1. Smart Women Read Between the Lines: A Readers’ Journal ($15, amazon.com) (CONFESSION: I think this is, like so many reader journals, unfortunately wide-ruled.)
2. How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively & Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster ($12, amazon.com) (CONFESSION: Have not read this, but have heard many good things about it, and as a proud former part English major I come pre-packaged with enthusiasm.)
3. Conceal: Invisible Bookshelf ($11, organize.com) (CONFESSION: I have posted about this before because it’s so cool! If you stack enough books, it looks like they are just floating on the wall.)
4. Bookplates from Tiny Showcase by Ray Fenwick ($5, set of 10) (CONFESSION: My friend gave me these for my Bday. PERFECT GIFT!)
5. Recycled Card Catalog Mini-Notebooks by Blue Valentine Press (set of 3, $7, Etsy)
6. Shakespeare Hates Your Emo Poetry ($15, Threadless / TypeTees)
7. Steven Colbert Natural Canvas Tote Bag ($12, Barnes & Noble) (CONFESSION: I think Tricia has this bag. It’s too funny because Colbert’s head looks just like all of the “writer head totes” they have. Also, as I noted in my Stereotyping Poets post, bookworms need tote bags.)
8. Record Bookend by ICK Design ($15, Etsy)
9. Personal Library Kit ($25, FredFlare) (CONFESSION: This makes me want to play library.)
10. Book Lists: Oprah’s Book Club List, My Penguin’s Set Post (CONFESSION: These are not shown in the image above. Ten makes a much better list than nine.)

Yesterday I was laid off of my full-time job of about one and a half years. This means: free time, no money. I figured I’d write a post to mark the occasion.

I will accept the following at maria@stickersanddonuts.com: job tips, presents, money, condolences.

1. Good Magazine. This graphically designed wonder is focused on issues important to moving our world forward. And, you can get it for as little as ONE DOLLAR. No matter how much you spend, all proceeds go to charity. You don’t even need to prove you’re unemployed!
2. French Press ($13, Ikea). If you can no longer drink office coffee or afford the Starbucks-splurge, then a French Press might be the cheapest and easiest way to get your drug-fix — especially because you can use it to make milk FOAM (latte, perhaps?). (REALLY, just pour the milk in and pump it up and down. If you’re using skim milk, it should be cold or it doesn’t foam as well.)
3. The Office (or any TV series). A good television series or two can keep you occupied for weeks! The Office is a good choice because you don’t HAVE to go to an office everyday. Ways you can watch The Office for cheap? New episodes are free online, Netflix them, buy ‘em cheap at half.com, or check the library.
4. Get some good, inexpensive wine, and drink yourself into oblivion. I mean. Don’t do that! You’re not UNEMPLOYED; you’re FREE. Drink yourself silly with happiness?
5. Get Crafty. Use ReadyMade’s free Project Archive to get organized or make things. Since you have lots of time, but hardly any money, you can make your family some fun holiday gifts, like weirdly shaped soaps. You don’t have a job. They’ll forgive you.
6. Go to the library. As noted in #3, you can find good stuff at the library. You can catch up on the one million books you’ve been meaning to read. To get closer to your own laid-off / fired / unemployed pain, try Then We Came to the End, about an advertising agency going through a business downturn. Really funny!

I love reading, but I also adore books as physical objects. This is why I am in love with Penguin. Especially today. In fact, I can barely contain the love I feel for these bright, beautifully designed book sets & their matching posters (HINT: Scroll down for some Shepard Fairey). SWOON!!!

1. Roald Dahl Collection, 16 books, $115
2. Philip Marlowe Mysteries by Ramond Chandler, 8 books + 1 poster, $80
3. Classic Boys’ Adventure, 12 books + 1 poster, $110
4. James Bond Modern Classics by Ian Fleming, 14 books, $140
5. The Nick Hornby Collection, 6 books, $65
6. The Complete Cases of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, 8 books + 1 poster, $65
7. Arabian Nights (ancient stories from Persia, India, & Arabia), 3 books, $200
8. HG Wells Science Fiction Classics, 9 books, $100
9. Gothic Classics: Tales of the Supernatural, 10 books + 1 poster, $90
10. George Orwell & Shepard Fairey, 2 books + 2 posters, $160
11. The Bill Amberg Collection (leather-bound, classic novels), 6 books, $380
12. Charles Dickens Collection, 16 books, $165
13. Jane Austen Red Classics, 6 books, $40

I was reading The Penguin Blog, which is UK-based, and found out about these awesome Penguin Sets. There are 13 sets of books which contain a bunch of novels of a similar theme or by the same author, and each set has covers designed by a single artist.

What’s more, FIVE of the sets also have an accompanying poster (or two). The BEST of which is the George Orwell set because it includes TWO posters (1984 and Animal Farm) designed by Shepard Fairey (of Obama Poster fame).

