Oh it tickles me fancy

I am a massive fan of this woman's art:






My particular favorite


She and I have the same drawing and mixed media style. I am going to learn her process right now.

A-Z Gratitude

I was reading a chapter from The Creative Family about gratitude. I love the idea of remembering my blessings, as sometimes I can be greedy and grouchy at my lack of...

The author suggests using a scrap of brown paper to write the letters A-Z and then by each letter, listing something your grateful for. I thought I would try this quickly before my laptop battery dies:
A-Amazon.com, B-Blueprint Magazine, C-Cascading Style Sheets, D-Domino Magazine, E-Etsy.com, F-Family, G-Goodwill, H-Heather (my sister), I-Ice Cream, J-JQuery (opens a new world of interactivity), K-Khakis (they match everything), L-Love (I've got tons and tonnes), M-Money (it smells good), N-Namaste, O-Onion (favorite satire), P-Payton (my first daughter who made us a family), Q-Quality Time (alone or with friends), R-Rest (from negative thinking), S-Samantha (who got my old job and was excited about it!), T-Tiffany&Co. Turquoise boxes, U-Umbrellas, V-Venus, W-Windsheild wipers, X-X's and O's, Y-Yangtze River, Z-Zebra stripping.

Now let's flickr it:

Wow, really?

So I went online to Macys.com to check out Coach's flower print tote, and I received this message:



We'll be right with you. It's a little crowded in here right now, and to make sure everyone enjoys shopping with us, we're asking new visitors to wait here for a few moments...we'll refresh your browser and welcome you momentarily...

Ha! I guess they figure if you wait in line at the store you can wait online to access their website.

The nerve!

As if I can't buy this tote from 20 other places online, including ebay! I'm sure the volume on ebay is MUCH higher than Macys.com and I've never been told to take a number.

Maximalism

I am such a massive fan of maximalism. It started in my subconscious, I didn't recognize it as love, only a general fondness of new design ideas.



I've always been a tremendous fan of magical realism, and thinking about it now, magical realism is just form of maximalism, excess and decadence.

In the 90's I rested with the simplicity of zen design, scrubbed my bamboo floor, whitewashed my walls, pulled the shades tight over my windows, and disposed of all my possession except a solitary bonzai in the corner of an empty room. Even my design was as simple and white as possible:


But one day a couple of years ago, someone had slashed holes in the zen wall and it was bleeding a rainbow of vector curves, and I LOVED it.



The catholic church will not be happy with my indulgence!

I remember buying the first version of Maximalism: A Design Study in 2006. What a great concept!



As design trends do, that concept was worked on, deconstructed, remolded, and reproduced in it's final sleek form.

Here are some websites to love, which represent two of my favorite design tricks: maxamilism and mixed media.

Free People


Spring Time in Tennessee


But how does someone create a maximalist design without it looking like it was thrown together?

Even maximalism has thresholds before it turns to chaos. Pushing those boundaries and still staying orderly is what successful maxamilist artists have mastered. And a proper grid always helps things stay in place.

Lipton


But alas, this is yet another trend like mehndi which will soon find it's way on the out list. While it's here I will lick it up like ice cream and indulge in it's layers of chewy goodness.

Meat Packaging

I ran into this image:



on a website talking about texture. The website article was horrible,but the image was right on. How clever! Now get me a cleaver! Yum...meat.

Okay, so even a vegetarian can find cuteness in this slab of meat peeking through the cut-out shape of a cow. Who knew meat could be marketed in a fancy way that makes us all laugh saying "Yes it's dead animal flesh, but look at the darling package!"

This has got me thinking that maybe, just maybe, a company who would take such care in the image of their product may also take care in the preparation of that product. For instance Tiffany & Co jewelery comes packaged in a small turquoise box with a satin white ribbon. Opening the Tiffany & co. box is a treat, what a presentation! And you know the quality packaging is to protect and display the quality of the article inside.

