best visual summation of my cycling philosophy ever.

via Liz Meyer. Buy here.

easy living.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Everyone in my little world here- including myself- and many friends far away-- is in the midst of that last big thrust of effort before the end of the semester.  For me this includes not only unhealthy binges on reading, writing, and coffee, but also hiding books I don't have time to read, letting mountains of dirty clothes pile up to Everest-like heights, and of course, online shopping.  It is a time of extremes and immoderation.  Which is why it's nice when the universe sends me messages like this:

(via the amazing Friends of Type)

and this:

(brought to me fortuitously by putting my iTunes library on shuffle because you know I'm my father's daughter and I am all over The Eagles in my iTunes)

(I don't know about you, but their 70s mops bring me endless amounts of joy) (boys, take note!)

Best wishes to all y'all wrapping up the semester! 

Take a deep breath! The end is near... so get back to work!!!

great expectations.

image via Friends of Type- basically a dream blog for typography lovers. Follow them on Twitter.




...expect everything.

bicycle graveyard.

I liked this recent story about our own Bicycle Coalition Bike Ambassadors wielding tools to rid the city of skeleton bikes."  One of my professors claims that these bikes are not so much victims of theft as abandonment- and once they've been sitting around for a while, the restaurant worker subculture of bikers (see in highest volume in Center City near Broad Street between 12am and 2am) will part them out so they can get parts for their own bikes.  While I don't know if that's true, I am sure glad the BCP is out there cleaning up.  

Then of course, it snowed in Philly.

Many people opted not to ride.

Like me.

Others left their bikes right where they were. Many of the racks at Temple had one or two bikes emerging from the melting snow or wedged in between heaps of plowed snow.

At home, our own resident unfunctional bike- a victim of a broken chain- has taken a turn at modeling. 

five things the universe is screaming at you.

I will promote any website that features pop art depicting Scandinavian folk symbols. That's a COTGB guarantee.

I follow Rainn Wilson on twitter, and finally made it over to his site SoulPancake. The mission there is to "chew on life's big questions." It's a neat site to check out. As my faith orientation has shifted over the past few years, I find that sometimes I get so caught up in the living of life to its absolute fullest that I don't stop as much to reflect as I could- or the things I do reflect on are more logistical than spiritual. So in the interests keeping it real, I am taking the SoulPancake challenge to

List 5 Things the Universe is Screaming (or Whispering) at [Me]:

1. Stop making lists of people to call and actually call them.

2. Sincerity matters just as much as being nice does.

3. Hiding in bed for another hour won't change anything.

4. You are good enough, smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like you.

5. Just because you are living the dream doesn't mean you get to stop pursuing a higher quality of life.

That's harder than it looks, but a worthy exercise. What are your five?

war pug.

I saw this on the internet today and I just couldn't bear the thought of not sharing it with you (especially you, Amanda):

Also, an interesting article about Lego's business model. Because the Danish are awesome.

mad men yourself.

(click to enlarge picture of me with my boyfriend Don Draper)

You can Mad Men Yourself here.

the perfect bike embroidery pattern.

A case for Twitter: Sublime Stitching provided me with a link to these amazing bike patterns from Polka & Bloom. I was inspired by the Scandinavian inspired patterns as well. As if I didn't already have so many great project ideas on tap (including this + this). Good thing there's a month left before school starts and I have nothing else to do before then but pack and sell my car and move and find a job.

the deco woman.

Today I discovered the artist Tamara de Lempicka. I am such a huge fan of art deco- it has so much character to it, and really, how could you not drool over the world depicted in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day? I love too what the Deco woman represents- an ideal of liberated, athletic beauty, beauty that was so controversial that the flapperismas in Mexico were even physically attacked for transgressing traditional gender norms. I instantly fell in love with the dark, sultry, intriguing, clean-lined allure of Tamara de Lempicka's art. I think it's divine.

the art of ron mueck.

Jezebel posted this picture of the work of hyper-realist Ron Mueck today. The sculptures are cast in fiberglass resin and then painted. Very cool stuff-- I love how he celebrates the beauty of average looking bodies.

a little sunday CDR.

I post from time to time on my love for Christopher David Ryan's work, and today I find these new bits particularly lovely. I think it has to do with all of the peace and quiet I feel inside, having a sense of my future and basking in the joy of working on projects I have complete control over. With Vivaldi's Four Seasons playing, a cloudy day outside, a book on British war nurses in front of me, a little art seems like just the ticket. Prints can be found here and here.

my body is a wonderland.

Glitter Graphics

hog wild.

Ok, so here's something that will blow your mind: A food creation called the Bacon Explosion. My little pork fiend nieces would go nuts over this. The best part of the article is the slide show, in which The Times employs its bourgeois epicurean tone to describe the preparation of "the dish." Mayhem is what it is.

Unrelated bonus:

I'm not that into heavy metal but this flow chart is extraordinary.

blingee.com changed my life.

As Utah's higher education system (and my future) seem to be going down in flames and I am struggling to get caught up after having missed basically an entire week of life, I thank my lucky stars that I can turn to the magic of the Internet for consolation. Why?

Because art is easily accessible and heartwarming.

