entertaining infinity

math that i like

The New Math website is brilliant (and often hysterical).  This one felt particularly fabulous today ... since it was HAILING when I drove to work.  (yes, i know promised i would not reduce ze blog to weather reports ... but i didn't say when ...)

creative carving for change

Oh, the creative brilliance out there.  I'm not much of a pumpkin carver, but this is kinda tempting.

Check out their pun-kins too: Barack O’ Lantern, Pumpkin Seeds of Change, Grab Change by the Stem ... crack me up. 

schlep for good

Too damn funny.  And slightly radical too.  (gotta hand it to those peeps in the tribe for finding a funny and potentially unstoppable solution to the florida vote!)

bittersweet/peculiar times

I bought this print at a craft fair over 10 years ago.  It's moved back and forth across the country with me, and it always winds up in a place of prominence in my home (hinting, to those who might take a look, about the sort of woman who lives there ...).

A while back, I discovered that the artist (brian andreas) had a website with cards and e-cards (i like to send both), and while I was checking out his stuff, I signed up for his mailing list.  Like most artists (songwriters, writers, etc.), I don't like everything he does (some of the drawings/stories can be a little freaky, whimsical and far out even for me) ... then sometimes (like my print), he just nails it.

And this morning I was met by an email offering a free down-loadable e-book of some of his sketches called Peculiar Times.  I agree that these are, indeed, peculiar times, and since I think we need to arm ourselves with as much heart, laughs and hope as possible to get through them, I figured I'd pass the link along and hope you might get a little inspiration among the pages to walk through another slightly whacked-out day.

(and if like me, you go for the bittersweet, you can buy a copy of that print here.)

(hang in there peeps ... )

inside where it's dark ...

I know, I know ... I'm lame.  I promise more postings and I don't post.  (so sue me ...)

And yes, there's stuff I could be writing and sharing with you loyal ones (bless you for your curiosity/attention/encouragement/friendship, etc.), but ... well, it's the usually crappy excuse.  Busy, doing a lot of non-blog writing, blahblahblah.

Still, I couldn't resist passing this website along.  How strangely compelling it is to peek into other people's fridges ...

More from me soon-ish. (really, i swear ... )  (no, really ...)  (my fridge maybe ...)

for my fellow star wars geeks

Check out this Flickr series of Storm Troopers in various (hysterical) poses for a good laugh.

these are not the droids you're looking for; move along

fun

The fabulous Ze Frank started an art project on his spin off/sub-blog of color war games that began as another of his brilliant and fun whims, and this project (the art project, not the spin off/sub-blog) was inspired by the cool dance video that you can see below.  (did you follow that?  yeah, me either, but i'm not going back to edit ...)

Bottom line? The Young Me/Now Me project invites people to submit photos of themselves when they were kids, and then recreate those same shots today.  (i thought i might go dig up a shot to submit but it might be hard since i was running around naked much of the time.)  (then again, some might enjoy that ... or run screaming from the room never to return.)

But I digress.

Here's where you go for the "how-to" of the Young Me/Now Me project.  (you'll also find more web based adult play-dates from ze frank in that general vicinity ...)

And here's where you can see the cool thing that inspired it all.  A dance/video project by a woman named Lauren Thompson (whose youtube name is pooplauren - love that) where she dances along with a movie of herself as a little girl. 

We should all dance without restraint like this at least a couple of times a week, don'tcha think? white space white space

solstice (ahhh)

I still hate the winter, but I love the winter solstice.  Now we start to get get a little more light each day ... yee ha. 

And speaking of which, I promised an update on the SAD light didn't I? (and you're all waiting with baited breath, aren't you?) 

I didn't use it last Saturday or Sunday (my routine tends to go out the window on weekends ...), but otherwise I've been using it pretty regularly every morning for the prescribed 25 - 30 minutes.  I sit at the kitchen table and do my morning writing there; you have to sit directly in front of it - your face about a foot away so your eyes are kinda level with the center of the light box - it's not the coziest of positions (i prefer writing in bed, on my stomach, under the covers), but still I do it.  I do it cause hope is not just "the thing with feathers" ... it's that little bit of light and warmth that stays in my chest even when the chill of winter is doing its damnest to freeze up everything around it.