Each Penguin set includes 2 to 16 books (and 0 to 2 posters) and run from $40 to $380 (the priciest collections aren’t necessarily the ones with the most books).

Click to see the rest of the posters and details of the most expensive “luxury” books. (Also, more of my rambling.) Or, check out the UK Penguin Sets page (I can’t find a US Sets page, but you can order to the US)! (more…)

As a wee, I loved the If you give… series. Actually, as an adult stuck in an unsettling post-college period, I am still enamored with the books. I am a sucker for the whimsical illustrations, the characteristically demanding critters, and the circumlocutory plots. With the absence of a pesky HARRY-POTTER-RACE-TO-THE-FINISH effect (the conclusion is hardly dubious!), one can focus purely on the ADVENTURE.

The If you give… duo, Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond, first released If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in 1985! Since then, they have introduced their readers to Pig, Moose, and recently… CAT. A cat that gets a *cupcake*!?!?! (I’m eating a Sweet Mandy B’s cupcake right now! Which, FYI, is just as adorable as the name implies. It reminds me of Samantha Parkington!) And cat asks for *sprinkles*!? (My cupcake has sprinkles!) If You Give a Cat a Cupcake screams S&D.

Just like Mouse, Moose, and Pig, Cat gets something edible, and things happen. Honestly, you’ll have to read it for yourself. I will share, however, that my favorite part is at the beginning:

“When you give him the sprinkles, he might spill them on the floor. Cleaning it up will make him hot, so you’ll give him a bathing suit.”

A cat in swim trunks? More precious than Precious Moments.

The title of this post is pretty awesome because I AM currently obsessed with Ian Dingman (check out my interview with him, or some selections of his work), but this is a Currently Obsessed post BY Ian Dingman, a Stickers & Donuts first, because so far only Tricia & I have disclosed our current obsessions.

While making the image to go along with Ian Dingman’s obsessions, I signed up for the Social Music Revolution (that’s Last FM’s tagline). I haven’t quite mastered it yet, but so far it seems like a combination of Facebook, Pandora, & iTunes Genius. Moral: With a little practice, things other people are obsessed with, you can become obsessed with, too.

Anyway, you aren’t here to learn about me! Here are Ian’s obsessions, written from his very own fingertips:

1. I’m definitely obsessed with last.fm and Facebook. For the longest time I tried to avoid social networking and to remain cryptic and enigmatic, but I eventually broke.
2. I can’t work without listening to music, so I take in records in a large volume. I’ve been listening to a lot of OMD, Clientele, Clinic, and Underworld lately.
3. Just finished Marjane Satrapi’s “Embroideries” and enjoyed it.
4. I just got back from visiting Vancouver where they’re preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics, so I’ve been digging all the mascot art.
5. Lastly, I guess anything orange and black has caught my eye lately… it is that month of the year.

From Maria, a note about the fonts I used in the above picture: These are two of my favorite fonts, and I found them free at dafont.com! The handwriting font is Jellyka - Estrya’s Handwriting by Jellyka Nerevan who runs cuttyfruty.com and the header font is Barnes Erc by Eric Wiryanata who runs thunderpanda.com.

As you can see from my recent (semi-recent) Currently Obsessed, I’ve been reading (slash looking at with love and devotion) my nine recently-acquired back-issues of McSweeney’s. The beautifully designed literary magazine is edited by Dave Eggers himself (the whole shebang was created by him, in fact).

Dave Eggers also wrote a ton of books. And edited tons of other things. And runs fabulously funny writing centers for kids (that are adjacent to fabulously funny stores, which I plan to post about more in-depth), and — apparently this is old news — Eggers is now working in the film industry!

After a little wikipediaing and googling, I found some interesting connections between Dave Eggers and other awesome people:

1. Eggers is the co-screenwriter for the upcoming (2009) movie Where the Wild Things Are (based on the children’s book). (Wikipedia says Eggers is also writing a novel based on the children’s book?!)
2. He also wrote a screenplay with his wife, This Must Be The Place, which is currently in production with director Sam Mendes (American Beauty). (This is super-exciting because I love American Beauty!)
3. Sufjan Stevens, a singer-songwriter I love, wrote the introduction for the 2007 Best American Non-Required Reading, which was edited by Eggers. Stevens also appeared in the Revenge of the Book–Eaters tour to help raise money for the student writing centers.
4. Eggers wrote the autobiography (is it still called that when someone else writes it for you? it’s in the first-person), What is the What, of the Sudanese Valentino Achak Deng. The money from the sales of this book go to help Sudan.
5. Dave Eggers apparently whistled in the background of Aimee Mann’s song “Little Tornado”.
6. Eggers’ wikipedia page offers a few more examples of star-connections: Nick Hornby, Joyce Carol Oates, Zadie Smith, Beck, and more!

