While I have a lot of ambitions in life, some lofty, some mundane, one that falls right in the middle is my desire to be a Wall Street Journal woodcut. If you've ever read or even looked at the WSJ, you've no doubt seen these, usually in the left column, a newsmaker whose image is rendered in woodcut form to illustrate a story. At left, a progression of Steven Job's woodcuts.
While my own political beliefs skew approximately 180 degrees from the WSJ's editorial page, I still read the Journal a few times a week and have for nearly twenty years. The Weekend Journal is a must-read section on Fridays, with great reviews and an excellent sports section. It is this familiarity with the paper that has led to my long-standing desire to be immortalized as a woodcut.
I Googled 'Wall Street Journal Woodcut' and learned that the WSJ employs no less than six people (four full-time) to create what they call 'hedcuts', not woodcuts. Most are only used once. While I have seen notorious figures as varied as Jeffrey Skilling (Enron knucklehead) and Scott Petersen (wife-killer) get the hedcut treatment, most are done of people who have made the news for good reasons.
It's unlikely I'll ever do anything newsworthy enough to be depicted in this way, but hey, I guess a guy can dream can't he? Anybody know someone over at the Journal who can get me in through the back door?


You're just going to have to commit those murders you're always talking about.
Posted by: Kent | Tuesday, May 03, 2005 at 09:36 AM
I have some questions about those murders. Do you have a list and am I on it?
Posted by: Scotty | Tuesday, May 03, 2005 at 09:39 PM
You both are in the clear. Funny though, after the whole Scott Petersen trial, Carla made me promise I would never murder her. It was kind sweet and creepy at the same time, even if it was half-kiddingly.
Posted by: kenny | Wednesday, May 04, 2005 at 03:27 AM
I totally wanted to be woodcut, too.
Posted by: Megan | Wednesday, May 04, 2005 at 09:48 PM
Ken, I contacted the Make-A-Wish foundation and...
http://www.chicosbailbonds.com/woody_ken.jpg
Posted by: Kent | Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 12:15 PM