I sit there and bask in the fluorescent glow and hope that it's having some effect; its been 2 weeks since it arrived, and while I am not feeling spring-like in spirit, the dreaded winter bum-out may be slightly lessened: I am not entirely slugged out (i don't feel like i have lead in my bones every morning, don't need to be in bed almost every night by 9:30), and carbohydrates have not become the only foods in my diet.  So yes, I suppose you could say it's helping.  Let's keep our fingers crossed for still more ...

And knowing that today was the darkest day? Well, that means tomorrow will be a little lighter.  And the day after that, lighter still.  The earth is working its way closer to the sun and we have something to celebrate my friends.

So in keeping with the spirit of celebration, I hope you'll enjoy this wonderful mash-up version of Winter Wonderland as much as I did.  With contributions from The Partridge Family, James Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Eurythmics, Neil Diamond, and so many more, it is simply warped and brilliant.  (and i do so love that warped and brilliant stuff.

Happy Solstice.

fun stuff/last minute gifties

The internet really is an amazing place.  I'm inspired by the variety of warped and wonderful stuff that's out there.  And sometimes I've just gotta share ...

As you know (or you do if you read here with any regularity), I don't go in for the big gift giving thing this time of year, but it's hard to miss all the cool gadgets and hooha that's out there.

First ... some links to fun stuff that has caught my eye recently.  Perhaps those of you Xmas celebrators who've waited until the 11th hour will get some inspiration ...

You never outgrow Lego's (at least i never have).  Lego flash drives and iPod speakers?  Veddy cool.

And for the Star Wars fan who needs a new flash drive? Oh, what will they think of next? (love it!)  (i'm waiting for the yoda version to match my lego-yoda keychain ...)  (i am such a dork!)

A chance to scribble your creative brilliance on a more save-worthy napkin: The Napkin Notebook.  (their website has a sketch page where you can submit a virtual doodle that they may decide to post in their "gallery" ...)

For the lover who is also a lover of music: the iPod has gone REALLY personal.  (betcha bryan ferry's slave to love takes on a whole new dimension when played on this gadget!)

Create intimate restaurant atmo anywhere with these groovy wineglass candle lampshades.

Or if snow's your thing and there isn't any of the white stuff where you are ... maybe you could smell like it?  No kidding, this company claims to have bottled the scent of snow.  (like maude's ordorifics ...)

I may live in the suburbs now, but with this porcelain version of the old standard, I can feel like I just got my coffee from the old corner bodega in Brooklyn.

Some other fun stuff (of the non-purchase variety) ...

You'll have to be a Star Wars geek to enjoy this page.  If you are, enjoy it you will ... mmm.  (dig in a little on the site and you'll find that it's a wee bit freaky ... they've got star wars geekness to the 10th power happenin' there ...)

Been in a mode of rediscovering poetry, and came upon a beautiful animation of an old favorite.  (so much depends on that red wheelbarrow ...)

I actually remember some of these "fashions."  (i've read more than just this posting, and the guy is damn funny ...)

And finally ... what are you going to do with all your pennies?

(can you believe this stuff is out there? brilliant!)

you're in for it now kiddies ...

I figured out how to load video into my blog postings!  And now that I know how to do it?  Oh kiddies, you are in for it ... the world of old/good/bad video is mine to share! 

No longer will I simply link to a video and think/hope that perhaps you readers will go take a look, no ... now I shall embed said clips right into the posts.  Bwahaha!  Danger, danger Will Robinson! (oh believe me, if i could have found a clip of the lost in space robot doing this thing, i would have.  or the marcia brady "oh my nose" moment ... but alas, i could not so ...)

Instead, (because i can) ... one of the top 10 moments from one of the top 10 movies ever:

(what fun)

(and to my fellow bloggers: yes, i realize now that it's not that hard to embed videos into posts, but hey, i'm a little tech challenged, it takes me longer than some ...)