You know what’s really lovely? The letterpress print (“Through The Floor, It Became Your Song”) by Ian Dingman that’s currently on Tiny Showcase.  It is the sibling to another Ian print on Tiny Showcase, “Community: An Illustrated Guide to a Neighborhood.”

There are currently 4/100 prints left, so you might want to purchase it before it sells out, and you are become CONSUMED WITH REGRET.

Maria and I are quite fond of Ian Dingman.  For those of you whom have forgotten this saga of admiration here is a quick recap:

1. Maria interviewed Ian Dingman

2. And we were both excited with the Criterion Collection released Bottle Rocket, and replaced the hideous original DVD cover with Bottle Rocket cover art reimagined by Ian Dingman.

3. And then the time we went all batty with excitement when Ian Dingman had a print entitled “Ithaca” (we went to college together in Ithaca).

If this all doesn’t convince you, $250 from the sale of this print will be donated to Nothing But Nets, an organization dedicated to malaria eradication.  And you know what stinks? Malaria.  Now I may be in public health so perhaps I am biased, but look.  Even George Clooney is not a fan. (Side note: people submitted the stupidest questions to the Clooney Q&A. Yeah, I’m looking at you. “SUE”)

Finally, on the topic of malaria:

via International Development Ryan Gosling

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In 14 days I will be making my way back to the US! The prospect of not having to hear boisterous Hanoi motobikes is exciting!   And while the prospect of unemployment and finishing my thesis menacingly loom in my future, I try to quell my fears by considering “alternative extracurriculars” and things that I could potentially get in the states (my recent introduction to Fab.com fuels this a lot). Whether I am in Hanoi, Baltimore, or Chicago, I can always account on the aforementioned activities as proper distractions from more important things in my life.

1. The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammed Knight is a fictional novel that established Islamic punk rock (taqwacore).  It’s incredibly amazing to consider how much of an impact one book had on inspiring young Muslims to actualize an imaginary world rooted in freedom to individually question and interpret Islam.  Obviously this isn’t the sort of book that I would be able to get in Hanoi, so I’m looking forward to reading this when I return to the US.  The Taqwacores, Amazon, $10.36

2. I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a month ago and I spotted this ukulele from the street! A FLYING-V AMERICAN FLAG UKULELE. I liked it so much I was willing to awkwardly haul it around (PS the Nomadic Wise-Walker backpack is very useful when it comes to hauling a ukulele). I have been playing Lady Gaga “You and I” on it a lot, but I suppose I should try to play more Americana songs on it given this ukulele’s appearance…like Bruce Springsteen.

3. Long, long ago I interviewed the Bubble Process.  This Frightened Rabbit screenprint is great. (Side note: also great is Frightened Rabbit live). Frightened Rabbit Poster, The Bubble Process, $20

4. After 4 years of wearing TOMS, I tried to return back to Vans slip-ons.  I would recommend against doing this as my Vans slip-ons are very uncomfortable and rigid.  Herringbone Classics, TOMS, $54

5. A dear friend of mine got me Father Panik knuckle tattoo mittens that said “BAM!” “POW!” which is extra amusing when the weather is unpleasantly cold.  I still dream about getting a pair that say “HOT” “DAMN.” Almost exactly a year ago, I was at the Container Store in NYC with a friend, and one of them fell out of my pocket!!! It was really devastating! It was also embarrassing when I had to draw a picture of the mitten for the Container Store staff so they could lookout for it.  But! A Christmas Miracle! I got my mitten back! No one stole my lost mitten! Finger Knuckle Mittens, Father Panik, $32

6. As you might already know, cats are “hot” right now.

I could watch cat videos all day.  I have been accused of watching cat videos all day. To all of you who have accused me of doing such a thing, you are wrong. “Now stop it.” Cat Paper Clips, JetPens, $6.73

7. It’s unfortunate that sequins are synonymous with holidays.  Is it not acceptable to sparkle in March? Vila Black Sequin Shorts, ASOS, $36.36

8. SO. One of my side activities this fall has been contributing to a Tumblr that my friend and I started.  HTTP://HUMILIATEDANIMALS.TUMBLR.COM As the URL suggests, it is a tumblr of humiliated animals.  Since its inception, we have learned that people enjoy animal misery and embarrassment as much as we do.