I don’t know how the man does it! He writes novels, edits books, runs his literary magazine, and works on movies all at the same time? Then he raises money for tons of causes and throws in some whistling to-boot?! Sigh. Love.

This past weekend I went to the biennial Dodge Poetry Festival in Stanhope, NJ. Just forty-five minutes from the rural-ish town (cows > people) where I grew up, this poetry festival is one of the largest (the largest?) in North America. It always features a few poet laureates and other publicly-ordained-people of poetic fabulousness (Mark Doty, Lucille Clifton, Billy Collins, Franz Wright, to name a mere four).

As I walked around the festival this year, I noticed that poetry festival attendees, mostly middle-aged women, are comprised of two main fashion-groups (male-poetry-enthusiast fashion is a different animal!):

1. Those who do not know how to dress, and obviously do not care that they do not know how to dress. (Example: Trousers. Sweatshirt with large word on it. The most functional shoes possible. Glasses.)
2. Those who dress in earth-tones and shop at Coldwater Creek.

Interestingly, both sets contain more long-haired middle-aged women than the American population as a whole. That hair is either: Long, straight, and unlayered. Or long, frizzy, and sort-of-tamed with a silver barrette. (In case you are wondering, I knew that earth-tones would be in at the Poetry Festival, so I arrived aptly dressed in one of the few neutral colored outfits I own.)

Anyway, enough with the stereotyping! Wait, actually, not enough with the stereotyping. First, I have to provide my guide for your How-To-Dress-Like-Someone-Who-Likes-Poetry needs (see image above, links & commentary below).

AFTER THE JUMP: links, commentary. Also, there may or may be not a picture of what I might or might not have worn to the poetry festival. (more…)

Don’t worry, Tricia will be back next week with many more awesome poster artists!

ANORAK: The Happy Magazine for Kids is a UK-based children’s magazine of illustrated and graphical wonder (think: Highlights: The Next Generation)! They recently sent me a copy, which I am currently swooning over despite my official status as an adult (who may or may not be able to rent cars).

The magazine doesn’t seem to orient itself towards one particular age group (the magazine suggests it’s for kids 5-10). For younger kids, there are beautiful pages of artwork, bright colors, drawing prompts, and simple games. For slightly older kids, there are fun stories and easy-to-read informational articles.

There is also a great eight page section called “good stuff” which references new and fun events, games, & products, and book reviews by kids 5-10.

For adults like me, there is lots and lots of pretty.

You can also check-out their web-site online, which has a section of free, fun goodies including doodle-y desktop wallpapers and icons.

The magazine is about 80 full-color pages on high-quality non-gloss paper. It comes four times a year, but is a bit expensive for a subscription for we non-UK folk (If you want, you can pretend you are getting little books in the mail and the cost won’t seem so high! Also, you AND your child are going to love it!). You can purchase single issues at the following US locations: (more…)

This week’s issue of currently obsessed features more fabulous things that I can’t get enough of this week… but will possibly be tired of next week (or not).

• Simple Harvest Oatmeal. I like the “maple brown sugar with pecans” flavor. This oatmeal is healthier, more filling, and tastier than their other stuff, or at least I think so!
• Since I’m really obsessed with graphs this week (see post about annual reports coming today or tomorrow), I am also really obsessed with list-making. This isn’t really new. But I re-discovered Listography, a super-fabulous list-prompt book with hysterical watercolor doodles.
• Perhaps I love my new Stovetop Espresso maker simply because it’s better than my French Press, the only other coffee maker I have, but I do love it. I got mine for $10 at The Christmas Tree Shop, but you can order a whole variety from here.
• Matilda! I recently re-watched the movie starring Mara Wilson, but the book is also super-fabulous (like my doodle? It’s a Roald Dahl rip-off!).
• Wacom tablets make writing over my “currently obsessed” posts so much easier!
• Yes, when there was a brief McSweeney’s sale ($5 PER ISSUE!!!) I bought nine issues. Now, they sleep in a box next to my bed and I take them out and look at them and read the copyright section (which is really the editor’s note, kind of, but hysterical). I love them. I wish I had purchased more. (By the way, that fabulous image featuring McSweeney’s books in all of their openable glory is from The Sydney Morning Herald.)

My mom was born in Denmark, and during her most recent trek back to the little country, I asked if she would bring me back a Danish ABC book.

She returned with Halfdan’s ABC book, a wonderfully illustrated — and from the meager amounts I can interpret — funny, ABC book written with slightly less… wholesome… humor than we feed our American kids.

In Book By Its Cover style (okay, well maybe not as cool), I present you with some of my favorite pages from the book.

Jump!

(more…)

Major sales in the design world this week, some of them super-amazing and ending today (McSweeney’s!!!).

