    Moving on:

    Zeichen Press found a new intern and she already promised to fold my laundry. I’ll give her this new card as soon as she puts my clothes away:merdankcias.blue

    June 4, 2013
  • This Blog Post Would Be Better If It Was Wrapped In Bacon

    I live on a farm so I can swim through my gold coin-filled silos like Uncle Scrooge McDuck. My latest money-making scheme is sure to fill its very own silo: A downloadable collection of our cards turned cartoons!cover-image could-be-worse

    I’ve requested that royalties be paid in gold doubloons.

    Download yours today!

    May 26, 2013
  • Hey, You Got Your Nature In My Peanut Butter

    Clip-clop-clip-clop… I watched her gracefully stroll down 28th Street. She, a 125 pound White Tailed Deer, came towards me on the sidewalk. Her head turned left and right, taking in the scenery like a tourist. I sat as still as a frightened rabbit, hoping she would mistake me for something non-threatening. The air was perfectly calm and the smoke from my cigarette rose straight into the sky. Oh, but she noticed me! We were locked in a staring contest for what felt like forever, and then she bounced away. Faster than I knew a deer could run, she bounded across Hennepin Avenue.old-apartment-google-mapsAnd a bear wandered up to a strip mall last week in Cottage Grove. I felt it should be commemorated.missing-bear-yellow

    May 20, 2013
  • Please Like This

    It’s time to free ourselves from the shackles of this social networking monster.

    We are ignorant prisoners, dragging our metal cups across the bars while our warden stuffs his fat face with naturally-cased wieners.

    We are school children, wandering like Wii avatars, waiting for the bell to ring only to be called in to diagram sentences.wii avatars

    We are the Israelites crushed by our taskmasters, waiting for the supernatural smiting of the Egyptians.

    Rise up, people. Stop rowing the slave ship. The candy tasted so good before we got in the van, but now we must be deprogrammed. Make no mistake about it — this is some sort of Stockholm Syndrome. Oh, the candy… so sweet, so forbidden, so Turkish-Delighty.

    Damn you, Facebook!

    I’ve flushed my precious time down the toilet. Time I’ll never get back. Just like the year I got hooked on Party of Five – those orphaned Salingers led by their gorgeous brother/carpenter, Matthew Fox…

    Oh, but it’s done now. No point in looking back. Friend requests, status updates, profile pictures — word combinations unwittingly added to the English lexicon!

    I’ve got a word for you: insidious.

    Never has there been such a tool, such a divisive tool. It wears a party hat and mixes the strongest drinks, watching the party-goers behave like jackasses. Why?

    Ask son-of-a-dentist/billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg. Mr. Zuckerberg was unavailable for comment during the writing of this, and it’s no wonder. He’s in Palo Alto, counting his drug money. I’m booking a flight to Palo Alto and am either going to personally punch him in the face or flatter him until he hires me as his “personal secretary.” The second scenario is obviously more lucrative. The point is, I will no longer be in this creepy symbiotic relationship.

    I will be free. (cue the MLK footage)wasnt affirmed on facebook

    May 11, 2013
  • Living Near the Edge-ish

    Print shops are full of danger.

    Hands mangled, digits lost, clothes torn right off of bodies… (I better fact-check that last one).

    Zeichen Press is no exception.

    Behold:spider-and-typeLook if you must. Sometimes it is better to face the painful, it desensitizes the mind.

    That’s good, right?

    Because I am so committed to my craft, I (by “I”, I mean “my son”) squished the spider, and finished laying out this card:let-us-not-dwell-2Mother’s Day is coming up but you don’t have to get your mom a card.silly-old-day

    May 3, 2013
  • Ever-Expanding Empire

    Three new rep groups this Spring.

    THREE.

    These new (lucky) states are: Virginia, West Virginia, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and New Mexico. Each rep gets a box of goodies, packed by Jen:rep-decks

    I bet that’s a lot of work.

    I wish I could help but I’m too busy watching Pam watch kittens on televison while I lay in bed.

    I DID write/design some new cards — I’ve heard that laughing is as good for your body as eating so I plan to airdrop some new cards to the starving people in the world.

    I’m sure they’ll be grateful. must-lower-expectationsmy-dad-awesome put-you-in-a-nursing-homerevised-vert-devoured-by-wolveslionel-richie-brought-them-together

    April 26, 2013
  • Safe To Molt Now

    Has Science gone too far?

    Days and nights blurred as the scientist toiled alone — well, not exactly alone — his companions (experiments) lived in a collection of cages. His laboratory (pronounced: lah-boooar-atory) was nestled between the Russkoe Slovo Bookshop and the hydro-electric plant in Krasnoyarsk. 

    His mission?

    To create super-species. Behold his first success… and his new friend:monkey-kitten-photo-2Well, congratulations Doctor Hvorostovsky!

    And now on to my creations:

    (not nearly as controversial)i-bike-bluesometimes-i-cry

    April 25, 2013
  • Such Strong Language

    But how can I be tame when I am thrust into such an atmosphere? weatherI have only one thing to say:

    curse-this-curse-vert

    April 23, 2013
  • Purgatorio di Pesce

    That sounds delicious!

    If Spring would come I wouldn’t be forced to sit here and email sell sheets to hundreds of newspapers around the country. wrapped-in-bacon-sell-sheetI won’t complain about the weather because that’s about as interesting as listening to someone list their health problems. But I WILL say this:

    If I lived in Hawaii, there’d be no Zeichen Press.

    See, I can always find the blessing in disguise.a-blessing-in-disguise-blueOh fine, here’s a new card — inspired by the endless Winter:purgatory-red

    April 21, 2013
  • Always Winter but never Christmas (or Spring)

    The woman gazes through her window. A window covered in dog-drool, a window with a view of only one season: Winter. She stares, slack-jawed, at the slow parade of life.twilight-zone-logo

    There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area we call the Twilight Zone.

    SERIOUSLY?!?letting-go-rose

    April 17, 2013
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