Because people use it to publish hilarious, skillfully written critiques.

Because this is possible:

Create cool Profile Comments



I can't believe I just spent thirty minutes on that... but with a side of Diet Coke and brownie sundae, I'm feeling a mite better.

pleasant art for a sunday evening.

I was so happy to see these new prints up by Christopher David Ryan. Tranquil and lovely.

greetings from the sick den.

Well here I am, back from a miserly two day and night slog through a personally unprecedented bout of fevers. Today I've been on the mend, doing exciting things like consuming foods other than juice! Who knew half a can of clam chowder could have such restoring effects? Meaning of course, I only watched one movie today and only spent seven hours in bed after waking up. But hey, that's progress.

Ok, enough self pity, here's a bit of a round up of the things I missed the past few days (is being sick like being on another planet or what?):

I think this is badass. A map of the US featuring each state's motto. I love this because well, I love America and me and BB were just talking about state mottos last week.Cheers to the artist Emily Wick. I really hope she does a print of this piece.

Here's a fascinating story entitled "Who Would Jesus Smack Down?" I am still baffled as to:
A) Why anyone would need to tell hipsters they are God's chosen people. Don't they already think that?
B) What this guy's wife thinks of her submissive role.
C) Jesus isn't man enough?! (or as my bff put it, "[he] thinks Jesus was Rambo?!?!?") Oh Diety, I think my gender historian head just exploded! Deliverance, por favor!

A childhood friend posted this article on facebook and one of his friends posted links to related articles from The Stranger (Seattle's alt weekly) here and here. The comments are worth reading; The Times article begs for supplementary materials. Calvinists in Seattle, the ultimate oxymoron. Consider my mind blown.

And speaking of blow, I would be remiss if I didn't link to this article on teen cocaine use by Charles M. Blow. Obligatory chortle at the inadvertant pun.

Whew, that was exhausting.

i wonder if bicycle jesus had a hand in this.

Ugh! I feel like today is taking a big dump right on my head. It's cloudy but it won't snow, but it's cold enough to make one's lungs exhausted from riding the bike. The bike elevator is broken down, yay delightful carrying of the ODT down and up three flights of stairs. I wrote down the wrong deadline to one of my schools, so I missed it, which I found out from one of my recommenders incidentally, which filled me with embarrassment and self loathing. My computer continues to gradually manifest its assholeness by growing slower, which probably portends its imminent death. Not to mention I have a billion things to do that aren't getting done because I just feel so tortured by the day.

So I found it almost annoying when I saw this picture. Ugh! I hate it when the positive energy of the universe speaks to me in my own language, right down to the bottle dynamo. I want to be negative, dangit!

Sounds like a challenge to me. I think I'll have a Peppermint Patty and engage in some intensive rewriting.

UPDATE: I went to check the mail and it is spitting snow (yay!) and my Bicycle Jesus shirt arrived. Redemption is nigh, perhaps?

the internet indulges my distaste for california exceptionalism.

in further observance of rivalry week.

Dear Jason Chaffetz, thank you for making Utahns look like a bunch of cot-toting slack jawed yokels. We appreciate this. Glad to know that you'll be test driving materials for that tent cities concept in the House.
Rivalry Week aside: All a BYU education gets you is a bag of stinky underwear and a cot from Smith's. Noted.

So glad that somebody is speaking out about what a piece of shit the Electoral College is; so sad that our country has MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS than what would inevitably be a protracted awful nasty amendment attempt.
Rivalry Week aside: Cosmo the Cougar's dumb outfit is made from the skin of recently shot rhinos. Cosmo the Cougar is also stupid. (zing!)

On a more positive note, I love this package design website and I really appreciate the art of Frank Plant.
Rivalry Week aside: BYU doesn't even like art.

You know what else I appreciate? GQ made Jon Hamm a man of the year. Of the four, he tops my list! Heh heh heh. Rivalry Week aside: Jon Hamm won't even make appearances in your dreams if you go to BYU because BYU sucks and Jon Hamm hates BYU and he hopes that they lose lose lose on Saturday because they are losing losers who lose.

What, that was too much for you? Fine. Then I'll leave you with an image of something really fantastic, something I'm going to make out of my leftover mashed potatoes.
Rivalry Week aside: It's something almost as good as watching BYU suffer at the hands of the Utes. Close, but not quite.

positive energy.

Today has been a good day. My writing sample is coming together, I incredulously shouted at a kid for loving The Book I Recently Hated So Much that I Almost Destroyed it (in a friendly, good-natured way), I got some little baby steps things done that make me feel very ahead of the game, I realized how much I appreciate my funny and awesome coworkers, and I celebrated the day with my favorite takeout drug of choice, chicken tikka masala from Bombay House. And then, THEN, Blogging via Typewriter featured some very lovely Banksy:


Could the day get any better?! Oh wait! It could! Bill Kristol might be leaving The Times (hopefully for outer space!)! Mittens had interesting things to say in The Times! Ted Stevens lost! Thanks for keeping felons out of the Senate, Alaskans.I would say my faith in democracy is restored, but really, this is the country that elected Barack Obama two weeks ago. My faith in democracy is sustained.