so many dynamos*

Happy Palindrome week!
Every date this week reads the same forwards and backwards! This is immensely exciting for us geeky sorts who just love a good palindrome!

*So Many Dynamos

Get the Facts... Drawn by Moosejaw

Quite often, the more random something is, the more genuine my appreciation and declaration of brilliance. And I am absolutely enamored with Moosejaw's Sketch-A-Fact.

Moosejaw is a Michigan-based, outdoor retailer who, over the years, has continuously impressed me with their marketing tactics, which often embrace the ridiculous and provide witty commentary.

Their latest website feature, Sketch-A-Fact, makes it so we "never have to guess what facts look like ever again." Send them weird or interesting fact you've heard one of their "semi-talented designers" will illustrate the fact. 

They just get better and better.

Visit the page to revel in the absurdity of it all!

Give Monday a Beating

It's February. It's Cold. It's Monday. And we're all Tired. Here's some appropriate advice for this Monday morning.

Wise Sentiments. Coming soon to Etsy.

Holy Awkward Insurance.

I'm working part-time now (you know, so I could focus more on my art). It's given me a lot of time to catch up on my CW and ABCFamily shows. And I keep seeing this Geico commercial that is cracking me up—you know the email forwards and blogs with all the horrid family portraits from eras past—floating heads and what not? Well, I'm so thrilled someone has figured out how to use these photos for a marketing campaign!
Can you imagine, sitting there watching Hart of Dixie and suddenly seeing your awkward family photo talking back at you?! 

Let's hope this is the beginning of a series... there's so much awkwardness out there to utilize!
 

I Can Hear Your Hair

Ever wonder what sound a plant makes when it grows? "Nyokki" is a Japanese onomatopeia that mimics the sound of a plant growing! It is pronounced "n-yoo-key".

And these little Nyokki plants are adorable, fast-growing friends.You can style their "hair", trim and grow again

Luigi has been growing his lovely locks for about a month now, and today I gave him his first haircut. We wanted it to be memorable so we want with a mohawk! I think it suits him quite nicely!

Coriander & Cilantro: What's in a Name?

Amazing, blow-my-mind fact for the day—Cilantro and Coriander are the same plant! Cilantro is the leaves and Coriander is the stem and seeds. Pocket that for trivia night!

Occupied

Ever been on a long flight stuck sitting through a bad movie and suffering from lack of leg room?

Well, Nina Katchadourian spends her flight time in the airplane’s lavatory taking selfies... in the style of 15th century Flemish paintings. Her series, dubbed “Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style,” puts tissue toilet seat covers to a new use.

I'm inspired now to find new modes of entertainment on my next flight!

A Perfectly Good Airplane

The Paper–Source catalog came today. And as per usual, it says "Do Something Creative Every Day". It's a delightful motto, but it seems like it's been awhile since I've done something creative. But it wasn't so long ago that I did something adventurous! 

As I get fretfully close to the big 3-0, I'm happy to report that I crossed something major off my bucket list. Turns out, jumping out of an airplane isn't nearly as scary as driving in a snowstorm. In fact, I look forward to doing it again. 

I wasn't nervous. It just seemed like something I needed to do. The whole thing was a blur, and processing what was happening at the moment, was impossible. It's still somewhat impossible. 

But it happened, and here's some pictures to prove it.....

Julius: Your Pez-y Friend

Paul Frank's famous chacter Julius the monkey has been made into a Pez dispenser. The set of three was originally intended for release only in France, but they are now available in the Pez Collectors Store!

Monkeys? Pez? Paul Frank? Yes, yes, yes!

Head in the Ground

Ostriches are intriguing animals, but when I look at these large birds, there's just one thing I envy about them more than their skinny legs. ... their ability to sleep anywhere. It doesn't get much cozier than this. 

*Image from iStockphoto

Well now, thanks to the Ostrich Pillow Project on Kickstarter, we too can get just as cozy. Sneak in a power nap anywhere with the portable micro environment from Studio KG.

Power naps can increase productivity up to 34%. See more about the benefits of ostrich pillows at youtube!

Ironic Authenticity

Every January I remove the items from my fridge and bulletin boards—purge to start fresh with a clean slate. Under the pinned layers I found this infographic from 2009 Paste Magazine.

Evolution of the Hipster, is a chronicle timeline of the hipster throughout the 2000s.