So maybe, the quality packaging of this beef also symbolizes the quality of life the cow had before it was put down. Maybe it signifies the cleanliness of the slaughterhouse, and the sanitary conditions of the factory line and processing departments.

But is it true then, that quality packaging will reveal a quality product? Do companies with high standards open their pocket book more to get a quality designer? Or is this just a gimmick to get the consumer to buy a cheap cut of meat?

Either way, this package is clever and the designer should win awards.

One of My Favorite Photographers

His name is Miles Aldridge. And you won't find much about him on his home page since he reserves this space for a simple slideshow of his portfolio.







A little warning however, he photographs a woman's body without conventional modesty.

His photographs are juicy and colorful, the models are whimsical and almost surreal. But he has a definite understanding of fashion, and portrays slick glamour throughout all of his photographs.

I love his use of contrast, focal point, and texture. And of course the pairing of unlike objects to create striking patterns of deeper meaning.



Hey lady, don't catch your hair on fire!

Slimquick Buzz

Today I learned a few important lessons:

1. Importing pdfs and docs into CMS is easiest if you use a text editor


2. Placing a lemon wedge below the ice in a diet coke results in maximum citrus flavor


3. Most heart attacks occur between 10 and 11 AM

Thank God it is nearly five. Today I ate lunch with Angelica at Qdoba. While sitting there 4 out of my 7 workmates walked in one at a time. Apparently it was Qdoba day for the office. And even though I did not get the memo, I looked as if I knew the deal.

Angelica and I shared a brownie which was delicious, and in my opinion, the taste of chocolate soothes my soul, and therefore is health food.

This morning was mysecond week on SlimQuick. Last week I took one pill in the morning and one pill in the afternoon. The second week you double up, two pills in the morning and two in the afternoon. No problem right? Well, actually.... Each "serving size" has the amount of caffeine as two cups of coffee. I was buzzing a caffeine high even before I arrived at work. And when I got in I realized that Fritz had brought in my favorite Vermont Free Trade coffee from Ellwood Thompsons. And he had just brewed a fresh pot. So I drank three cups of the Vermont coffee. By lunch time I was spastic, like the boy who was raised with the bees. It only made sense to drink 2 glasses of fully caffeinated Diet Coke.

Angelica "How was your weekend?"
Me "Myweekendwasgreatwehadapartyforpaytonandallherfriendsbroughthergreatgiftsandthenweatepizzaandwatchedamovieandthenwewentswimmingandthenitwaslateandchloewasstungbymosquitosandcriedandthenmyinlawstookthemtotheirhousefortheweekend..."

PHEW!
By 2pm I hit the wall, had a massive headache, and a stretch of yawning that I couldn't shake.

Did you know noon is the best time to push through a deal? Or sign a house? Or come up with a creative idea?

So I decided I would skip my second dose of SlimQuick as I still have energy enough to make it through the night.

Some folks from NYC are coming down to Richmond to hold a training next week. They sent me an email asking if we had a projector. One of these?



No dummy, one of these:


Don't you miss those transparency projectors?
I learned about Sex Ed and Chlorophyll on those projectors. One year in school I sat next to the projector and could smell the white board marker my teacher used to write notes directly onto the glass of the projector. I thought those machines were the coolest. We borrowed one from the YMCA to project a Winnie the Pooh picture onto the wall and trace it for a mural. I remember learning with glee that you could run transparencies through a copier. I bought 4 boxes of transparencies for work. And I never used any of them. I'm sure they are sitting in some file drawer over there on Franklin Street.

Speaking of that old job I realized what the ex-monster reminds me of. You know when you borrow a jacket from a friend whose parents are chain smokers, and then you put that jacket in your dirty clothes and it smells up all your laundry? Thats what that monster reminds me of. Hubby said she had a picture of my BFF on her wall. Not sure what thats about....she sucks.

At 5pm the liver metabolizes alcohol most efficiently.

Tonight my in-laws have the kids so we will be eating chocolate for dinner.
Maybe we'll watch a Rated R movie. Haha. And wash OUR clothes instead of the kids. I can't wait.

