makes me proud to be an american

By kate | Published March 12, 2013

from the too much time on my hands department. But at least I found the Bat Cave (it’s in North Carolina, btw).

couldn’t have come up with these U.S. city names if I’d tried:

Burnt Corn, AL
Unalaska, AK
Goobertown, AZ
Toad Suck, AR
Dunmovin, CA
Panacea, FL
Hopeulikit, GA
Beer Bottle Crossing, ID
Metropolis, IL
Acme, IN
What Cheer, IA
Do Stop, KY
Typo, KY
Belcher, LA
Beans Corner Bingo, ME
Accident, MD
Nimrod, MN
Soso, MS
Frankenstein, MI
Square Butt, MO
Worms, NE
Good Intent, NJ
Cat Elbow Corner, NY
Bat Cave, NC
Knockemstiff, OH
Cookietown, OK
Boring, OR
Loyalsockville, PA
Due West, SC
Smartt, TN
Ding Dong, TX
Satans Kingdom, VA
Bumpass, VA
Humptulips, WA
Big Ugly, WV
Imalone, WI

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who knew? a boy named Shel

By kate | Published August 3, 2012

One of my favorite authors, Shel Silverstein, of The Giving Tree and numerous wonderful books of poetry fame, was the talent and pen behind songs such as “A Boy Named Sue” and “25 Minutes to Go.” Both were made famous by another of my favorites, The Man in Black—Johnny Cash.

And while we’re at it, we might as well chalk up “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” to Shel’s hit parade. He wrote a number of other songs in the 60s and 70s. And although I’m somewhat a product of the 60s and 70s, my musical knowledge doesn’t include that much esoterica.

Here’s a number to listen to while you google those other songs …

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dirty velcro? try an American Girl brush

By kate | Published July 22, 2012

My Timbuk2 messenger bag had dirty Velcro closures so full of dog hair, lint, and fuzz from the carpet, among other things, that they just weren’t sticking. And three pairs of my daughter’s shoes suffered from the same affliction. What’s a girl to do?

Well, I remembered how handy little Barbie brushes had been in my old days of felting knit bags. I got a bagful off of eBay that I used to comb out novelty yarns that got stuck in the wool as it felted in the washing machine. I was so amused by how goofy they were, yet effective, that I tied one to each bag’s tag so its new owner could keep it tangle-free.

Anyway … check this out. Here’s a series of before, during, and after shots of cleaning dirty vecro that will help you truly appreciate the joys of having a daughter with an American Girl doll brush in the house! (I’m sure a dog comb would work too.)

Giants bag - before

Yuck!

bag with brush

I escaped unnoticed from my daughter’s room with her brush …

action shot

a close-up action shot …

clean strip of velcro

presto, chango!

clean bag

and there was peace in the kingdom

p.s. Go Giants!

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cheap thrills or wedding day jitters?

By kate | Published July 9, 2012

The paparazzi started to get a little out of hand once the carousel started up.

wedding pictures

putting passion into your work (golden gate park carousel)


wedding on carousel

looks like she got the picture–as well as a little verklempt (golden gate park carousel)

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pantone profiling & a gown, by gummy!

By kate | Published July 7, 2012

It’s a bit of a stretch, but I think I can combine two amusing/interesting tidbits gleaned via DesignTaxi. Two takes on two themes: color and skin. One based on an industry standard. The other based on one of my standards (standard snacks, that is).

The first marks the debut of TWELV Magazine, a gorgeous chevron gown made out of—wait for it—220 lbs of gummy bears!. (The magazine is gorgeous, too, and is available for a special premiere rate of 99 cents. And I didn’t even need encouragement to join its coming out party!)

gummy bear haute couture

all together now, “sticky woman, walking down the street, sticky woman … “

My husband said, “I wouldn’t mind taking her to a movie.” If he didn’t love gummy bears and if this wasn’t such an out-of-character remark, I would have been more on the offensive and offended.

And if you think that’s colorful, check out Brazil’s Angelica Dass’ effort to match people’s skin tone to their equivalent Pantone color.

Pantone skin tone

Angelica Dass is ambitiously trying to replace skin tone with spot color.

Read more ’bout it on her site and check out a couple of examples here. Quite stunning. Perhaps our men (and women) in blue could take a page out of her book and start shooting suspects’ mug shots to complement their skin tones and tattoos. Or take out Pantone decks to try and pin down their perps. I guess that would be a cry of outrage for Pantone profiling, however …

Pantone skin tones

Dass, understandably has labelled this a “work in progress.”

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visualize ’50 shades of grey’

By kate | Published June 19, 2012

Pretty clever reference to the saucy best-selling trilogy 50 Shades of Grey (disclaimer: the word “saucy” is used presumptuously—I have not read the apparent barn burners. Pantone, on the other hand …)

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‘Please don’t go. We’ll eat you up. We love you so.’

By kate | Published May 8, 2012

RIP Maurice Sendak, who brought so much joy to so many–young and old. Such a character, as exhibited in this interview with Stephen Colbert on January 12, 2012 (this takes a few moments to load):

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humble beginnings & atheist tendencies

By kate | Published April 17, 2012

I’m reading Steve Martin’s memoir Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life. Was interested to find out that his stand-up career started on Grant Ave., five blocks or so from my house.  And am pleased that he is candid and unguarded in his accounting of his early days (am about a third through the book). Makes for a more rewarding read.

Speaking of rewarding, I can’t talk about Steve Martin, who I consider one of the funniest men alive or dead, without balancing his candor with some humor.

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‘your time is limited … ‘

By kate | Published April 16, 2012

In my unemployed state, I find I constantly have to remind myself to take advantage of my time (that is, time not spent looking for a job that wouldn’t be the daily equivalent of shooting myself in the head).

Anyway, last year shortly after Steve Jobs’ death, which affected me more than I would have thought, I posted a video of his Stanford commencement address.

Today I came across Merlin Mann’s 43 Folders page titled “Insanely Great,” and I found the fittingly spare layout of the page and its eloquent message (as well as an excerpt Mann uses as a tagline of sorts on the site) as inspiring as the first time I heard/read it.

Here is a screenshot of the page from 43 Folders:

"Your time is limited" -- Steve Jobs

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words to read to your 7-year-old

By me | Published January 9, 2012

via francypantsacademy.com
this one touches me. hoping to do a design of it myself.

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