This graphic still brings me immense joy, and as I hesitantly removed it from my bulletin, I knew I must post it here, to share the joy and keep it nearby!

Bananas, Meet Your Match

The Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer is a gamechanger for the banana world. Finally we are able to slice an entire banana in one quick motion. 

Having tried one, I can assure you it's not yet a flawless invention. True, it makes perfectly sized banana discs, but I had to press each slice out of the slicer, and then I was left with a goopy utensil to clean. (I'm holding out hope that Model 572 will address these concerns). 

But what truly sold me, and thousands of other Amazon's users, was the consumer reviews. Since August, the Hutzler 571 has blown up in the cyper-world of fruit slicers–receiving dozens of reviews this weekend alone and landing itself in the Top 50 Best-selling Amazon items for the Home & Kitchen. I've even heard it's saving marriages.

I appreciate a well-written, snarky review. When I was first shown this collection of Amazon reviews, I was in a hysterical fit of tears going through them. The laughter that was brought forth that evening was legendary. But along with amusement came horrific embarrassment for the people who took it serious and tried to retort with an explanation. They should really start teaching sarcasm in public schools. 

Here's a few of my favorite Hutzler 571 observations:

• Once I figured out I had to peel the banana before using - it works much better.
• It's just a slicer. How the HELL am I supposed to get the peel off? ... About half the bananas I purchased were curved the wrong way!!! So even if I could find those elusive pre-peeled bananas, this slicer would only work on half of them. This should at least be packaged as a set, with two slicers curved in both directions, duh. What kind of moron would just assume all bananas are curved the same way
• Can someone please send me directions for this product? I couldn't find the slot for the batteries.
• I guess this product does what it promises, but I really feel like I should be able to control it remotely from my phone. It isn't even wifi enabled.
• Beware - description clearly says "Great for cereal" but that's bollocks. I tried it on a Weetabix and ended up with a right mess.

Anyhow, if you have a few spare hours, I suggest perusing the 1500+ reviews on the Hutzler 571. You'll be baffled and amused by the combination of witty, clever people and the dense buffoons that post on Amazon!

On Your Toes

These crazy heelless heels are popping up in all the magazines and blogs at all sorts of heights. Apparently it is possible to walk in these, I'm just not sure I'm ready. 

But I saw these crazy, clear, adorable, sockhop appropriate wedges on Modcloth last week. Talk about being fancy-free and on your toes! No one knows if it's an oxford, a heel or a wedge—now that's heelless... without the scary bits!

In your Satin Tights... Stop a War with Love

In the last 24 hours I have watched 13 hours of the original Wonder Woman. The complete Season 1. (seriously if I hear these lyrics one more time I may implode).

Now from a women's studies point of view, this show is a big cluster. Male fantasy disguised as women empowerment; A superlady in lingerie? With her own Clark Kent disguise that transfixes the lovestruck Steve Trevor? It's too bad all her powers lie in her accessories, and without them she's like any other (Amazon) woman.

But I digress... let's talk about amazing 1975 graphics! Now I know it's 2012, and I shouldn't judge.... but I just can't decide if the graphics make the show awesome or embarrassing. All I know, is that they make it great. Check out the how they overlapped animation and human elements together for they opening sequence.

But it's really the amazing spinning effects to transform Diana Prince into Wonder Woman that truly blow my mind (click to see the originals). A few episodes into the series they improved upon these drastically by adding impressive explosions. Incredible that she never drew attention to herself with a burst like that!

The show is really like a long-legged time capsule of technology and pop culture—oh, and a hatred of Nazi's. Like real strong hatred. 

Well go on Wonder Women, the World is waiting for you. (and your satin tights)

In the Presence of Greatness

I love surprises. So it was a pleasant happenstance when we were hiking near Huntsville, Alabama and stumbled across a State Champion Tupelo Tree.

Now, I'm not making this up. While Tupelo's sound like, and kind of look like, something out of a Seussian world, they actually grow in the Southeastern US and are more commonly referred to as a sourgum tree.

They sit, with their comically wide base in water, thriving in wet soil, swamps and flooded areas. In fact, their genus name, Nyssa means Greek Water Nymph

But not only is this a cool tree species that we'd discovered, but we were also face-to-trunk with a Champion. I didn't even know there was Tree Champions, but boy do I feel honored to have met one.