1. Life of Mystery poster: “Life holds plenty of mystery, but it often seems like the wrong kind of mystery. Life’s mysteries are either depressing — why am I never satisfied, or what did I do to deserve this — or they’re bland — will I stain this shirt by accident?” But this poster is full of neither of those mysteries, instead it expounds upon the mysteries of ornamental keys, ghosts, & darting eyes! It’s the coolest Tiny Showcase print to hit the streets! And, it’s not even tiny (22×28 plus border for framing), AND it’s cheaper than the usual $20 prints, at only $12 (shipping is about $3)! It’s well designed & very funny, so checkout the poster details (upclose pictures! yay!) on the Tiny Showcase page.
2. Old issues of McSweeney’s are only FIVE DOLLARS until the end of the day today! If you do not buy Issue 13 & 19 (the comic book issue and the issue that comes in a cigar box with little war pamphlets), at the least, you are making a huge life mistake! These literary “magazines” have fold-out covers (Issues 13 & 23), mini-books (Issues 19 & more), come as a stack of mail (Issue 17), or have, for no reason in particular, a little comb tucked inside its cover (Issue 16). I may or may not have ordered nine of these (shipping was $10 for 9).
3. Okay, so maybe I’ve mentioned this threadless poster (Spoilt) several times before, but I just thought you should know all threadless prints are $25 this week rather $35 (shipping is $10, sad, but the sale certainly helps!). Shirts are $12 right now, too!

Have a WONDERFUL three day weekend and make sure to visit Tricia’s amazing school supply posts before you do your Labor Day shopping!

To continue my obsession with photographer Thomas Allen, I’d like to point out two things:

1. Thomas Allen put all his pictures from Oprah magazine on his web-page, including some more photos that didn’t make the cut (I spilled the beans on some of these a few weeks ago with this post, but he put up even more on his blog, so I recommend stopping over and taking a look).

2. I was recently informed that TA did a photo exclusively for the Aperture Foundation. The photo (as seen below) is on sale now in limited edition quantities, and apparently they’re going like hotcakes (contact Kellie McLaughlin Kmclaughlin@aperture.org, Manger of Limited-Edition Photographs if you’re thinking about making a purchase!).

“Inspired by a love of the pop-up books of his childhood, Allen revels in creating his scenarios from vintage pulp fiction novels” (Aperture Foundation).

If fine art is out of your price range, you can at least admire the photo and read Allen’s comments about the photo and artistic inspirations on the bottom of the page.

Some of my favorites from last week! (Links in the list below; right click to open in new window.)

• A book of a guy comparing his silhouettes to famous silhouettes (via SwissMiss).
• A hysterical inscription on The Book Inscriptions Project blog from a book entitled “Doktor Bey’s Suicide Guidebook.”
• I really just want to put my feet into these rugs from the Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich (via Cool Hunter).
• I love, love, love Chris Benz’s colorful clothing lines, and his web-site is pretty cool, too! (via Oh Joy!)
• A pretty awesome chair, good for seat crunchers, via Smashing Magazine. (I’m not sure that you can buy this; it has made its way around the blogs, but I think it was originally part of a show.)
• An awesome flea market guide from Design*Sponge, listing all of the flea markets in a variety of my very favorite states (Connecticut, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachussetts)!
• Cool photographs of naked Olympians! (via Crap We Like)
• Another cool Smashing Magazine find — a retro phone that you talk into instead of your cell phone.
• I love this ASL (American Sign Language) pattern (and the tank top, which isn’t availible for sale, unfortunately!) in a book which includes designs from Julia Rothman (from Julia’s book design blog, Book By Its Cover).

Some Bolsheviks from from Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty (book found via Pikaland). Maira also worked on the illustrated version of Strunk & White’s classic The Elements of Style.

Obviously, I’m on a book-kick these days. If you’ve been at all enamored with the book world, especially at the end of 2007, you’ll know that The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz is getting some hardcore attention from book-lovers. I have a little Diaz-love myself, partially because the man got his MFA at my alma mater and I read a chunk of his work in the happy days I spent there.

There are two things I want to mention about this book besides it being fabulous to read:

1. It won the 2008 Tournament of Books (yeah, who cares about that Pulitzer it won), an awesome contest I discovered through the Penguin Book Blog. Approximately twenty books are paired off. Judges (usually established writers) read the pair and deem a winner, and then pairs are made of the winners, and so on, until a final winner is decided. For me, this is much better than sports.
2. You’ve gotta love that cover. First of all, splats amuse me to no end (especially when they look like they were really, accidentally spilled over the actual cover/page/label/whatever). Splatters are supposed to be spread randomly, but can look really awful if you really do just spread them randomly, and that’s what makes them somewhat difficult to create. Second of all, splats that look like something else (or two other things, as it may be) amuse me even more. In summary, splats are one of those things that are hard to pull off, but when they look cool, they look cool (see above).