snow & tea

sushi for birthday?

2009-03-09T05:51:00.001-07:00

Almost Miffy Rolls
Originally uploaded by Los Dragónnes.

Mei Mei,

i wish i could have taken you to dinner for your birthday!
hope you had a good one!
love you,
nell

i am slightly obsessed with junk mail

2009-01-08T08:56:00.001-08:00

Good Day,

Good day, I am MR.CHAO WEI, Bank of China (Hongkong),I have a business proposal of (US$18,600,000.00) for you from my bank.
Finally after that I shall provide you with more details. Email: chaoweihk1@live.com
Please send your details to My direct email: chaoweihk1@live.com for more information on this business proposal

email me at chaoweihk1@live.com if ineterested:

Regards,
CHAO WEI.

---

What I love about it is the exact sum of $18,600,000. It's so ambitious!

Ryan McGinley

2009-01-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

art photos...
there is a real buzz about his work.
http://www.ryanmcginley.com

tree portraits

2008-12-04T07:58:00.000-08:00

The tree portraits of Korean artist, Myoung Ho Lee, are really interesting dialogue about recognizing beauty in the mundane ... She says:
"Trees are attractive objects in that they enable people to think philosophically and appreciate aesthetically. But too often, we don’t recognize the value of ordinary mundane objects around us. Seeing trees in a refreshing way or restoring the value of trees is to awaken all beings on earth in my work."
See more of her work at Lens Culture.
Read interview with her at The Morning News.

farmers make tulip art in holland

2008-06-25T06:36:00.001-07:00

Amazing idea if this was an abstract art project, but even better that it was the work of farmers...

From: "Dutch farmers tip-toe through the tulips as landscape is transformed into a spectacular display of colour"

one of the greatest human beings alive today

2008-06-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

i just saw James Nachtwey lecture about his work, in conversation with a Times mag editor (who was clearly in love with him -but that's a whole other story). over 150 of his images were projected onto a huge theater screen above him. his composition is so excellent but what hit the hardest was his profound devotion to humanity. he really did not have an ego, and in his descriptions of eluding death after bombings and shootings, he said he almost felt like this concentration and instinct are so strong that it seems like he has an invisible shield around him, but then he quickly adds that "you can't think too much about it."

i almost did not even go b/c originally, i thought i'd be too depressed after seeing such documented tragedies, but his effect was the opposite... grounded and hopeful.

he got two standing ovations from the packed, sold out theater.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN!

2008-03-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

Hope you have a great day!

So glad you were born!

*Photos by Flying South

Bunnies

2008-02-14T20:13:00.001-08:00

My Favorite Website Design of 2007: Radiohead's InRainbows.com

2007-12-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

my favorite website of this year: inrainbows.com, Radiohead's official site to download their new album. so clean. i particularly like how the progress bar moves when your order is being processed. radiohead offered their album on a "pay as you want" scale....and you can download it straight from the site.

my dream retreat

2007-12-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Look at this woodland pod in Norway! How wonderful would that be to have your own retreat. I found out about it via the blog called notcot.org but when you go to the , it's not in English. The only thing missing, in my opinion, is a bathroom with a big tub.

the merits of negative space

2007-12-04T14:59:00.001-08:00

my cineaste coworker brought this new criterion DVD cover to my attention. check out the spectacular negative space in this composition!

also: the turquoise and red together is perfect.

according to pennsylvania, i'm a quaker

2007-12-01T15:34:00.001-08:00

i'm so happy to find this! here's our wedding certificate receipt. $90 and we were wed quaker-style in pennsylvania. i love seeing it itemized as "quaker m.l.".... now the big mystery is what is "c.c."?

My running list of gift ideas

2007-12-01T13:38:00.000-08:00

bird vase by Joanna Mendicino (via a cup of joe)

Kristian Vedel Birds: "Designed in 1959 and still handturned in a small village in Denmark, each bird features a body and free-moving head that can be balanced to create expressions ranging from happy to sad to curious to suspicious..."

wooden USB stick from the Dutch designer Oooms (via designsponge)

kiva gift certificate: "Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can 'sponsor a business' and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence.."

The chair is not so comfortable.

2007-11-30T19:48:00.001-08:00

But, good use of recycled materials and thinking outside the box from Industrial design students in Israel

More Letterpress

2007-11-30T19:07:00.001-08:00

I found a LOVELY letterpress company called Pancake & Franks
and you should see how lovely their holiday line is.
Organic and creative, as well as simple.

looks like a painting

2007-11-27T19:33:00.001-08:00

What beautiful colors, eh! This photo was taken by Steve McCurry, a magnum photographer, in Yangon, Burma. Did you go there in your travels?
I didn't know monks wore pink.

the best way to see the whole world...in under 10 minutes!

2007-11-02T14:35:00.001-07:00

I somehow came upon this clip of the "It's a Small World" at Disney World...I have such fond memories of taking this ride as a kid....

Thanks to iloveletterpress.com

2007-10-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Thank You cards, there is a line up ("showcase roundup") of photos and links of great thank you cards from letterpress companies on iloveletterpress.com, where I had been looking last week during my search for inspiring Xmas cards.

See below from that site... your birdies...

our thank-you cards

2007-10-21T19:23:00.001-07:00

it's a relief we had an intimate wedding and only had a several dozen thank-you cards to send out. i decided to go straight for letter-press cards. theme: birds. we love birds!

