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Valentines: Kate Spade
New knowledge has arrived since my last post (five minutes ago, we move on fast-news only here!). Kate Spade Valentines (click BMINE, in red, at the top of the page) are now available and waiting for your thoughtfulness to send them out into the world. Better get over there, it’s going to take awhile to match the perfect card with the perfect recipient.
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Valentines: Paperless Post
I know most of you are holding out for Kate Spade’s e-Valentines, (and justly so, see a few of previous years’ here) but Paperless Post has their options up now. Soliciting illustrations from indie illustrators like Linda & Harriett, and Enormous Champion is always a class act in my opinion.
Enormous Champion
Linda & Harriett
Ink & Iron
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Earnest Additions
Greetings loyal readers!
There are two new page additions to the E&D site. A very simple addition, entitled Books!, is where I will be listing my reading this year. So far it has been a great year of books, and I have already gotten around to reading a few that I’ve been meaning to read for years. Since I don’t usually finish books I don’t enjoy, you can pretty much guarantee that I am recommending anything on the list.
The second is my humble guide to registering for your wedding. I know many of you don’t need this anymore. But I needed it when I was getting married, and it wasn’t out there. So I’ve put together a list of kitchen essentials for that preciously short time when people are begging you to tell them how they can spend money on you. You can see the guide right here, or my blog’s page about it here. Savvy chefs! Tell me if you disagree with my choices, or can’t believe something is not on there.
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Obituary Monograms
One of my favorite annual New Year’s activities is to read the entire New York Time’s magazine of obituaries. They highlight a collection of people you knew died and a bunch of characters who fell through the cracks, mostly because they weren’t famous anymore. This year I learned about people I should have known more about, like Richard Holbrooke and George Steinbrenner. They made a beautiful website for this year’s collection, and Mother New York made remarkable monograms for each person.
Photos from Mother New York.
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Miranda on the Web
We all know more clever and fun coding could be happening on the internet. Miranda July is the only one who seems to actually think of anything.* Above is the splash page for her website.
In other MJ news, she has a new movie coming out! Get ready for some things to be uncomfortable! Watch a little interview here, or read an interview with her about it here. There’s no preview out there (that I can find) but there is, of course, the movie’s website.
I think it’s really interesting to use Paw Paw {a talking cat} as a narrative device because cats are so often thought of as tricksters, or at best, unreliable narrators. –from the interview.
*If you missed the website for her short story collection, check it out now. Her love-community-building-project website Learning to Love You More is now considered modern art.
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A baby post
Woah. Miranda Kerr. Ever said something deprecating about her and Orlando? Probably won’t now, hmm? Marvelous Kiddo posted a few photos and great quotes from her about pregnancy/motherhood. Miranda posted the above photo on her blog.
I’ve decided E&D can have one baby-centric post on here every week or so. Just as a tiny representation of how many half-crazed thoughts and questions about babies treadmill through my mind every week.
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Back from Colorado
Hi everyone! Joe and I had the opportunity to go skiing with my family for a week, sorry for the lack of notice around here! As usual I took no photos of any useful nostalgic value, but I did like this serve-yourself hot chocolate station at the top of one of the mountains. Two cans of whipped cream means don’t you dare pester us and ask for extra whip cream.
And then this photo, at another mountaintop eatery, of some chili that I could not have eaten faster. It was one of those meals where you’re like, “uh, chili? Sounds ok, kinda gross” and then you were so hungry and cold and it was warm and tasted like the most delicious recipe you’ve ever encountered, even though you watched as they dumped it out of a food service bag and heated it up.
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Daily I Fall in Love with Waitresses
Daily I fall in love with waitresses
with their white bouncing name tags
KATHY MARGIE HONEY SUE
and white rubber shoes.
I love how they bend over tables
pouring coffee.
Their perky breasts hover above potatoes
like jets coming in to LAX
hang above the suburbs—
shards of broken stars.
I feel their fingers
roughened by cube steaks softened with grease
slide over me.
Their hands and lean long bodies
keep moving so…
fumbling and clattering so harmoniously
that I am left overwhelmed, quivering.
Daily I fall in love with waitresses
with their cream-cheese cool.
They tell secrets in the kitchen
and I want them.
I know them.
They press buttons creases burgers buns—
their legs are menu smooth.They have boyfriends or husbands or children
or all.
They are french dressing worldly—
they know how ice cubes clink.
Their chipped teeth form chipped beef
and muffin syllabics.
Daily I fall in love with waitresses.
They are Thousand Island dreams
but they never stand still long enough
as they serve serve serveBy Elliot Fried.Heard yesterday on The Writer’s Almanac, my favorite podcast for gray weather.
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Art on MLK Day
Some said yesterday was the most depressing day of the year. And I left you with nothing cheerful to make it through, not even a hello. I spent the holiday at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts which was swarmed with people taking advantage of the free admission. I thought, “This is what New York is like every day.” Though we came home exhausted from all the peering, it was fun to troop off the subway, down the sidewalk, and into the museum with the masses.
Did you get to celebrate MLK Day in any way?
Here’s some paintings from Leanne Shapton, to make up for yesterday.
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The Venmo Way
Of all the new free webbie things of 2010, Venmo is definitely one that made its way into my habits. You can pay or charge people either online or via text message, for free. I use it to pay friends who covered the bill for dinner, my mom sends me spontaneous pedicure funds (yes, she is awesome), my younger brothers unexpectedly split the pizza bill with me, I charge my friends who share our AT&T bill, I bought my brother a drink when he was celebrating his 21st birthday in another state….
You don’t have to have a smartphone and if a few of your friends join with you, it’s super handy!
Photo of Venmo’s app, also an option