Nutty the Squirrel

Remember Leo the lion, well here's Nutty the Squirrel. Not as heartwarming but o so cute. Click here to check out the video of the friendship between a construction worker and a squirrel at BBC's site. My favorite scene is the shower but my boyfriend likes the part when Nutty is on the dash.

All the Pretty Horses

I often go to Columbia Mall in Maryland, but forget that there is an old fashion carousel at the far end. You would think that having the carousel housed in a mall would take away the magic but, it doesn't. It's actually a welcome dose of nostalgia next to the crowded stores brimming with newfangled fads and tech-savvy teenagers. My boyfriend and I love eating ice cream and watching all the kids ride the brightly painted horses. Here's a picture I took at the end of a ride.

Zee Avi's Bitter Heart Free on Amazon!

Zee Avi's charming song Bitter Heart is on Amazon for free!! If you haven't had a chance to listen to her sweet crooning, check out her Bitter Heart video on YouTube. As a vocalist her voice is clear and beautiful in an Etta James kind of way while the music and lyrics are mellow and true. You will love it!!

Wedding Video by StillMotion

I hope you enjoy this gorgeous real life wedding shot by StillMotion.

In my mind this is what a wedding should feel like, subtly emotional yet stunningly meaning-filled. Hehe, kinda like a music video. StillMotion does a fabulous job of capturing all the unique nuances of the couple and their special day without resorting to cheesiness and cliches. I especially love how they incorporated the sounds of the day. Seems obvious that they would include laughter but the sound of rain drops and grass under foot made the already dazzling videography even more lush. Thanks to Doobybrain for sharing the wedding of his friends, Dave and Grace.

PS Would you believe that this video was shot on an digital SLR, Canon 5D Mark II? In a word, WOW. It seems that there is a whole community of filmmakers who use it. I <3 technology.

Stila Makeup: 40% Off + Free Shipping

If you are a fan of Stila products, get ready to shop til you drop at StilaCostmetics.com! Get 40% off and free shipping with the discount code below. Enjoy!

STILAPRO

On Rainy Days...

On rainy days, I just want to listen to sad songs. It's been raining so much here in DC that we should have the greenest spring ever. Still, I sometime prefer rain clouds over rainbows.

Graphic "Designer" Pillows

I love these Adobe Suite pillows made by My Suite Stuff. The 12 x 12 handmade fleece pillows of Adobe application logos are cute, clever, and, at $15 a pop, extra affordable. Eek, I will have to pick up all of them for my web mastering, graphic designing, video editing, and photography loving boyfriend. Ooh, I hope My Suite Stuff comes out with the other 7 Suite logos and a bigger Euro sized version. Linen, would be nice.

Kudos to Dooby Brain for originally posting it on his blog.

Twilight Spoof

I needed a good laugh today. This totally did the trick.

When one door closes...

They say when one door closes another opens. sigh. I am posting some unique opportunities that I hope someone will explore if faced with a closed door. Here's to making lemonade out of lemons.

Internship at The Knot. What girl doesn't want to live breathe weddings.

Freelance Designer at Glamour Magazine. Need I say more.

Design and building Internship at Yestermorrow. Lodging and food included. I wrote about Yestermorrow in a previous post. If you have nothing to loose, why not learn how to design and build sustainable houses.

To see more design jobs visit Coroflot.com.

Random Acts of Dance

My boyfriend loves sending me YouTube videos. One that really made an impression on me was of a storm trooper dancing in the streets of Tokyo. He wasn't particularly good but it made me smile to see him delight everyone with his costume and his spunky bravodo. Ever since then, I have secretly wanted to to perform a random act of dance. What's a random act of dance? Watch the video to find out. ;)

Yestermorrow Design/Build School

I'm dying to take a class at Yestermorrow Design and Build School in Vermont where they not only hold workshops on building treehouses (a life-long dream of mine), but also in sustainable design, construction, woodworking, and gardening. After running across classes and courses like the list below, I am seriously considering ditching my vacation plans so I can take a workshop instead. They make it incredibly convenient with affordable onsite housing and even a work exchange program (1 hour of work = $10 off). So attractive in this economy. They also provide discounts for multiple classes/workshops or for signing up with a friend (15% off!). Finally a school that is trying to make a difference instead of money.



