happy blogiversary, or it’s all about me

warning: self-centered post chock full of funny facts about me ahead!

more than a few weeks ago i was tagged by four fine bloggy friends and asked to reveal several random/quirky things about myself, as well as tell you what i sites i personally enjoy visiting. i have put this off for a while for a variety of reasons, i think mainly because i don’t think i’m very interesting. but once i realized that not being very interesting could count towards one of my revealing facts, i decided to take the plunge…

- i am a freak about spelling and typos. i frequently see misspelled signs, and tell myself (or others that are in the car with me) that “somebody paid cash money for that sign” aloud. i think my favorites signwise were the “newspapars” sign i saw in philadelphia once, and the “best tacos in tawn” here in chicago, where i reside. in grade school i got 100 on every single spelling test up until the 4th grade, when i received a 95. i was quite beside myself and indignantly went over to fellow classmate megan quinlask, who had been assigned the dubious duty of correcting the tests. when i pointed out that she had made a mistake in scoring my test, she pointed at my paper and said “you got one wrong. fourty.” fourty! fourty! i will never forget that. especially because that is how old i became this past may. stupid fourty. ruined my record.

- on my business card, i describe myself as a raconteur and bon vivant. i don’t weave tales out of the air, i tell it like it is, and usually it sounds like something someone would have made up, because sometimes nutty things happen, you know? i started describing myself this way after i heard gene rayburn introduce charles nelson reilly on the match game this way.

- this month of june that just passed marked my one year blogiversary. hurrah! i have gone through regular periods of burn out and elation writing almost every day. it has been a lot of fun and it hasn’t stopped yet, so i will continue to hunt and peck and dig up as much original content as this space can hold. i love all the friendships around the world that have come out of this website. it is a strong positive thing and it powers me through the down times when they come sweeping through around here.

- my love of reading was cultivated by my parents when i was a child, and continues to this day, although i read more online than in books these days, and i have the dry eyes to prove it. i have carefully selected the sites in my blogroll for the quality content and sparkling writing. these people have a point of view or style i thoroughly enjoy. please pay them a visit when you have time, and you won’t be disappointed!

- out of all the myriad ways to express oneself in an artistic way, i like photography the best. i have always been attracted to and inspired by slightly askew, out of focus, beautifully composed photographs, so without further ado, i am nervous and happy and pleased to announce the grand opening of my own digital photography shop on etsy! i have been working hard on this for months and months and months, shooting, editing, re-editing, trashing, researching, biting my nails, and ultimately taking the plunge. nothing would please me more if you were to head on over there and take a peek. i am starting out slowly so there are only a handful of images right now, but there are lots more to come. let me know if your philosophy about photography is similar to mine, and i hope you enjoy them if you have a look!

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scott wade dust drawings

i am amused and slightly inspired to empty the contents of the old miele and start drawing stick figures, now that i’ve seen the marvelously detailed dust art of texas artist scott wade. scott lives in hill country, an area where very fine dust is kicked up on backs of vehicles that move “any faster than a galloping turtle.” using paintbrushes to remove select areas of dust, shapes and figures emerge and the results are pretty amazing.

i look at them and start to sneeze so i totally appreciate seeing these through the computer! and i also love the way they look after it has rained.

see the full collection and contact scott on his website.

via design crush

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print of the month club at indiefixx

i love the idea of a piece of art being delivered to my house every month. do you? if you do then why not buy the art print of the month series as a gift for an art lover or even for yourself? each month the folks at indiefixx will select one print, festively wrap it and mail it off to you. you never know what you’ll receive ahead of time, which is part of the fun!

i say two thumbs up!

subscriptions start at $64. purchase them and lots of other fun things right here.

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100 spinning plates by rob christopher

i went to the renegade craft fair’s holiday show a few weeks ago, but i really could not report on it because 1)it was crowded and 2)i knew i would be getting many of my holiday gifts there and did not want to give any clues away! i think it’s safe now to reveal some of these treasures, so please enjoy several artists in upcoming posts who make outstanding things. let’s start with the 100 spinning plates book by local author, filmmaker and rogue publisher rob christopher, for his own random cha press. this is an autobiographical tome that comes in a unique package - 100 stories on 100 slips of paper in a cardboard box. it is the reader’s choice to read as much or as little as he likes, to weave chapters together and create a unique story.

clever concept, random musings.

check out rob’s website and find out more about him on his blog too. i’m a little late to this party, so when i checked with rob, i found out that he had sold out of his inventory (oh no!), and that he’s currently working on plans for his next project (oh goody!). i can’t wait to see what it will be…

christmas miracle: if you hurry you can find his book on amazon in (extremely) limited quantities and on ebay too!

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pugilist round up

i’m not quite sure why i keep doing these round up posts, and yet i am still compelled. maybe it’s because i like looking at them in other blogs? anyway, please enjoy this random boxing theme (and i don’t even like boxing!)…

photograph from the future hype collective’s etsy shop

mini gloves pendant from montreal’s roadkill

velvet embroidered boxing gloves from hello craft lovers! (via craft)

nat fleischer’s mid-century boxing guide on ebay

metal boxer sculpture from the art exchange’s etsy shop

vintage lady boxers photo on ebay

limited edition boxer print from byvikink’s etsy shop

stencil painting at mark traughber’s etsy shop

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streaming wine country odyssey thoughts

so last night i stumbled across a blog about a dude who is hiking through california wine country. very cool.

then this morning, i was thinking about melinda doolittle. whatever happened to that fresh-faced turtlehead who can really wail from american idol? seriously, she is awesome, even though she has no neck. she sounds just like gladys knight to me. i totally wanted her to win, and she didn’t even make it to the finals because of that technoturd, blake lewis. i wasn’t one of those stringy-haired, concert-tee-wearing, slouchy-skinny, classic rock-metal chicks back in the day, but even i cringed when he did his version of “livin’ on a prayer.” he has interesting musical stylings, but they have nothing to do with singing.

anyway, i digress.

so i’m thinking about melinda and then gladys comes on the radio and it’s “i heard it through the grapevine.” and that made me think of that blog i just mentioned, and that place that sells those cabernet grape pies that i saw on that food network tv show called road tasted with paula deen’s sons. i have heard tell that she really works those boys hard. they look like they can manage, though.

i’m doing it again.

wine country reviews and photos coming soon.

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