[top card is by Hello! Lucky; bottom card is by Egg Press]

My Darjeeling

2007-10-15T12:51:00.001-07:00

High Tea, India Style
New York Times article, by Matt Gross (Oct 14, 2007)

I found an Indian website (in English) which rates and sells Darjeeling teas directly from the Estates. It has detailed descriptions about each one and star ratings with number of votes. It's really fascinating. The site is kind of packed with info. The layout is a little crazy, but I guess that means it's authentic.
It's www.thunderbolttea.com ... specifically check out the first flush page:

Amigurumi

2007-10-01T20:26:00.001-07:00

Cute Japanese crafts!

The above are eggs in a cart and the shells open up.

I stumbled onto a book about cute Japanese crocheting patterns and realize what a niche it is. People are obsessed, as one book describes "so cute you could cry..."
Amazon reviewers best love The Cute Book by Aranzi Aronzo which includes how-to patterns.

After looking at the pictures in the book, I had to feast my eyes on some tangible items for sale and the natural place to then look for the real objects was Etsy ...and look what was peeping out of the pumpkin patch:

Pumpkin Moon Bun
(artist from VA)
Happy Eggs (artist from NYC)

Hey, then I noticed that the two ones I picked out were from our places of residence... coincidence? I think NOT!

Herzog & de Meuron, Ai Wei Wei + 1,001 Displaced Chinese

2007-06-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

I'm so fascinated with what's going on in Beijing in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. A massive "bird's-nest-shaped" stadium is being erected in the center of the city by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and so far the construction looks pretty insane.

The main consultant on the stadium is a contemporary Beijing artist named Ai Wei Wei. I don't know that much about him, but I've been reading about this extravagant art experiment he's staging this summer at Documenta in Kassel, Germany. He's bringing 1,001 ordinary Chinese people ("farmers, laid-off workers, street vendors, students, rock singers, and white collar workers") to the tiny town of Kassel to live for a week as a sort of cultural exchange. "I just want them to go to Kassel, be happy, relax, see the show, and come back safely," Ai has said.

love birds

2007-04-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

I thought you'd like these owls and appreciate the clever allusion to the "loves me, loves me not" with the flower pedals when I saw this silk screen poster for sale on Design Public.

Bunny Hopping Contest in Denmark!

2007-04-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

Please watch the video.

Also: If you love bunnies the way I do, please meet Oolong, this insanely cute bunny who likes to be photographed with things on his head!

UPDATE: After closely reading the Wikipedia page on Oolong, I realize that he's dead. My suspicion is that this deranged photographer in Hokkaido, Japan, overworked poor Oolong to death. I'm sad now.

Binth's Silk Screen Prints

2007-04-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

Binth, the company where I got your letterpress notebook, also sells experimental, one-of-a-kind screen prints and this is a new one from them. This cute character, peeking out from the edge of the page, reminds me of your sensibility.

"People are like little machines, spitting out a variety of little products"

2007-04-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

That quote above is Alexander Egger's first paragraph on his home page. He's a designer whose site I stumbled across today and I dig his collage art work - the ones that look like he used a xerox machine. The site is full of his recent projects (both art and commercial) and they're arranged like chapters in a book. (Though, not to be confused with the chapters of his actual book recently published, and viewable on the site.) Anyways. The above collage is from the section called "Scientists say until 1964 mankind will live permanently on the moon". Interesting stuff.
There's sooo much to look at on this site!

Egger's drawings are also wonderful on the section called "But the Sun Likes Me"

And more great collage art from "We have no scar to show from happiness"

His client work and layouts (such as the one below) show clear signs of being influenced by Swiss designer Josef Muller-Brockmann.
Here's Egger's piece...

Here are two examples of Muller-Brockmanm's work:

For more on Muller-Brockmann's work: click here for Image Now Gallery's online exhibition of his posters.

I Heart the United Nations

2007-03-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was talking to my pal Patrick Flynn, a video editor for Unicef, about the glories of the UN logo. Apparently, its blue is pure cyan. 100 percent. wow.

Lost in Translation

2007-02-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

I got this Chinese waterproof bag to hold Turner's toys or as a handy tote for traveling. The little faces are so happy, and the little bee buzzing around makes me smile. It seemed like an innocent purchase until one day recently I noticed what the honey jar actually says...

Their intention was not this result, clearly!

The Small Things Matter

2007-02-24T11:11:00.000-08:00

Jason took me to this new sushi restaurant downtown last weekend and at the end of our meal, the waiter placed down for us these lovely chocolates (specially made for the restaurant). We sat at the sushi bar which is made of this beautiful wood. Jen, can you tell me what these characters mean?

Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep"

2007-02-19T07:37:00.000-08:00

You have to see Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep! The stop-motion animation is extraordinary. Most of the objects that he animates are completely hand-made in a rough, imperfect way that gives them so much character. Clouds of cotton float, cotton skiiers glide down mountains made out of felt, Paris is imagined as a maze of toilet-paper rolls. As with Gondry's previous film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, he doesn't use any special effects...every effect is created "in camera" (by the way he shoots).

For the Love of Birds

2007-02-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

How sweet are these bird paintings by Amy Ruppel...

Amy has new work for sale at Velocity! This is good to know b/c all the work on her website shop is sold.

Tweet Tweet.

Silk Screen Squirrelly Fun

2007-02-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

From Design Sponge's Shop

Let's Make Things!

2007-02-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

Wow, I'm soooo inspired to make my own cards after seeing this adorable handmade creation by Fanja Ralison in Hertfordshire, England [a.k.a. le train fantôme]

Don't You Ove When Googe Screws Up?

2007-02-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

Today, I felt like dropping my L's because Google dropped theirs! Rather than Google, it was Googe all day. Was it a mistake...intentional...or do I just don't know how to read chocolate fonts? Apparently I wasn't the only person to notice.