real people pez

Holy Pez! I need desperately want a custom dispenser. Hop Pop Factory made these as party favors, using 3D technology to replicate the faces / heads of the employees that attended. I'm a freak for these plastic guys. In fact I'm the proud owner of roughly 1,000 (oh those were dark days on ebay). It would be so fun to be able to add something like this to my collection.

Read more about the process that was in play to make these here: Hop Pop Factory blog.

marriage countdown

Being a part-time hoarder isn't all bad. I like to think that everything I save is part passion, part a piece of my heart, but to be truthful sometimes it's more like -- "Ohhh, shiny. I'll have that.... FOREVER".  Rationale, or mixed motives aside, I never feel conflicted about keeping something that is 1) small, and 2) from family.

This is one of my favorite treasures. It's a teeny calendar that my Grandfather used to countdown the days until he could marry my Grandmother. Saving things apparently is genetic, because she tucked this away in an envelope from the jewelry store she worked at, and wrote this note roughly 30 years after they were married:

"This is an old calendar of Fly's. He checked off the the days until we could get married. He was paying off debts of his family. The pattern has never changed."

I find something about both the act of using this calendar, and then archiving it, quite sweet (and also charmingly odd -- Funeral Home calendar?). I honestly don't know what their marriage was like -- I don't think most grandkids really can -- but I like to think this signifies at least a trace of romance. Somewhere someone is now saying to me -- "oh you silly girl'.

Have a silly day. Do something silly. Say something silly. Be with someone and be silly together. Or enjoy some silly private time.

my shirt does the talking

Never has t-shirt been more appropriate for me. And now I own it. My life is complete. Would it be weird if I wore it everyday? It feels like a necessary preamble... I am Erin, read my shirt. Done.

Available via the wonderful folks at Print Liberation.

lists of note

Q: What makes me happier than making lists? 

A: Finding a website full of lists by other people.

Here's an interesting one, from Sid (of the Sex Pistols -- you know, just in case you assumed it was Sid of American wrestling fame) to the doomed apple of his eye, Nancy. Kinda raunchy... yeah. Kind sweet... yeah that too. And is that blood? Not sure. Don't want to know. 

Want more lists (most considerably less punk)? Go to Lists of Note. Bookmark it, subscribe to it, add it your reader. Just do it. 

mold-a-mania

When I was a kid I desperately wanted one of those animals you could get out of a machine for $.50 at the zoo. I never got one, and clearly never got over it, even after ordering a set on-line a few years ago. Mold-a-rama machines gifted kids with an array of plastic figurines during the last several decades of the 20th century. They're not sophisticated toys by any stretch but they're bright and they're fun (and if you got one from a machine you saw them come to life). I stumbled upon Mold-a-Mania's site and discovered a really amazing collection that I'm currently coveting. Also be sure to check out the companion Flickr profile if you need to bookmark some favorites. And I might be crazy but I think some of these images would make great prints -- I'd buy them.

good medicine: missy prince

This feels like the millionth post I've done on Missy Prince, but come on, this photo is awesome (as they always are). Her photos never let me down. You can view her Flickr stream here. She also now as a shop featuring tons of wonderful original prints. Go gobble some up, and while you're there feel free to grab one for me too... you know, in case you're feeling strangely generous.

lazy sunday

I love this song. Have a great lazy day all. And don't overdo it... many of you have off tomorrow, so save a z or two.

obsessions

While I haven't had time to get much done I've somehow carved out enough space in my brain to obsess over a few things. Part of me knows I've got to move on, while another part of me can't let go until I completely wear out my love for this stuff.

Broken Social Scene's "Sweetest Kill". The artwork (above) is pretty great too.

Trailer Park Boys on Netflix. I'm not sure how we stumbled upon this, but it's been a favorite since. We're even going to their live performance next month. What that will consist of I have no idea. I'm pretty sure I can count on thick Canadian accents, kitty talk, and cocktails in hand.

Search of the Day. My new job has me diving into the world wide web deeper than I've gone before. As my new mission carries on I discovered this site by a co-worker. It highlights some of the dumbest things that people search the internet for.

This guy's posters on Ebay. Don't buy them. When I win the lottery they will all be mine.

Making a wall like this in the bedroom.

This picture.

512 Cascabel Cream Stout

zoe strauss

I couldn't help but post some images that I saw over on La Pura Vida. Photographer Zoe Strauss recently took to her Flickr account to upload tons of 35mm work. I have fallen in love with all of it (and am an old fan of this image). She really captured the dynamics of a neighborhood... vibrancy vs decay, joy vs strife. Some images are hard to look at because they are so honest and grim while others simply bring a smile to my face.  It blows my mind that many of these are considered outtakes. 