Next week there will be a JETPENS GIVEAWAY!!!!!!! So stay tuned, and perhaps you will get the opportunity to fill an electronic cart with cat paperclips (or more desirable items).

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Many of eeBoo products have earned the Oppenheim Best Toy Awards, which, if you spend any time in children/game sections of stores you will probably recognize:

Envy led me to Mia Galison, the president and creative director of eeBoo, whose headquarters are located in a turn of the century ballroom in New York City (what?!?!!). I hid my jealousy and asked her some questions about her magical job.

1. A lot of your products, including a fairy tale board game and many whimsical notebooks, encourage people to share their own stories. In a few sentences, describe your life as an enchanted tale — stick to the main plot points, but feel free to add dragons, witches, and fairy god mothers here and there.

I was the old woman who lived in a shoe. I had three children in less than two years and my husband was a self employed artist. I was a tortoise moving slowly, but I kept saying to myself “I think I can, I think I can.” There were no fairy godmothers to help or dragons to threaten, just a lot of smart, kind and helpful friends, family and associates that made the hard work mostly a pleasure. After what seemed like an endless journey, eeBoo became a goose that laid golden eggs.

2. Please describe the design process at eeBoo.

Most often I have an idea while walking to work or sorting through junk at a flea market –or cooking, or staring into space.

Most often I have an idea while walking to work or sorting through junk at a flea market –or cooking, or staring into space. I flip it around in my head–what the colors wills be, the package, the artist I’ll get to make the illustrations, that sort of thing. Then I ask [my husband] Sax about it. We walk back and forth from work every day so we have a block of time both in the morning and afternoon to discuss things. Sometimes he has good ideas and sometimes he makes me mad because he doesn’t see what I see, but even if we disagree it helps me firm up my vision of the project. I have ideas all the time. When I feel particularly buzzed about one I get started right away by calling an illustrator and sending him or her a sketch- and I get the art started. When it is a new format I get letters out to manufacturers so I can see prototypes and get prices. Often I make my own prototype in the office. Once I get some art in-house, I start to work with one of the three designers that work at eeBoo. Sometimes that means seeing a box cover design or making patterns. Sometimes it means experimenting with something completely new, like folded paper hats. I stick all my current ideas that I’m really considering on a big bulletin board. We are always working on new projects and new formats, and whatever I think I can get to market during a given season, I make..and keep the rest for the next season.

3. My mom is a kindergarten teacher. She is also the mother of a 26-year-old writer (me). Name one eeBoo product that would equally fit the bill for both parties.

We make very nice quality pastels that everyone would probably like.

4. Is your studio as amazing as it looks in the pictures? If it is more amazing, then what wonders does it contain that I can’t see in the pictures?

Our studio is in fact as amazing as it looks photos. It was built as a ballroom at the turn of the century and has 18 foot ceiling 60 running feet of skylights, mosaic floor made of yellow marble pieces, 10 foot windows and a large staircase down to what used to be the kitchen where my husband Saxton Freymann has his photograph and painting studio. What you don’t see in the photos is how many wonderful things are being made there. We are always experimenting with papers and fabrics and new materials. eeBoo also has ten lovely employees that would never allow anyone to take their pictures.

5. What are you visually inspired by?

I can be inspired by many things. Among many other things, I like Japanese illustrators from the 1930′s and 40′s, Chinese deco rugs from the 1920’2, the color pink, Belgian encaustic tiles, brand new Shanghai style, silhouettes, American quilts and naive embroidery, Hmong fabric from Chiang Mai. Unique objects that look as thought they were made for children by their mother or father with love. Embroidered blankets, crocheted hats, handmade wooden toys and stuffed animals. I could go on and on.

