David Lynch on iphones & product placement

i adore this man.

Margaret Kilgallen

When I first moved to San Francisco almost ten years ago now, I started noticing the art of Margeret Kilgallen around town. I loved her over-sized ladies and the simple lines and colors she used in her pieces. Her art reminded me of old circus signs. I was so sad to hear of her passing in 2001, she remains well loved and acknowledged, especially here in the Bay Area. It's been a slow morning for me with lots of time spent getting lost on the world wide web. I got sucked into a street art tunnel and stumbled across this excerpt from a PBS documentary made about Margaret.

I'm also a fan of Barry Mcgee, who was married to Margaret. I love this clip from Beautiful Losers, which I can't wait to see in its entirety.

The trailer for Beautiful Losers.

More baubles for Spring!

i know it's not that exciting, and i do have other stuff to tell you about.. but this seems the most crafty and fitting to put here! Yesterday was spent catching up on some things i needed to do and adding more to my Etsy shop. Jennifer was a great model for the new necklaces I made this weekend and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Carpe Diem earrings by Mark Poulin

Remember Mark from a few posts down (who had one of my wallets from a couple of years ago?), well I saw him again this weekend at the closing of the Hare and the Hounds art show and found out he's a jeweler. We talked about Etsy for a while and I was so excited to check out his shop on there. His jewelry is fantastic! Check out his adorable creations here and here.

Birdies in the shop!

At long last I've added more items to my Etsy shop! And they're all sweet little birdie earrings just in time for spring!


Tweet tweet.

i'm ok. you're ok.

There should be a word for seeing things and than feeling the urge to instantly blog about them. That's how I felt when I read this post on Jezebel written about the book you see above. The book, Live Alone and Like It, was originally written in 1936. After reading the write up over at Jezebel I'm eager to buy the reissue.

From the Jezebel site:
Blase points out that not much has changed in 2008: "Magazines such as Brides owe their readership to it, magazines such as Cosmopolitan tacitly, or openly, endorse it and marriage is still sold to young girls as a worthy ambition, particularly the 'good match' of a wealthy marriage." But in general, Hillis seems to have honed in on the ageless truths of being a woman with verve and humor; she has chapters titled "A Lady and Her Liquor," and "Pleasures of a Single Bed." And, in the author's own words, "This book is no brief for living alone. Five out of ten of the people who do so can't help themselves, and at least three of the others are irritatingly selfish. But the chances are that at some time in your life, possibly only now and then between husbands, you will find yourself settling down to a solitary existence... There is a technique to living alone successfully, as there is to doing anything really well."

I especially love the chapter name "A Lady and Her Liquor". And while I don't technically live alone I totally appreciate the sentiment of encouraging young ladies (and men!!) to embrace their single lives and selves and not feel like a failure for being single. I'll totally drink to that.

Peeps Movie! Project Peepway!

It's here!! At long last I'm able to post the video that Andrew and I worked on for the book Peeps . Project Peepway is the official kick off to the contest we're holding for the 'Peeps On Film' Video contest. To find out more about it click here. And be sure to pass the movie along!

Hare and Hounds and lots of sun

This weekend was the Hare and the Hounds show at Blue Space, and it was such great fun. Molly had a piece in the show which is how I found out about it in the first place and I'm so happy I played! There were 50 artists, each had a piece for sale and each had a map you could buy. The maps led to a hidden piece of art somewhere in the Mission. I bought two maps and both were completely different experiences so I'm glad I went for it. Will show you my finds and tell more on that fun day soon.


As you probably know I'm not really making the duct tape wallets anymore, I've moved on to other easier to manage materials and I started to feel like cutting and sticking all that tape just wasn't good for me (breathing in epoxy is right??), but I still get such a kick out of running into people that have bought wallets from me. I met someone at the show on Saturday who said he had bought one of my wallets years ago, and out it came from his back pocket, well worn and loved. Even though I've made hundreds and hundreds I really do remember each one and it's the coolest thing to see them out in the world living with total strangers. I forget his name, but he was nice enough to let me take his picture with the wallet.

shoes that fly

i'm turning into something of a weekend blogger. which is why this walk to get tea in my new shoes this morning was so much fun. aren't they glorious shoes? they make me smile every time i look down.

a walk to get tea in my new pair of shoes




















the shoes are from Helsinki-based designer Minna Parikka whose creations include a whole series of wonderfully winged shoes.

the first day of summer

in san francisco the months and the weather don't always listen to each other.

best thing i heard all week

I decided last night I would wake up early today and take a walk with my camera. I haven't done that in a while. There have been people visiting, and early morning meetings, and too many days when I wake up at 6 and just go go go. I like that blogging makes me pause sometimes. So I'll be back here later with some photos from my walk. Or maybe I won't, maybe I'll get caught up in the way the city looks at this hour and not take a single picture. I'm just going to see what happens.

