Thank God for memes

...or I wouldn't have anything to post! I'm in a rut! Or rather, a lull! However, my friends have been saying the darnedest things that every day I want to make them the quote of the day. And then I promptly forget them. I should wear one of those necklace paper pads with pencil a la Holly Hunter in The Piano. But I digress...

My pal Poet With A Day Job's got a list, and my pal LaDonna took it next. Now me:

1. The Last Book I Purchased:
The Food Snob's Dictionary, An Essential Lexicon of Gastronomical Knowledge. Since I'm not in culinary school or apprenticing at Gary Danko, I thought this would help me with some french foodie terms. Or the pronunciation of the names of famous culinary figures. Or for definition of certain menu items ("salsify" and "concasse"). And it does! It is rather tongue-in-cheek though, and is not at all what I would call a comprehensive volume of culinary knowledge. A fun read all the same, perhaps perfect for a certain room in the house...

2. The Last Film I Purchased:
Sarah Silverman's Jesus Is Magic. A live DVD. Does that count? If not then it would have to say "The Birdcage" because shamefully, I never had it on DVD. I know, I know. I couldn't believe it myself. So back to "Jesus Is Magic": I haven't watched it yet but I'm sure my mouth will be left hanging open from laughter and shock. And awe. And shock.

3. The Last Music or Spoken Word I Purchased:
Raising Sand, with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Somewhat unlikely but surprisingly good pairing. It smacks of alt country, bits of bluegrass, and a pinch of folk. T Bone Burnett produced it so whaddya expect. It's good I'm-working-on-something-at-3-am kind of music. It's also "hm, yeah, I guess I am thirty-six" kinda music. Sigh. I might as well pack it up and move to Scarsdale.


p.s. Dear Tim Gunn, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, Heidi Klum, and Natalie Portman:
YOU. ARE. WRONG. Suede's dress was NOT cute. And Suede should have gone home for just being Suede. And on what planet is Terri's blue dress not the winner? You go, Miss Terri. I'm starting to feel a backlash to the backlash to the backlash with Project Runway right now. Don't even get me started.

What the fuck is this shit? From the mind of Suede, ladies and gentlemen. I get it, ok? But the execution is horrible, in my opinion.

Work it out, Terri. Challenge requirements met and exceeded, thank you.

By the skin of my teeth, sweeties

Hello again, blog. It's been a while and I'm trying to get back and it is...difficult. Last weekend's ZineFest just about kicked my ass. Frickin' exhausting. I guess that's what happens when you whore yourself out creatively for 16 hours on the weekend (there's a dangling participle in there somewhere...). The thought of going to work the next day actually made me physically ill, so I took that Monday off, and it worked wonders for my well-being. It was also fun to watch Golden Girls in the morning. "Shady Pines, Ma, Shady Pines!"

RIP, Estelle Getty.

I've also been doing some fun freelance for my sister and her new line. It's very exciting and I'm glad to be a part of it, however I've been pulling 12 hour days this week. Good results tho; perhaps I'll give a sneak peek sometime soon. Can I also say a big shout-out to my writing group sister-wives? Thank god for every other Thursday night. That shit is like wicked good THERAPY.

A'ight. Here's today's cool shizz. Corian rings. That's right. The counter surface material. Nice neutral colors like this graphite and some creamy white ones from these folks.

This weekend: SF ZineFest!

Be there or be...not there. But really, be there. Because I'll be there, sitting behind a table I'm sharing with my friend LaDonna Willems, poet and writer. We partnered on her book of poetry together last year; I designed the book. We'll be sitting there and I'll be the one looking somewhat awkward and reading magazines whilst drinking cherry cola. My other friend Melissa Fondakowski will also be there, hawking her fantastic recent book of poetry. It should be a great opportunity to pimp out my design services and see some more good shit. So get your buns over to the ZineFest if you can. It promises to be yet another DIY fiesta fantastico!

My promo postcard. Git it.

Renegade Craft Fair: Report from the Field

Yesterday we caught the tail-end of the Renegade Craft Fair's first showing in San Francisco (!) It promises to be an annual event here, and we're long overdue. 'Parently the Fair has been showing in Chicago and Brooklyn for the last 6 or so years (I believe Chicago was its first city). ANYWAY, we had to bootscootboogie through the fair on the last day, as we were due over in the East Bay in the early evening. This meant that our friend L. and Lani and I had about less than hour to spend at the Fair, since we had just come in from SanJo to attend a wedding the night prior. (Congratulations Laurel & Ricardo! Holla!) It was a craft frenzy, and I almost lost my mind trying to ferret out the cool stuff through the crowd of hipsters and crafsters and strollers and the roaming 30 piece band that was playing. It rawked, though, and I did make a purchase: Petit Collage's screenprint of the alphabet in blue/green. Love her stuff; had seen it hanging at Zinc Details many moons ago, and was psyched to get a print of my very own! I also learned that we are Noe Valley neighbors. Fun. Lani also got me a journal with a repurposed cover of an old 1973 Childcraft Annual (Jocelyn, remember those???) Awesome!

What was going on in the East Bay, you ask? Well, we got to milk goats, feed the horses, and harvest eggs from REAL LIVE HENS at Deer Hill Ranch where my friend M. is the Executive Director and farmhand extraordinaire. We were also able to pick some very sweet and luscious plums. I am flush with farm-fresh products. Slow food, ya'll, slow food. Thanks, M.! Can't wait to work on that logo!

This Is Why I'm Hot

Calling all HipAsianNerdBoys! Straight outta Korea we've got the fashion brand JBROS. And there's not just stuff for guys...the bags kick ass, especially the totes, duffels, and backpacks. Most bags are faux leather/patent, or canvas, or vinyl. Here's a selection of stuff I found insanely appealing.


Korean site (for eye candy)
A U.S. vendor of select products

"Vamos!"

(This one's for Lani:) Four hours and forty-eight minutes (and 3 rain delays) of the most heart-pounding of Wimbledon finals, and you owned that shit! Congratulations, Rafa! You rocked that court today. And you're sweet. And you wear capri shorts. And your left arm is more muscularly developed than your right arm. And you Never. Give. Up.

The closest I have ever been to Rafa. He just finished practice at the Indian Wells tournament and I managed to elbow and take out some screaming teenage girls to snap this pic.

Calling all uteruses. Or uterii.

Ok, this is pretty farking cute. What better entertainment can a parent have? All this one needs is a pair of goggles. They call them "helmet hats" and indeed they are. I know, baby hats, shmaby shmats, but come ON! Go get 'em! Your child's head is F-R-EEZING!! Notice below that these cutey hats come in many mod colorways. I also really love the chin strap and ear warmers. The purveyors of this particular piece of fashion fun also offer flowery add-ons to the hats, so that your baby can look like a 20's flapper if'n she wants! Put your money toward this, and not Crocs. Heh.

Etsy strikes again.

Procrastinatory posty

Drumroll: I surfed! I am a surfer! I have achieved surfitude! Estoy surfiando!

And I have the pictures to prove it. Stay tuned. I'm lazy. Still lazy from being lazy, because laziness begets lazy. (side note: I should never order a Java Chip frappucino at 2 in the afternoon. I sound insane.)

So look for a future post on the vacation. Oh how I miss the swimming and sleeping and eating.

Today's cool thing: Custom silhouette portraits by Carter Kustera. You can add a descriptive tag line to each. It's a fun thing for the whole family.