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1/31/1999 HawkeyeI spent this weekend finishing the sample pages for Peretti, my latest assignment for the Press. This book is more complicated than most because it is not a "model" book; that is, it doesn't fall into one of the design categories for which the Press has established specs. So I had to spend a lot of time setting up the dimensions of the page, being careful to get the right number of points for the drop and to produce the required size of the text page. Sample pages go to the designer and editor so they can check them against the specs. These pages include the frontmatter (half title, title page, copyright, dedication, contents, and first pages of foreword and introduction), backmatter (first pages of endnotes and bibliography), and examples of specific design elements (part titles, first page of a chapter, epigraphs, subheads, extracts, numbered lists, poetry, etc.).Tab had taken the kids out yesterday morning, giving me a quiet house in which to work. I set pages all morning and part of the afternoon while the boys napped, finally finishing and printing them last night before going to bed. This morning I brought them with me to look over when I took the kids to Romp Around. I spent most of the time at Romp Around at one of the tables, huddled over the sample pages and wielding a special ruler that measures picas and points. Points are 1/72 of an inch, and there are 12 points in a pica. I never thought such a large part of my life would be spent worrying over such miniscule measurements. This afternoon during the boys' nap, I made some fixes to the sample pages and watched Last of the Mohicans while I was working. I remember watching this video many times when I was on bedrest during my pregnancy with Daniel, which probably explains his name. I hadn't seen it in years, but I wasn't disappointed; the movie is as stirring as I remembered. The violence is graphic, but I've always liked the fact that Magua, the ostensible villain, is almost sympathetic once we learn the cause for his hatred of the English. But the best thing about the movie, of course, is Daniel Day-Lewis. The man has such lovely, piercing green eyes. When Hawkeye looks at Cora it is as though he can see right into her soul. And ya gotta love a guy in buckskins who runs through the forest in slow motion, with his long hair floating behind him and his long rifle in hand, who can take out anything in his sights, be it elk, Indian, or French soldier, with a single shot. One of the all-time great movie lines is Hawkeye's to Cora as she is about to be captured by Magua: "You stay alive, no matter what occurs! I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you. I will find you!" Swoon-worthy. I love the music in this movie, too. The soundtrack was one of the tapes I brought with me to the hospital when I delivered Daniel. Even now, almost six years later, the first few notes of the main theme can transport me back there to that hospital room, to the beginning of my life as a mother. Tab, taking a break from painting the back hallway, watched a few minutes of the movie with me. He observed with amusement my preoccupation with D.D-L: rapid breathing, flushed cheeks, rapt attention to the TV screen. For the rest of the day, he would make me laugh by periodically bellowing, "I will find you!" in his best Daniel Day-Lewis voice.
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