6. EeBoo makes lots of games for children (some of which have won awards). This makes me wonder what non-EeBoo games you play. Let’s say you’re inviting a bunch of your adult friends over for game night. Which five games do you have on the middle of your table when they arrive? (Bonus question: What snacks are next to the games?)
We are not a big game playing family but we have played a lot of Bananagrams and Masterpiece, a long extinct board game from the 1970′s based on a fine art auction–it’s goofy and easy and my kids have learned a little art history from playing it. We mostly have time to play games together when we are up in our house in Delaware County NY–there we eat S’mores with dark chocolate off of dirt flavored sticks.

7. What is your best-selling product? What product are you most proud of?
I Never Forget A Face was one of our early products and I’m very proud of it. It’s a Matching Game that includes 24 pairs of faces of children from all over the world including a girl from Afghanistan and a boy from Iraq. We included these nationalities because we made this game at the beginning of the wars and we wanted to remind as many people as possible that there were children in those countries. We get letters from children and parents all the time telling us how much they love and appreciate seeing the different faces, and about how their children make up stories about which of the children are friends.

8. One of your new products is pipe cleaner craft kits for children, animal lovers, & crafty adults. Each of the 18 different designs are creatively named for the color family of pipe cleaners they contain, and each packet can be used to create a specific animal. If these animals could come to life, and you consider their relative pipe-cleaner size, which two animals would be have the most interesting (friendly) wrestling match? Who would win?

I prefer not to think about these fuzzy little animal fighting. The Yellow Bird is a wonderful shape and the Mushrooms are wonderful.

9. Finally… what are you currently obsessed with?
Current obsessions–gnarly mushrooms from farmers markets, pom poms, fancy knee socks, Georgian miniatures, hand spun and dyed wool, and making hats.

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Next week, we’ll be posting an interview with the president & creative director of the toy company eeBoo. While you’re waiting, check out some of my favorite eeBoo stuffs.

1. Composition Books, $10 Jeeze, how cute are these?
2. Good Habits Job Chart, $17 I have purchased a lot of chore charts in my day. Usually in January. (Not kidding.) Praise still gets my teeth brushed. Even self-praise. And I haven’t made my bed in a week.
3. Fairytale Spinner Game, $17 Yesss, games that tell stories! Maybe this is mostly for kids but I like it anyway.
4. Nemo & Princess in Balloon Sketchbook (+ Colored Pencil Set), $18 Much better than that yellow one with the wooden drawing doll torso.
5. “This Land is Your Land” US Wall Map, $20 For recording locational information. With stickers.
6. Sweet Stationary, $10 20 sheets of paper, 16 envelopes, & 2 sheets of stickers. I don’t know if I could really own this because even mere pictures of candy make me tear my house apart in search of sugar.
7. BONUS ITEM: Nature & Observation Notebook, $12 Envelopes and pockets for specimen collecting & more!

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The Charles and Ray Eames ethos is synonymous with modern design, and their work has been instrumental in establishing a union between functionality and aesthetics in furniture.  The Eames chair has become symbolic of the later half of the 21st century, and it is has a magnetizing catnip effect on designers.  It is widely recognizable, and has earned its place in museums and…Mad Men.  The chairs are still sold through Herman Miller, or for those whom lean towards impracticality, I’m pretty sure that KidRobot once sold miniature versions.

First Run Features has created a documentary on the team (Eames: The Architect and the Painter), which is screening in the US this fall.  Unfortunately I’ll miss all screenings, but you should go!  Even, at the very least, just to hear the sultry voice of James Franco, who narrates the documentary.  (Did you see Howl and were you compelled by James Franco’s reading of the poem?)  Here’s the trailer:

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Fall is my favorite season, and I’m a little sad I’m missing it (for the first time!) this year.  ”But Tricia. Fall happens everywhere.”  Living in Illinois and upstate New York accounts for approximately 87.5% of my life.  I subsequently strongly associate fall with crisp air, steamed pitchers of apple cider at the cafe I worked at, magnificent color gradients of leaves, and the coarse noise of crushing leaves beneath my feet.

