‘Art’ Category

  1. Not blogging much these days

    May 7, 2010

    Hello. By now you may have noticed that I am not doing much blog writing these days. This is, of course, due to the fact that I have a very active and energetic 17 month old son who requires nearly all of my energy. The only times he doesn’t require my full attention and energy is when I am at work (where of course I am working, not blogging), and when he is asleep, during which time I am almost always busy doing household chores or freelance work or spending quality time with Doc, or sleeping myself.

    I have put this blog on the back burner now, so if you, my two readers, were expecting more frequent updates, I am afraid that you are going to be disappointed for a while.

    Interestingly, I have noticed that my friends who have blogs and who used to also update frequently, are doing so less and less these days. Perhaps online journaling itself is holding less interest for people; perhaps we are all just busier these days; or perhaps Facebook has sucked our will to write.

    At any rate, I intend to keep the blog going, but on a limited basis for a while.

    That is my plan. If you are still reading this, thanks for sticking with me.

    Cheers!
    Katy


  2. A Cowboy Needs a Horse

    December 7, 2009

    A Disney short from 1956. If you can ignore the racism, robbery, kidnapping, and attempted murder, enjoy the amazing artwork and the seriously catchy song.


  3. Reverse Mommyblogging

    October 6, 2009

    I have an infant son. And I have a blog. Does this makes me a “mommyblogger?” Maybe not in the traditional sense of the term (and it is weird to think that a term coined so recently can even have a “traditional sense” yet), but I am a mom who blogs about her life and her family.

    So… in what I call Reverse Mommyblogging, I shall now take you through a day in my household, and list by name and brand all the products I typically use, BEFORE I get paid to mention them!

    I am not affiliated with any of these companies, and they have not paid me or sent me free products… YET. In these trying economic times, though, a few extra bucks or free products would sure come in handy, so all offers will be entertained. Do you hear me, Procter and Gamble? Get me on that free products train! I can be a corporate shill, too!

    • Safety 1st baby monitor
    • Apple iPhone
    • Pampers Baby Dry or Cruisers size 4 diapers
    • Pampers Sensitive baby wipes
    • Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Moisture Cream
    • Triple Paste diaper ointment
    • Gold Bond medicated baby powder
    • Baby clothing by: Gymboree, Baby Gap, Carters, Circo
    • Avent pacifiers
    • Enfamil Nutramigen baby formula
    • Gerber 2nd foods baby puree
    • Healthy Times brown rice baby cereal
    • Dr. Brown’s baby bottles
    • Gerber Soft Bite baby food spoons
    • Baby Orajel toothbrush and toothpaste
    • Tom’s of Maine toothpaste
    • Boston Simplicity contact lens solution
    • Aussie Moist shampoo and 3 Minute Miracle Deeeeep Conditioner
    • Infusium leave-in treatment
    • Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine 
Anti-Humidity Styling Cream
    • Dove moisturizing soap
    • Noxzema Daily Exfoliating Cleanser
    • Cococare cocoa butter
    • Kiss My Face Liquid Rock Patchouli deodorant
    • Burt’s Bees Radiance Day Cream
    • Burt’s Bees Chemical-Free Sunscreen SPF 30
    • Cover Girl Trublend pressed powder
    • Almay Intense I-Color eyeliner  in Raisin Quartz
    • Maybelline Great Lash mascara in Black
    • Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer in Champagne
    • Millstone decaf caramel truffle coffee
    • Saturn SL2 automobile
    • Gasoline from 7-11, Exxon, Shell, etc.
    • Apple MacBook Pro
    • Logitech MX Revolution wireless laser mouse
    • Apple 23″ Cinema Display
    • Coke Zero
    • Mirado Black Warrior pencils
    • Adobe Creative Suite CS4 software
    • Calphalon Stainless Steel cookware
    • Cascade 2-in-1 Action Pacs dishwasher detergent
    • BabyGanics foaming dish and bottle soap
    • Dr. Brown’s bottle brush
    • Tide Free laundry soap
    • Target brand baby laundry soap
    • Target brand infant ibuprofen
    • Target brand infant gas drops
    • Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Creamy Wash
    • Sony television
    • Mac mini
    • Playstation 3

  4. Katy’s Candy Store

    August 17, 2009

    Beautiful photography of urban store fronts, from James and Karla Murray:

    KatysCandy

    KATY'S CANDY STORE, IN BUSINESS FROM 1969-2007. "I speak 3 languages. English. Spanish. And Motherfucker." Katy Keyzer, Owner. BROOKLYN, 2004


  5. Best kids’ books, ever

    August 13, 2009

    I read a great article by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times a while back (thanks to the magically wonderful iPhone, I occasionally get to do adult things like read the NYT) about getting kids to read during summer break. That was never a problem for me. I LOVED to read and never turned down a trip to the library. I would come home each time with a big stack of books and wrestle with the delicious dilemma of which one to read first. To this day, when I have a stack of fresh reading material in front of me, I get this happy and excited feeling, like a kid in a candy store!