Who's the nerd now?

Learned a fun little fact while browsing on dictionary.com... (I love words!)

Did you know Dr. Seuss invented the word nerd? 
The slang term, which means "and intelligent byt single-minded person, obsessed with a certain hobby or pursuit"first appeared in Dr. Seuss's 1950 children's book If I Ran the Zoo. 

According to Seuss, a "nerd" is a small animal from the land of KaTroo, not the pale kid with taped glasses that we think of today!

And no, I'm so not a nerd for hanging out on dictionary.com.

Socks for your Head

Now I don't normally talk about fashion (unless it's shoe specific) but a girl at work had the most adorable hairdo the other day and when questioned about it, she eventually revealed that there was a sock inside it.*

My curiosity was piqued— I had to find out how she hid a sock in her hair. So I turned to YouTube, where I discovered Wendy and her lookbook.

As it turns out, Wendy Nguyen herself is quite an admirable individual, fashion-sense aside. She grew up in foster care, until she emancipated from the system and went to University of California, Berkeley where she studied Psychology. She currently lives in LA, and volunteers at InsideOutWriters, a non-profit organization that provides mentorship to previously incarcerated youths.

Well done, Wendy. But back to the lookbook. What immediate struck me about WLB was the quality of her videos. This is not a home webcam DIY operation.** The tutorials are polished and professional from her fall fashion intro to the Fashion is Courage piece to this bit of scarf porn:
But my favorite bits range from fast-forward giggles to brain-dead moments—the little things that weren't edited out that make these videos appealing.

Oh, and about that sock bun. I haven't quite mastered it, but Wendy can give you a hand:
*This was a mistake as it lead to merciless teasing—not from me of course.
**Obviously! since  her intro is shot in three different countries. I'm dying to know how she funds this! Simply in advertising dollars?

You Gotta Have It / She is a Real Person!!

There's been a lot of speculation lately (you know, in my little circle) about whether Lisa Frank is a). a real person and b). still alive. Well, an incredible eblast from Urban Outfitters today rocked my world with an interview that answered all my important LF questions.

You remember Lisa Frank, right?? Unicorns and music notes, kitty cats and rainbows. The pink glitz had more power than all the Marvel comic heroes combined!


Lisa's gone through her personal archives to offer a limited time, limited quantity sale of vintage Lisa Frank goods at Urban Outfitters. You can not imagine my reaction when I saw the email—I so totally remember some of these specifically!

Oh and did you see these? Stickers! Of course, stickers!

25 Years later, and He's Still Lost

Let's be honest, I still have the original three Waldo books memorized. If finding Waldo was a full-time job, I'd want it to be mine.

To celebrate Waldo's 25th birthday last month, Newsweek put out this fantastic Waldo fun fact filled inforgraphic. Inspired by the cute Newsweek graphic, I headed to wikipedia to find out more about the striped, un-super hero. 

British illustrator Martin Handford began drawing crowds when he was 5 years old. It can take up to eight weeks to draw a two-page crowd sketch. He first added Waldo to the scene in 1986 when an art director suggested he add a focal point. The first Waldo book was published in 1987 as Where's Wally in the UK and Where's Waldo in the US and Canada. 

Since then, Handford has created an assortment of friends and enemies for Waldo, and has inspired a TV series, a comic strip and a series of video games.

5th grade Halloween—we were a family of Waldos!

I'm disappointed to say, there's a Where's Waldo App for the iphone, but there doesn't appear to be one for android users. That's the first downside to getting the Galaxy 3S rather than the iPhone5 thus far!

I ________ Mad Libs

A         (adj)       trip to the         (noun)       put me face-to-face with an        (adj)       friend.... Mad Libs has to be one of the most         (adj)       , fun games (with the potential for not-so-innocent         (noun)        that transcend age and         (noun)      . 

While the game takes on attributes of an old-fashioned parlor game, it dates back only to the         (adj)       1950s. The Mad Libs website gives a        (adj)       history of the games creation, written by one of it's creators, Leonard Stern. 

I         (verb)       that something so simple can continue to prove to be such a joy, and surely a great tool for         (verb)       the brain. There's even a        (adj)       app for your phone, so we never have to go a         (adj)       moment without grammatical         (noun)      .

Let Hilarity Reign,       (adverb)      !