Yes, leaves get to be mentioned twice.  But, look!  This is Illinois in the fall!  Wow!  And Ithaca’s fall is great too! Woah!

I have a difficult time accepting the Hanoi fall, and I’m unwilling to alter my perception of the season.  It rains nearly everyday.  A considerable amount of time has elapsed since my lungs have felt exhaust gas-free air. And most of the time I sweat through my clothes-a state that reveals that I am indeed not a local.  Thus, my lust for fall has manifested in a long overdue currently obsessed post.  Enjoy.

1. Lady Gaga released the second edition of her ear buds this past summer, and I aspire to one day find a job where I can wear these without getting reprimanded.  Although the design is supposed to be a reflection of Lady Gaga’s leather jacket studs, the headphones remind me of my former roommate’s nOir four stud pyramid ring.  Lady Gaga also designed this model too, which would be just as geometrically puzzling to my boss as the ones featured above.  Heartbeats 2.0 by Lady Gaga headphones, Amazon, $130

2. Foods that I have to pay an ex-pat premium for in Hanoi!  This print probably would not have made this edition of currently obsessed if Illinois was assigned a food that wasn’t deep dish pizza.  melangerienyc is a great etsy shop-you can even order customized VIEWMASTER INVITATIONS! State-By-Food print, melangerienyc, $20

3.

via Gone Movie

I’ve been coming across a lot of pictures of girls wearing ties online (cross over tie: alexa chung! bow tie: some random sartorialist girl!), and I can’t help but think about Diane Keaton in Annie Hall.  I think I will go ahead and declare a bold statement: everyone wishes they could exude Annie Hall’s mystical coolness. It is also quite fortuitous that my previous roommate, yes the same one who owns the nOir ring, makes really well-made bow ties.  Although I bought the last red polka dotted bow tie, during these past couple of weeks, knotbytiffa has been releasing the fall collection. Bow Ties, knotbytiffa, $30-$45

4. I associate peter pan collars with liebemarlene, the only blog that I have been consistently reading for the past couple of years.  This is the first time I’ve seen a leopard printed peter pan collar. Pull Safari, sandro, 155 €

5. My sister gave me a Night Owl Paper Goods card when I left for Hanoi.  The hedgehogs are pretty cute, and there are lots of other precious-critters-on-wood like this orca. Hazel Hedgehog Journal, Night Owl Paper Goods, $18

6. It’s funny to think about how I would normally be wearing a coat right now.  Clarification.  It’s funny to think about how I would normally be wearing a coat right now while I’m eating delivery ice cream and sitting in an air conditioned room.  With the fan blasting on my face. (IN FACT, that is exactly what is going on in this apartment right now).  Haute Coat-ure by Jolaby, Modcloth, $450

7. I have a little collection of reusable bags that I used to bring to stores (a practice that I can’t really do in Hanoi).  My most prized bag is probably a Chico bag I got from Stone Brewery.  BAGGU makes collapsible nylon day packs, and light cotton backpacks which would be great for groceries because your hands can only old so much. At least…my small hands. Daypack, BAGGU, $24; Backpack, BAGGU, $32

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I finally did it, I made my own etsy site: booknotes.etsy.com. I’ve been drawing & painting pictures of books for years (in addition to reading and writing them), so I took my art and made them into little notecards that you can use or frame. As I say on my etsy site, both physical books and handwritten notes seem to be on the decline, but I think the preservation of both is important, and I like that their “memory” can be combined into a single object.