    Here are some of my favorite books from when I was growing up (and a few more recent than that).

    1. The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling. This might be my all-time favorite series of books.
    2. Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson. I was SO SAD when I realized what was going to happen to Old Yeller. Made me scared to death of “hydrophobia.”
    3. Anything by Richard Scarry, especially  Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. My favorite thing about his books was searching for Goldbug on each page. Kind of like the 1970s version of Where’s Waldo.
    4. The Great Brain series, by John Fitzgerald, especially The Great Brain at the Academy. I first found a copy that belonged to my older cousin at my Grandma’s house. I read them over and over again.
    5. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson. Sniffle.
    6. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle. This was probably my introduction to sci-fi.
    7. James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl. I, too, wanted to escape my troubles and live in a giant rolling peach with some caring, loving bug friends.
    8. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl. Another favorite escapist fantasy.
    9. Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe. Find out why all the vegetables in the crisper lose their color at night! It couldn’t be a vampire bunny, could it?
    10. Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh.
    11. The Root Cellar, by Janet Lunn. Historical time travel.
    12. The Boxcar Children series, by Gertrude Chandler Warner.
    13. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, by Robert C. O’Brien.
    14. The Girl with the Silver Eyes, by Willo Davis Roberts. The main character, Katie, has the power of telekinesis, and is on the run from some very bad people.
    15. The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. A fascinating murder mystery, concerning the will of George Westing. Who will solve the puzzle and claim the inheritance?
    16. Strawberry Girl, by Lois Lenski. I loved the illustrations and it took me forever to figure out that “biddies” referred to chickens.
    17. The Little House series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Because I’m a girl, yo.
    18. And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, by Dr. Seuss. My favorite Dr. Seuss book ever!

  6. Test your color vision

    July 23, 2009

    This is a pretty nifty little test of color vision… You drag the color chips around to arrange them into a smooth spectrum.

    colorvisiontest

    It turns out I have perfect color vision!

    colorvisiontestresults


  7. Presidential Librarium

    July 8, 2009

    The George W. Bush Presidential Librarium

    The George W. Bush Presidential Librarium

    This is beautifully drawn, and absolutely hilarious. By the creators of the book, “Goodnight Bush.” Click here to go to the site, and be sure to then click on the illustration to view close-ups!!


  8. Designer survey

    August 7, 2008

    A List Apart is one of my favorite online magazines and resources for web design, encompassing culture, code, content, standards and practices, etc. Right now they’re conducting a survey of “designers, developers, information architects, project managers, writers, editors, marketers, and everyone else who makes websites” to get a sense of how our profession is practiced. Take the survey! It’s fast and easy.


  9. Better Page Design

    July 30, 2008

    A co-worker forwarded a really fantastic article from Smashing Magazine, about new standards in web design. The good news is, I appear to be doing a lot of things right in my design work. Although the survey analyzed large blogs, I think the results can apply to any type of site. Here is a summary; the percentages in parentheses indicate the percentage of surveyed sites conforming to the standard:

    • large blogs require a multi-column layout solution (usually 3 columns suffice) (58%);
    • layouts are usually centered (94%),
    • layouts usually have a fixed width (px-based) (92%),
    • the width of the fixed layout varies between 951 and 1000px (56%),
    • 58% of the overall site layout is used to display the main content,
    • CSS-layouts are used (90%),
    • the background is light, the body text is dark (98%),
    • the most usual (not necessarily most user-friendly) line length lies between 80 and 100 characters,
    • Verdana, Lucida Grande, Arial and Georgia are used for body text (90%),
    • the font size of body text varies between 12 and 14px (78%),
    • Arial and Georgia are used for headlines (52%),
    • headlines have the font size between 17 and 25px.
    •  


  10. Nerd Fun: Word Cloud

    July 26, 2008

    My friend Brad pointed me to this really cool application that creates a customized word cloud from any text or URL.

    This one is created from the text of my cookbook. Good times!


  11. Javier Peréz, Mascara de Seduccion

    May 13, 2008

    I found this image on ArtDaily and thought it was beautiful.

    Javier Peréz
    Mascara de Seduccion (Mask of Seduction), 1997
    Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa

    Horse hair, cotton fabric, silk, text


  12. D’oh! Wallpaper!

    March 3, 2008

    Smashing Magazine has collected some really gorgeous desktop backgrounds for your Mac. Or, your PC, I suppose. This is the one I’m currently using both at work and home.