Another site to be addicted to....

Some developers are so clever!!

Here is what I did with text from "Love in the Time of Cholera":



Create your own at Wordle.

Photo Funia

Here's Payton! How cute is this? Or maybe creepy with those old lady hands!



I'm addicted to Photo Funia!!

Here is Coco.



This is way addictive.

Mixed Media Quilt - Too Cute!!

Aunty Cookie from Australia created this adorable quilt.



Apartment Therapy featured pictures from her house on their blog. This chick has style! What I love about her quilt is the mix media feel, the terry cloth fabric, adjacent to the quilting squares of unusual fabric, and then what looks like 3 measuring tapes side by side. Que Bueno!

Bluelines...Argh

I found these lovely banners on the now extinct Bluelines blog.







Aren't they just fantastic!!

Bluelines is a blog spin off of my favorite ever magazine: Blueprint. This magazine is gorgeous. And it's also recently discontinued! Sob. It's a Martha Stewart magazine and I suppose she determined it was just too fluffy for her starched back style.

The typography and images (and content too) were breath taking.

I wrote a letter to Martha asking her to reinstate the magazine. I hope my letter convinces her that there are some desperate women with newly formed hole in their heart.

New Furniture!!

I remember reading in a Martha Stewart catalog that Pottery Barn sold classy looking furniture for a price that middle income Americans can afford. The funny thing is, I thought Pottery Barn was way expensive.

And I still do.

So I finally have nearly enough funds (minus those I owe in back taxes) to buy the two items I've been wanting for 2 years.

The couch:



With this throw:



And the chandelier:



The couch we have now is so country its scary, red white and blue plaid with X's and O's. Omg. I saw the couch on that 1980s movie "Overboard" in the nasty redneck house occupied by dirty, tasteless men. But it's comfortable. We bought it in 1997 from a family member who had it handed down to him from someone who had it handed down to them. There is no telling how old this thing is, but I'll peg it at 30. Manufactured the year after I was born.

A couple of years ago I worked at Pottery Barn for a second Christmas job. I enjoyed working there. The best part was that employees got a 40% discount off of everything at Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, William and Sonoma, and West Elm. I spent twice what I made. I wanted the couch then, but couldn't afford. Now I wish I still worked there!!

Hello, this is Harold

Harold just called. Who is Harold? Harold is the guy I left a message for 3 weeks ago. And apparently he took his sweet ass time calling back.

Harold is a CTE certified personal trainer at Wolfgang's gym. "I just got this message," he says, "I look forward to meeting you and offering any information that can help you with your marathon training."

Harold, I can probably guess the first tip you would give me: "Get up off your butt and run a mile."

Good lord of thunder thighs...Is it fair for a vegetarian to have cellulite? Shouldn't that be reserved for people who scarf fried chicken and T-Bone steaks?

But these chubby cheeks arn't a sign of physical fitness, even though once upon a time I was capable of running a 10k.


I am learning something about myself. I fear letting go. But once I do I realize that I don't miss what I let go if I rearrange my habits to fill that void that is left behind. Take myspace...I thought I would miss myspace like my left arm. But then I started this blog and I found dozens of new friends and worthwhile blogs to read. It was as if by letting go of my dependency I opened up a door to room full of miracles. Now I must remember this, when I make my next drastic cut from the negative parts of my life.

Because shouldn't our focus be making ourselves and our friends happy during this short life?

Shouldn't I swallow the pill that Harold took 3 weeks to call me back, and find hope in his reassuring kind, confident voice?

Shouldn't I stop hating all men? Shouldn't I stop hating my body, and ruing the fact that I don't have my sister's body type?

Ugh but getting off the chair to run a mile, can I really muster up the energy to do that?

Can I let go of my lazy Sunday mornings in exchange for a hard core 10 mile run through a humid downtown street? Can I give up my grilled cheese in exchange for celery and asparagus? Can I really be expected to wake up at 4:30am in order to make this dream of finishing a half marathon a reality for me?