This morning the first thing I did was turn on my radio and I heard the last couple of sentences of Laurie Granieri's essay for 'This I Believe' it's all about leaving work at 5 and not stressing and working yourself to the bone to get that corner office. It resonated deeply with me, because some days I work too long and too many amazing interesting people in my office forget their outside lives and stay in the office for 12 hours straight without seeing the sun or pulling themselves away from the computer. I think working that much can become addictive, and I think it's something too many people do. So Laurie's essay was the best thing I've heard in a long while. You can read it and listen to it here, I already forwarded it to some co-workers. I think it's a good reminder to get passed around. Now I'm going outside.

best thing that came in my inbox all day.

Nothing like a little Dolly (and Amy Sedaris!) at the end of a long tiring Monday to cheer you up a bit.



Better get to livin'!

a sneak peek!

Much of this weekend was spent with Andrew brainstorming for the next stop action movie we're making for this book. We're doing the movie in the same format as the Softie's movie, with a little more of a story line this time. Jessica and I spent yesterday afternoon making costumes for the Peeps. I can't really begin to tell you how comical it is discussing in great detail how best to keep a Peeps sugar from falling off on the set, or deliberating over the right colors to compliment a Peeps 'skin tone'. I won't tell you what the movie will be based on.. but maybe you can guess from some of the pictures! Stay tuned. The final should be done by the end of the month, I'll post it here as soon as it's ready!

Jesse working her Peeps costume magic.

You shouldn't mess with a smoking mohawked Peep.

One of Andrew's awesome sets.

the morning after.

i wasn't there long, but the anti-valentine's day party i went to last night featured love themed food or anti-love food i guess. if i had an actual camera i would have taken more shots (another reason to get an iphone??). these are two of my favorites. what you're looking at above is a heart made from meatloaf (the darker area) and mashed potatoes. the red is a beet sauce. it was called 'eat your heart out'.


i'm not sure what the bullet was in this lasagna heart, maybe a battery? looked great and how can you go wrong basing a dish on a Bon Jovi song? we left before all of the food dishes were judged, so i didn't try any, but it was fun just looking.

it's not me...

ryan jacob smith


Julie Jackson


Natalie Dee

These things made my day.

The poem Danica just posted on her blog.

The one person I talked to today who had a brillant sense of humor and made me laugh, I could feel my mood lighten as I read her emails.

The fact that I believe the weather is beautiful outside again today even though I haven't been outdoors since 8am.

And this witty, beautiful, wry letter from the creator of A Softer World. I know I should probably ask before I repost these sorts of things, but this, this is just too good to not share right away. In exchange please be sure to vist the site and maybe buy some of their stuff. This isn't the first time they've lifted my mood, maybe it's just the state I'm in today, but hopefully you think it's as great as I do.

To: Human Resources, Armdale Tea Room
Re: Dishwasher (Casual)

I am writing to apply for the position of "Dishwasher (Casual)" because, let's face it, dishwashing isn't a career. I'm not going to sit up all night and worry about the stats on my quarterly dishwashing report. I want to show up for my shift, wash gross half-eaten food off plates for a few hours, and then go home. It sounds like the sort of job that I don't even need to think about while I'm doing it. I can think about weird sex things or about what if zombies were racist, would they not eat you if they hated the colour of your skin? Would you be safe? Or would they eat you out of spite? I need to make a few extra dollars to pay rent, to buy groceries. I don't want to have to care what your company stands for, or try and make myself sound like some kind of inhuman perfect employee.

It's like meeting girls. A relationship is just another kind of job, isn't it. In the beginning you pretend to be that perfect employee. You lie in the interview and then you do your best for a while. You never step out of line. You always wait until you go home to use the bathroom if it's number two. You shave and brush your teeth every day. When you're kissing you never pull out the pen and write "whore" on her body unexpectedly. You behave. But how long can that go on before you start going crazy? You have to be yourself. That's why it's called being yourself.

And soon you start slipping up. You think, "Oh, I'll just use the bathroom a little bit. Just a bit of a number two, to hold me over until I get home." You start chewing gum just before you see her, because you forgot to brush today. You find yourself writing, "who" on her confused face, and you scramble for a weak explanation. "Oh, I just didn't want to forget to look something up, later. Who, uh... Who played the girl in The Apartment? Was it Shirley MacLaine?"

In the end it never works out. You are who you are, no matter what you pretend at the beginning. So I'm not pretending. I drink to ignore my problems. I spend more time with my computer than with my friends. I don't have a very good relationship with women. I am angry and lonely, but I can wash dishes just fine. I'm being honest. Please don't be an asshole about this.

Yours,
Joey Comeau