Thirteen years ago, Rory and I made our first airplane trip together — from Kansas City to Craigsville Beach on Cape Cod.
As we arrive home tonight from Kentucky — on what is easily Rory’s 30+ flight as an ‘in-cabin pet,’ I never take for granted his zen presence and sunny predisposition that make him an easy, breezy traveller.
Good dog.
Posted in Airplanes, Animals, Crafts, Dogs, Family, Humor, Life
Tagged airplane, Cape Cod, Craigsville Beach, dog, flight, frequent flier, in-cabin pet, Kentucky
I’m looking at world through frog’s eyes
Looking at the world through frog’s eyes
Looking at the world through frog’s eyes
And you can just hop off!
My apologies to Heywood Banks. And you can buy the frog hats, too.
(You know you want ‘em.)
I attended a way fun holiday party last night with an unusual twist:
The hosts used only napkins, cups and plates that could be placed directly into the compost – very smart, very green.
Unfortunately, paper products of that ilk aren’t green…or any color, for that matter. Composting means they can’t contain dyes. So the party ware was of the decidedly winter white variety.
It was worth it.
But if you prefer color in your paper products, get a load of these! Toilet paper, paper towels, napkins and tissues by Renova in the brightest of the brights!
I love these vibrant, saturated tones. The toilet paper pictured here is made of 100% virgin pulp, is very soft and absorbent, and is tested under “dermatological and gynaecological control.”
Ya gotta admit, it looks pretty cool. And it’s also available in black, green, orange, and purple.
White Christmas? Not necessarily. (Can’t wait to see Nana’s face…)
Posted in Humor, Home, Holiday, Life, Food, Shopping, Commentary, Cooking, Design, Crafts
Tagged commentary, composting, cups, design, dye-free, family, Foods, green movement, Holiday, holiday party, home, Humor, life, Nana, napkins, paper products, paper towels, plates, recyclable, Relationships, Renova, saturated colors, tissues, toilet paper, vibrant colors, virgin pulp, white christmas, winter white
Ever feel like you’re wearing too many hats? Perhaps it’s time to make yourself a new one.
And what better day than today — Annual Make a Hat Day!
Yep. That’s an actual holiday, folks. I read about it on the Intertubes, so you know it’s true. It’s apparently very popular in pre-school, kindergarten and grade school classrooms. Kiddies love making hats as crafts projects.
Why do they get to have all the fun?
I think we would all benefit from a little headpiece handiwork. Whadda ya say? Are you ready to hit the pause button on your usual 9-to-5 routine, strap on the hot glue gun and dream up a tempting ten gallon topper?
No????
Okay. Meet me at Target.
Posted in Children, Crafts, Design, Education, Family, Fashion, Humor, Life, Shopping
Tagged children, commentary, craft project, crafts, design, education, family, Fashion, glue gune, grade school, hats, Humor, Internet, kids, kindergarten, life, Make a Hat Day, pre-school, shopping, shopping at Target, Target, ten gallon topper, wearing too many hats
I’ve often heard people say Manhattan is a ‘filthy city,’ but I just don’t see it.
Maybe that’s because Justin Gignac is selling all our garbage.
Justin is an artist based in Soho. When a colleague poo-poo’ed the importance of package design, Justin took it as a professional challenge. He grabbed the one thing no one would ever want to buy and packaged it in such a way that they would.
Garbage of New York City was born.
It’s real trash from the streets of Manhattan, although Justin swears it’s odor-free. Each cube is dated and signed by the artist.
His first cube came from Times Square, where I’m sure you can collect some seriously gross garbage, iffin you’re of a mind.
He’s also made special edition cubes — at equally special prices — for such righteous refuse as Obama’s Inauguration and the Yankees Victory Parade.
Who would buy garbage, you ask? Some 1,300 folks from over 29 different countries to date. And really, isn’t it a far more artistic way to recycle than rinsing out milk cartons?
So, during your next family vacation or theatre weekend in New York City, be better than souvenir t-shirts or a miniature Statue of Liberty. Demand clear cubes of certified New York City waste products — your friends will love ‘em!
And my neighborhood will stay minty fresh…
Posted in Advertising, Art, Business, Commentary, Crafts, Design, Family, Friends, Humor, Shopping, Travel
Tagged advertising, art, artist, Business, commentary, design, family, family vacation, friends, garbage, Garbage of New York City, Humor, Justin Gignac, life, Manhattan, New York City, New York theatre weekend, Obama Inauguration, package design, recycling, refuse, shopping, Soho, souvenirs, statue of liberty, t-shirts, Times Square, trash, Travel, waste products, Yankees victory parade
So I was vegging out on the couch, in a Sunday morning coma, watching 50 First Dates. A good start to the day.
Then a commercial for “Martha Stewart Pets” came on. Really? She’s trying to take over the pet market, too?
Darn that woman.
But I go online to look, so the ad worked. And of course, the products are well-designed and pretty, if you like Martha’s color palette. (You can check them out on petsmart.com.)
More exciting to me, though, was my accidental find via Google of Martha Stewart Pet Rocks.
Just look at them! Only Martha could take pet rocks to a whole new level.
I mean, that turtle is a piece of art. And I can think of someone in particular who would love those frogs.
I may make the doggie door stop for myself. We’ll see if mine ends up looking like a dachshund or a dalmatian. But Martha has posted the “simple” instructions online.
Don’t you just hate her?
Posted in Animals, Art, Crafts, Design, Dogs, Family, Humor
Tagged 50 First Dates movie, animals, art, color palette, commentary, crafts, design, doggie door stop, Dogs, family, Google, Humor, life, Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart Pet Rocks, Martha Stewart Pets, pandas, petsmart.com, shopping, Sunday coma, turtle
Have I mentioned lately how much I love the Internet?