More of my favorites after the jump...

hollis brown thornton

Hollis is one of my favorite artists. Jaws is one of my favorite movies. Naturally I could not resist posting this when their powers were combined.

kate peters

Kate Peters is a UK photographer that I recently came across, and if I could actually collect heroes I would put her with my top folks to admire. Instead I'll have to settle for adding her to the imaginary gang that I'm harboring in my mind. Her work is right up my alley... strange, quiet, out of place, and eloquent. I particularly like her "Safety First" series and the "Ridley Road Portrait Project". It was hard only posting a few but some of my favorites are after the jump. I strongly encourage you to check out her entire site though.

if we don't, remember me

I haven't had a new favorite website in quite some time, but behold, here it is. If We Don't, Remember Me is full of animated gifs from classic (in my opinion) films, matched with quotes from their respective movie. I feel like it's something I tried to do long ago with screen shots but way better.

[ via Human Resources ]

cody hamilton - relics

Dang it if this isn't a genius idea. Artist Cody Hamilton transformed items from the 80's, draining them of their vibrant colors with a plaster-like coating of white, effectively turning them into modern-ish counterparts to the statues of Greece's past. Simple on mainly levels, and perfectly conceived. More after the jump but definitely check out his site for the full set.

more of blake wright

Preach on brother. You continue to speak the truth.

Blake Wright keeps getting it right. Oooooh, talk about the makings of an awfully puntastic headline. Sorry folks.

a murray for all seasons

As an avid Bill Murray fan I'm beside myself with glee and also ashamed that I had never seen these posters before. In fact I should come up with a new post tag called "oh my god my brains are falling out i'm so happy and might almost pee on myself and continue the shame cycle". Rolls right off the tongue.

These posters by Casey Weldon are all of Bill Murray as characters in Wes Anderson films. And crap, if I had seen this earlier I would have begged for a print for Christmas. They are only $25! P.S. If blogging relied on handwriting this would not be legible, I'm that over the moon (and apparently once again resorting to archaic expressions of excitement).

Check out more of Casey's brilliant work here.

non-stop cravings and the work of Alyson Thomas

I often get cravings, and I give in to them 100% of the time because my crazy inner voice won't stop yelling at my mouth until I succumb. For some reason I really have my heart set on a heaping helping of eggnog. Does that work by the way... can I have a heaping? Well, I'll try. This also provides a handy segue that is months overdue. During one of my many recent stretches of not posting I intended to showcase some of one of my new favorite artists, Alyson Thomas.

She is responsible for the above work as well as a slew of other drawings, most of which are food related. Alyson serves up her point of view fantastically with a methodical approach in displaying information mixed with artistic skill and creative wit. Looking at her work I find myself wishing that I would someday pick up the pen and pencil I traded in for a computer and give drawing another shot. I also want to eat some bacon.

You can view an ongoing chronicle on her blogs Meat Sections and I Love Drywell. Make sure to check out more links to her work, as well as her Etsy shop, below. Buy something!!


NOW HERE'S SOME YUMMY LINKS:
Shop
Blog
2010 daily art.
Twitter
Flickr

the loser's handbook

I'm digging into my childhood archives again... here we have one of my favorite "books". It's something that American Greetings manufactured and was given to my mom by a friend sometime in the late 60's (I think... mom?). It's also one of the items that I seemed to have permanently borrowed... "ooh I really like this, therefore it automatically becomes mine". I blame/thank this little guy for some of my bizarre humor. Weirder still I remember actually using this handbook on some lonely summer days. I was a 10 year old loser apparently.

santiago salvador

"Holy cow, I'll take everything", is what comes to mind when I look at Santiago Salvador's work. What comes to your mind is that I take Centrum Silver. No, only my exclamations are only old. Then what comes to your mind is, "yes, I'll have it all too". Then your mind blows up because this series is that awesome.

CHECK OUT HIS:
Flickr

william christenberry

If I've never posted William Christenberry's work before, then shame on me. If I have, it's so good I don't even mind the repetition. I have enjoyed his photography for a while for reasons that are probably pretty evident. Rural southern places that time has forgotten or where it seems to at least follow a slower clock, check. Solitary buildings, check. Beauty in sadness, check. Found objects, check.

I haven't managed to find too many sites that properly showcase his body of work, so if you can get your hands on a copy of this book I highly recommend it. "Kodachromes" is a new book that will be released in October, which will be on my wish list.

Check out this quick interview:

burning the midnight oil

Keith Davis Young is a photographer that I have drooled all over myself about many-a-time and continue to be amazed by. He is also a designer. This poster was made over a year ago but it's an image my mind repeatedly comes back to. One, because of the effectiveness of the simplicity, the colors, the feeling. And two, because it's true. I am determined to believe that I am missing a gene that makes me productive in the day time. I stayed up 'til almost dawn last night working on a project. What is wrong with me? Perhaps I should look into getting a nice velvet-lined coffin?