* Sustainable Treehouse Design and Construction
* Ecological Water Systems
* Farm Design and Build
* Solar Design
* Rain Garden Design
* Wind Power
* Carpentry for Women
* Biofuels
* Trim and Finished Carpentry
* Furniture Making
* Do and Don'ts of Pre-Fab
* Permaculture Design

These are just a handful of the classes held there. According to the website, the school is accredited as an education institute by the state of Vermont and is an affiliate member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, as well as a Continuing Education Provider for the American Institute of Architects. They provide two Certificate Programs, the Certificate in Sustainable Building and Design and the Natural Building Intensive , "an intensive, in-depth, hands-on opportunities for deepening understanding, acquiring functional skill sets, and widening career opportunities."

Pictured below is one of the projects the school has worked on.

Timberframing course.

I <3 Illustrations by Yulia Brodskya

These 'papergraphic' illustrations are so gorgeous that I had to post about Julia's talent of scrolling and crimping paper into 2D/3D works of art and craft.

To enjoy more eye candy check out her website.

Oldsjö Hultgren Design

Living in a tiny townhouse, I don't have much of a backyard but what little I have, I would love to pave with paving stones by Oldsjö Hultgren Design. There is an Escher-esque quality to their designs, whether it is their tiles, paving stones, lights, or carpet. I love that they can be configured in multiple ways.

Hope this brings a smile to your face this Easter: The Washington Post's Peeps Contest

Pre-Easter, the Washington Post holds a contest encouraging contestants to make dioramas depicting current/historical events or pop culture with Peep candy poofs. Every year I marvel at the level of creativity and secretly plan to make my own. What would I make? Maybe I would go with a Weird Science,Tron, 300, or Twilight theme. In the meantime, here are some of my favorites. Head over to the Post's site to check out the last two years of contestants.

If this last picture doesn't look familiar to you, check out the viral video that inspired this diorama.

Daniel Loves Objects

I'm in love with Daniel Loves Objects furniture designs!! Recently Core77, one of my favorite industrial design sites, wrote a post on Daniel and his modern yet whimsical creations. I would love to post more pictures, especially of his Forbidden Fruit Lamp and Cactus Humidifier but I haven't installed Photoshop on my new Mac. In the meantime, to check out all of his designs click here to see his porfolio on Coroflot.

In Slumber...

If you enjoy artists like Adele and videos like her artistically original Chasing Pavement, here is another creative and soulful video for you to feast your eyes and ears on.

PS Sooner or later I will stop being lazy and post more than my ipod playlist. Promise.

Mario Kart Love Song

I happen to come across this cute song on iTunes before I checked out Sam Hart's self-made video on YouTube. If you've ever played Mario Kart (or still do, like me), it's beguilingly delightful how the Mario Brother's references translates into a heartfelt serenade.

Etsy

If there was one place I would do all my gift shopping, it would be on Etsy.com. Today while I was shopping for a farewell gift, I came across so many things I wanted to buy for myself. Isn't that always the case? There is a good chance I will splurging on one (or all ^_^) of these items.

Lets start off with one of the niftiest things that I saw. Pictured above are matchbook business cards by STORYBYMIA. What could be handier than having a "book" of business/calling cards ready in your purse or pocket sans case or carrier. Each set comes with three books of six in yellow, blue, and pink on 80lb stock.


Some other items that I'd love to get my hands are these hats by TOMOKOHARA. Since I prefer knitted hats, I was drooling to death when I saw these. They look so hip and cool in a UK mod way.



My last pick comes from YAELFRAN. I totally love the whimsical nature of this ring. It completely belies the age of the designer, a forty year old mother of two. Looks like she is still young at heart in her designs and especially in her choice of material--shrink plastic!

Dreamy RVs: The Airstream

Today I drooled over the Airstream website. :) If that wasn't enough, I somehow ended up on iTunes listening/watching podcasts of Airstream owners. (Someone please stamp geek on my forhead.) I probably would have ended up in an Airstream forum or worse bidding on one on Ebay if I hadn't stopped myself. Before I stopped, I came across some wise words that clearly conveys the beauty of RVs and their appeal to me. Editor of Dwell, Allison Arieff succinctly states:

"Trailers so perfectly illustrate Charles Eames’ famous maxim, 'good design comes from constraints.' Every inch of space is exploited to the fullest. Every domestic need is addressed..."

How perfect would be to live in a "house" where everything nook and cranny serves a need and no space is wasted. It's been my dream to own an RV forever. Today when I saw the price tag of $45K on a shiny 2007 model, I asked my boyfriend if we could buy an RV instead of a condo/house and live in it for a year or two. (Hehe, I need to enjoy being semi-young and foolish while I can.)

Homemade Video: The Weepies

Two posts ago I wrote about my love for duets from bands like The Weepies and today I came across this painstakingly cute homemade video. It's too lovely, I had to share. As I watched it a second time, I couldn't help but appreciate all the artistry that the maker put into it. O the things we do for the love of art, music, clay do, and passion.