Look at what I found, just by clicking around in that shopping mecca, Amazon.com.
What is it?
At first glance, I thought it looked like a really big gem…so maybe a funky jewelry box or safe? Or maybe it’s some kind of light, although the lid seems contrary to that idea.
Need more time? Or are you ready for the answer?
It’s an ice cream ball — a newfangled ice cream maker that you don’t have to crank. You just add ice and rock salt in one end, and ice cream mix in the other. Screw the lid on, toss it around with your kids, friends or dog for 10-15 minutes, and voila — ice cream.
Well…that seems entirely too easy to me.
Scratch cooking of any kind should involve more skill, time and talent. (Heck, I had to hand crank ice cream when I was a kid.)
But who cares what they do — I just think they are cool looking! I may just buy one anyway.
Now an even bigger problem — what color do I choose?
And will it look snazzy hanging around my neck?
Posted in Art, Children, Cooking, Crafts, Design, Family, Food, Foods, Humor, Life
Tagged Amazon.com, art, children, commentary, cooking, crafts, design, family, food, Foods, gems, home, ice, ice cream ball, ice cream maker, ice cream mix, Internet, life, rock salt, scratch cooking
I have watched a lot of Food Network shows in my day, especially the competition formats.
Iron Chef. Food Network Star. Last Cake Standing.
But they are all child’s play compared to the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (Best Craftsman in France) competition featured in Kings of Pastry, which I discovered quite by accident last night on HBO OnDemand.
The 2010 documentary was directed by D A Pennebacker and Chris Hegebus, who brought us the Oscar-nominated documentary The War Room, about the 1992 presidential campaign of President Bill Clinton.
Surprisingly, Kings of Pastry is just as griping, tense and dramatic as any political campaign — maybe more so.
Becoming a M.O.F. is the pinnacle of a French pastry chef’s career, and the three-day competition is a grueling test for even the finest artisan. The film follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, an award-winning French chef and instructor at Chicago’s highly regarded French Pastry School, as he prepares for and completes the competition.
The directors also filmed two other finalists preparing for the M.O.F.: French chefs Regis Lazard — there for the second time after dropping his sugar sculpture and being eliminated during his first attempt — and Philippe Rigollot, the pastry chef at the renowned restaurant, Maison Pic.
The stress that the M.O.F. puts on the chefs and their families is immense. To say there were a few tears shed is an understatement, especially by the competition judges, who seemed to live each success and failure of the 16 chefs involved.
Their final work is exacting and beautiful to behold — but I would argue the process is the true art.
Posted in Commentary, Cooking, Crafts, Education, Entertainment, Food, Foods, Humor, Life, Movies, Politics, Restaurants, Television, Travel, TV
Tagged (Best Craftsman in France), Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton presidential campaign, Chicago French Pastry School, Chris Hegebus, commentary, cooking, D A Pennebacker, entertainment, food, food competition shows, Food Network, Food Network Star, food shows, Foods, French pastry chef, HBO, HBO OnDemand, Humor, Iron Chef, Jacquy Pfeiffer, Kings of Pastry, Kings of Pastry documentary, Kings of Pastry movie, Last Cake Standing, life, Maison Pic, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, Movies, Oscar-nominated documentary, Oscars, Philippe Rigollot, Regis Lazard, restaurants, Television, The War Room, The War Room documentary, Travel, TV
From time to time, The Sticky Egg not only highlights things that are cool, kitschy or culturally significant…
It points out stuff I simply gots to have!
For instance, in late January, I was inspired by an over-sized representation of a Marvel Comic strip panel that I felt had an important message for women everywhere:
“I simply haven’t met a boy yet who interests me! And until I do, I’d rather walk alone than date just anyone.”
I think I held out a whole week before I ordered that one.
And then earlier this month, I got all excited about the new — well, new to me anyway — iPhone icon pillows being sold by Craftsquatch, a store on Etsy.
I wrote that particular blog entry just a couple of days after my birthday, and mentioned what a wonderful gift they would make.
Well, one of my best friends took the bait, and I am happy to report…
There be iPhone pillows in the house!
Just look at them — it’s like the Marvel canvas and the pillows and my red leather couch were made for each other!
Since you are there for me through the silliness and the surreal, I wanted to celebrate my way cool decor with you as well.
And people say blogs don’t amount to anything…
Posted in Art, Blog, Blogging, Blogs, Comics, Commentary, Crafts, Design, Fashion, Furniture, Home, Humor, Life, Shopping
Tagged art, art.com, comic strip panel, comics, Craftsquatch, culture, design, Etsy, gotta haves, home, Humor, iPhone, iPhone icon pillows, iPhone icons, kitsch, life, Marvel Comics, must haves, shopping, sticky egg, wall canvas
Sticky art
Rob Surette created a portrait of Jesus. It’s 5.5 x 4 feet in size. It took him six months and 24,790 push pins to finish. The price tag for his creation?
$250,000
As we say in the country, good lord. Wanna see it?
You gotta admit, that’s pretty cool. But what’s really surprising is all the push pin artists that are out there. Rob isn’t the only one sticking it to the canvas (and the buyers).
Take at look at these other fine examples.
Here’s a display made of push pins:
…and here’s another portrait:
Well, stick me with a pin and call me impressed.
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Posted in Art, Business, Commentary, Crafts, Design, Humor, Life
Tagged art, artists, Business, canvas, commentary, crafts, design, eric daigh, Humor, Jesus, life, portraits, push pin artists, push pins, Rob Surette