unsolicited opinions on random things
Here’s some weekend reading for you… Frank Chimero’s book, The Shape of Design, is available as a free download in a variety of eReader formats. His interview last week in The Great Discontent was soooooo good.
[photo of Frank Chimero by Julia Robbs]
I wrote another piece for Bunch, this time about posting photos of your kids on Facebook. Enjoy!
PS – the last piece I wrote for Bunch.
Toronto tech executive Harry Enchin has a cool hobby. He takes old photos of Toronto (from the City’s archives) and recreates the photos, standing in the same spot in the city, in present day. Then he pulls both images into Photoshop and mixes parts of the old photo with the new. The results are sometimes poignant, sometimes witty (like the one above) and always interesting.
Read about the project here, and see many more images here.
[blog post idea and image above via Toronto Life]
It’s 3:30 in the afternoon, and I’ve had a ridiculously productive morning and early afternoon. But usually around this time of day, I need to take a mental break. A lot of people go on Facebook, or look at celebrity news, or fashion blogs, or play on Pinterest when they need a break from work. Not me – I look for dreamy vacation rentals on Airbnb. Want to go on a wanderlust journey with me? Here are a few gorgeous places I’ve found…
1. John Steinbeck’s Writer’s Studio (in Pacific Grove, near Monterey, California). This adorable rental has enough appeal on its own (lovely location, cute as a button, and well priced, for California) but take it one step further… this place used to be owned by John Steinbeck. He used it as his writer’s studio while he worked on The Sea of Cortez. Couldn’t you imagine cozying up there and tucking in to some good books? Or if you need a little more space, you can rent the Traveler’s Cottage next door, also previously owned by Steinbeck.
2. This refreshingly crisp, all-white apartment in Puerto Vallarta has a rooftop deck with gorgeous views of the Bay of Banderas. I LOVE Puerto Vallarta. Bookmarked.
3. Lately I’ve been really intrigued by Scandinavia, and Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm are pretty high on my list. If I ever get over there, I would love to stay in this houseboat in Stockholm. It’s not super cheap, but it has a lot of room (looks perfect for families with young children) and you can’t beat the waterside patio, with swimming or ice skating right outside your window.
[image above of Steinbeck’s Writer’s Studio]
Now 2.5 years old, Clara has been bringing home some masterpieces from art time at daycare. I’d love to display them somewhere, but am a bit baffled as to the best way to do so. I’m a big fan of gallery walls with Ribba frames from Ikea – they’re cheap enough that I don’t mind when someone accidentally knocks a piece off the wall, and the frame or the glass breaks. So I was thinking of doing a gallery wall with Ikea frames, and then I remembered this blog post from Apartment Therapy from a few years ago, featuring Lil Davinci frames.
The idea is to create a gallery wall, where you can easily sub new pieces in and out, as your kid comes home with more and more masterpieces. What a great idea. I’m totally going to order a set – I just have to decide what sizes to go with.
[pictured above: Lil Davinci photos via the website; and a snapshot of my favourite piece of Clara’s artwork so far. Entitled “Q-tip Ants”, it’s awesome. She’s very monochromatic, and likes to use one colour at a time. Right now she’s in her black phase.]
In my professional life, I run two businesses (my web design biz and Camp Tech, which offers practical, professional tech skills training in a fun & friendly environment in downtown Toronto). I am so happy to celebrate Camp Tech’s first birthday tomorrow! Of course, celebrations are better when you include other people, so to help spread the cheer, we’re doing a 50% off sale. You can get a ticket to any class in Camp Tech’s fall roster for half price, if you use the promo code BIRTHDAY at checkout. Yay!
NOTE: The promo code only works on Tuesday, August 20, from 12:05am – 11:55pm EST. There are 10 tickets per class on sale.
A tumblr that combines Charlie Brown comic strips with lyrics from songs by the Smiths? Yes please. Oh internet, I love you so.
[images via This Charming Charlie]
Blogpodium is a one-day conference happening in Toronto on September 21, aimed at design and lifestyle bloggers. Topics for discussion include “what bloggers can learn from magazines”, “from blog to business”, and “photoshop for bloggers”. I’m super excited to not only be attending Blogpodium, but also speaking (my presentation is “creating a style guide for your blog”). If that wasn’t enough to pique your interest, interior designer extraordinaire Sarah Richardson is giving the keynote address, breakfast and lunch are included, you get two drink tickets for the reception, and the swag bag is rockin’. Sounds great, right?
If you’d like to join me at Blogpodium, I have a promo code to share with you. Enter code “blogpodium10” when you order your ticket to get 10% off.
Graphic Designer Christopher Rouleau and the members of the Toronto Etiquette Project have introduced the Urban Etiquette Project – a series of printable notes that you can tick off and hand out, whenever you feel some is acting inappropriately in public space (or, doing something great that should be commended). I certainly have had moments in the city when I would love to hand one of these out (especially on public transit). It would take a lot of guts to actually go through with it though, don’t you think?
PS – You Park Like an Asshole.
There’s a profile of me in the Toronto Standard today, talking about exactly what made me leave my theatre career for web design, my amazingly supportive husband, and my internet crush on swissmiss. Check it out.