There are currently six different designs (all blank inside), which you can purchase singly or in a 6-pack. All designs are copies of my original paintings or drawings, some colored or edited digitally. If you own a stationary or bookstore give me a shout at: maria [at] stickersanddonuts.com or via my etsy site, and we can talk about wholesale pricing.

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Greetings from Baltimore/I’m-done-with-school-Tricia.  I saw this print by Kris Atomic on Bleubird Vintage recently (good grief! Bleubird Vintage should be in everyone’s Google Reader…it’s as visually appetizing as Design*Sponge..but features the most adorable family), and I really wanted to share it.  I feel like I have chronic bitchface, and while I may be perfectly content, my face simply slumbers in a frown. You can purchase this print at Kris Atomic’s website (£20.00).

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So say you are sitting watching the news, and they drop a knowledge bomb on you about some historical figure having something to do with today’s troubles and tribulations. If you are like me 84% of the time you think “WHO in the WHERE did WHAT…WHEN? And WHY??” That is where Ms. Kate Beaton can set you straight, with JOKES and COMICS! This helps me, because I can usually only remember things that are funny.

All you ever need to know about Musashi.

Kate is a comic artist from Novia Scotia, currently livin’ it large in Ontario. She tempers her unfailing Canadian politeness by dropping the occasional f-bomb, not to mention the s-bomb and once even the ever-controversial x-bomb, but still does it so charmingly even the Queen Mother herself could not take offense.

Seriously, who doesn’t love the Queen Mum?

Subjects range from those crazy sexy Tudors to dirty old man James Joyce to sexy celibate science genius Nikola Tesla to Fat Ponies. While her usual medium is pencil and pen, recently more shaded comics and colors have been showing up. They’re all nicely rendered; it’s truly the expressions get you.

I normally do not like horses but I LOVE Fat Pony (Click to Embiggen)

Every once in a while we get very lucky, and Kate does some hourly comics. These provide an interesting look into her day-to-day life, which is just as fascinating and hilarious as her scripted comics. In the same vein are her “Younger Self” comics, where Little Kate comes back and has talks with today’s Kate. I’ve never read one where I didn’t laugh and tear up at the same time. Stupid Kate Beaton, making me feel my feelings.

Little Amber would not even talk to me, she’d just read a book (Click to Embiggen)

You can follow Kate all over the internet at her website (Hark! A Vagrant), Twitter and LiveJournal. If you live in Novia Scotia or New Brunswick you can catch Kate as the Ease On Down the Road Artist in Residence at her alma matter Mount Allison University from January 21 to February 18. Several items by Kate are available to clothe your body and smarten up your brain through Topatoco, an awesome online retailer.

I am going to do you a favor and warn you: DO NOT LOOK UP THESE LETTERS

(All images from Hark! A Vagrant’s archive: Musashi, Queen Mum, Pony Hitman, Younger Self Advent, James Joyce Is Going To Corrupt You All)

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Clockwise from top: The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus, Of the Abuse of Words by John Locke, A Confession by Leo Tolstoy, On Friendship by Michel de Montaigne, The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, Where I Lived and What I Lived For by Henry Thoreau, On Natural Selection by Charles Darwin, Days of Reading by Marcel Proust

Last week, I was at The Book Cellar, passing time before a friendly dinner/ukulele and banjo lessons, and I noticed a glorious rack of Penguin Classics.  The Penguin Classics Great Ideas series features ageless works that have inspired minds and provoked change.  Although the collection includes ideas of questionable integrity (…The Communist Manifesto is not exactly exemplary…), the series heralds ideas of great influence.

There are currently four series of Great Ideas.  Each series is composed of twenty works, and has a striking color scheme.  My favorite aspect of Great Ideas is the brilliant typography and cover designs (that angled square in the cover to Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus is THE BOULDER THAT SISYPHUS HAS TO PUSH UP THE MOUNTAIN – !!!).  This might be a superficial declaration, but book covers this beautiful make even the most frighteningly heavy books exciting to read.

PS: HAPPY WEEKEND!

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