An Unexpected Visitor: Zoë Johnston

I'm posting this Bent video in honor of Zoe Johnston my unexpected internet visitor. (She sings the vocals in this song.)

This weekend I received a very special email from one of my favorite singers. I'm still in a state of disbelief. How she found me, I don't know but it seemed that she very much appreciated my PREVIOUS POST on her. After she read about my difficulty over finding her CD Happenstances, she contacted me to offer a copy. Once I overcame the shock, I politely declined. (My boyfriend had already gotten me a copy for my birthday.) Still, I was crazy honored that she wrote to express her appreciation and, that to me, was priceless.

So here's to chance encounters on the world-wide, wonderful web and Zoë Johnston for making my week. ;)

ps Would you believe that I initially mistook her for a classmate by the same first name? I told her that I thought it was cool that she had the same name as a singer and that she should check her out when she had the chance. Life can be funny-haha and funny-unexpected.

The Solar Decathlon

Today I went to the Solar Decathalon and I found myself in the company of some of the most innovative and creative architects, engineers, and designer students around. What made this event even more enjoyable was that, along with hundreds of other people, I was able to admire and walk through the fruits of their labor. The SOLAR DECATHLON is an international competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy where 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The other awesome twist to today was that I had at my disposal the expertise of two highly skilled carpenters to explain away all the things I didn't understand. Carpenter friends are the coolest.

I'd love to post some pictures but since I was trampsing around in close quarters with a minimum of 20 other people most of my pictures were awkward.

Solar Decathlon

One house that I particularly enjoyed was House 112 not just because it was one of the most beautifully designed energy-effiecient home ever, but because they used some ideas that I have long fiddled with in my designs. Just to be clear on this matter, I am in no way implying that they used my design. Instead they had a design that was very similar to a design that I had conceptualize in my mind. I have been dying to create a free standing studio built on a platform that allowed for storage as well as the installation of a "murphy bed" in the floor. I use the term murphy bed loosely because instead of the bed tucking away into the wall, in my design the bed would be built into the floor with a cover to tuck it away. It was so inspiring to see that other designers had considered such a design feasible and had executed it with great flare.

Here is some background info on this house: This house in particular was designed by the Univeristy of Technology in Germany. While there were many houses worthy of accolade and recognition, the construction of House 112 was exceptionally executed, in addition to being one of the most innovative. Just imagine the Volkswagen of modular homes and that's what I found myself oohing and aahing over. With crazy cool ideas, like solar shutters that move with the sun, sinks and ovens that hide away as well as movable bathroom walls, they were definitely not the underdogs of the competition. Much of the technology used in building the home were prototypes that the students help to create with big wig German companies, and often the companies created one-of-a-kind custum components to suit their building needs. When I asked how much it cost to create the house, one student estimated that the costs exceeded $1.2 million dollars. (Sigh) I wish the footage that I shot had survived the import process because I can barely touch the amount of innovative details that went into the house. Remember the shutters I told you about? Well that is the first layer the the shell of the house. Much like the human skin, the house was constructed with different layers with the solar shutters being the first layer.

Duets

(This is what I imagine a good duet looks like.)

I love duets. Not the cheesy old duets of the 80s or 90s but the simple and heartfelt duets of bands like the Stars or the Weepies...two people simply making gorgeous harmony. I especially like the interchange between male and female vocal when the song is not lovey dovey but emotionally charged. It can add a totally new dimension to the music.

Here are some that will forever remain on my ipod:
Magnet & Gemma Hayes: lay lady lay
Weepies: gotta have you
Weepies: world spins madly on
Stars: the night starts here
Papas Fritas: way you walk
Peter Bradley Adams & Susie Suh: unreconciled

* * * * *
Wanna see the above picture before Photoshop? FYI: This is the picture of a real bathroom sign at Sake, a local bar and lounge in Adams Morgan DC. (pictures courtesy of Albert Oh. Please do not use them without permission.)

Caribou Coffee

What is it about Caribou Coffee's interiors that I find so much more inviting than Starbucks? Could it be the charm of a warm, rustic lodge with exposed beams, plenty of windows, and a cozy fireplace? It doesn't hurt that Caribou encourages lingering with spacious floor plans and tons of seating to leisurely enjoy a cup of joe. No wonder I can't help but find it much more appealing than Starbucks' dark and intimate (ahem, cave-like) contemporary interiors. I always feel like I'm ordering coffee in a tunnel when I'm at Starbucks.

Still I do love Starbuck's coffee. Mmmm, toffee nut latte.

(Image courtesy of Albert Oh)