I recently finished reading
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. So I was pleased to see that the movie was at the second run theater here in Madison. We went and both enjoyed it. It was surprisingly true to the book. Just an FYI it was quite violent (but so was the book), it was 2.5 hours long (but didn’t seem like it) and it is of course subtitled (because this is the Swedish film). There is a Hollywood version in the works but I doubt it will be better. The actress playing Lizbeth was perfect. The other actors were less Hollywood pretty but I am sure they will be in the American version.
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) team up to investigate the unsolved disappearance of wealthy Henrik Vanger’s (Sven-Bertil Taube) teen niece (Ewa Fröling), only to uncover dark secrets about Vanger’s powerful family. Niels Arden Oplev directs this Swedish thriller based on the first novel from Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy. – Netflix
Even though we saw it in the theater I am sure you can get this at the library or Netflix. There is also a link to the right.
Tagged as:
movie
that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes things fall apart so better things can fall together.” – Marilyn Monroe
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photo
Opening | Clayton Brothers | Inside Out
September 11, 2000 6:30-9PM
I am quite taken with this piece of art. In fact I really, really wish it was in our basement. Our washer has died. We are washer/dryer shopping and planning on taking out a linen closet on the second floor and putting them there. But I digress.
We are looking forward to this opening. The artists will speak at the opening from 7 -8PM. I think it will be quite interesting. I hope there are more of these large dimensional pieces.
I wonder if anyone would notice if I do a load of delicates while I am there.
Tagged as:
art,
Madison
We are in the throes of 4 home improvement projects. So we need stuff from stores to make that happen. I forgot how much I hate to shop for washers, dryers, counter top-type stuff.
First I end up in stores I don’t like. Looking at things I need but do want to spend my money on. So it is even more important that these stores are nice to me. And do what they say.
After many phone calls doing some washer/dryer comparison shopping we headed out to Menards. They had a $300 store credit if we bought there. The snag is that we need to have it delivered and hoisted over a second floor balcony. No outside the box thinking there. The young woman just kept repeating that they will send only one guy. We kept explaining that it will take 3 guys. Long story short WE could call their other store that has a big truck and see if they would do this for us. But they would also only send one guy and we’d have to pay an additional delivery charge. So we would need to provide 2 additional guys, more than likely on Menards random time table. Like I have 2 big guys here just hanging around waiting to move heavy objects.
We also picked up our special order small piece of white counter top. When putting it in the car John noticed that the edge was chipped. This was after we had to call and see if it was in, no email to let us know it was there, as promised.
They did say they were sorry but it felt like we’re sorry plz leave now so we don’t have too see that you are unhappy.
Now the night before we go to a store I do like… the Apple Store. A place where I actually like to spend money. John had a computer issue with corrupt fonts that I could not figure out and he was having an iPhone problem. Not only were both problems fixed by friendly, smart, pleasant people who kept apologizing to me that I was having to wait a short time but they replaced John’s new ear buds that HE broke. For free, with a smile. None of this cost a penny.
All the way home we talked about how great the whole experience was and by replacing the $29 ear buds we love them even more. That is why Apple has a cult following…
And last night after our Menards experience we chatted about how we are so not going to buy the washer/dryer there, in fact we will not buy anything there. And because they will not make the delivery easy they will lose out on a $1000+ sale. The worst part is that it appears that they don’t care and won’t even notice.
Oh yes… this was after we were on hold so long with Best Buy that we eliminated them from the possible list. If they can’t even talk to you I think we know what kind of customer service they have.
Tagged as:
apple,
Madison
I am thrilled to be holding the 2011 Typodarium in my hot little hands. It is a font page-a-day calendar. And 4 of my fonts are in it! I love fonts and page-a-day calendars so I am a very happy camper.
Typodarium 2011 is the daily typography dose. A tear-off calendar, just like the one our grandma used to hang in the kitchen. But this calendar unveils a new font everyday. We can therefore have, a whole year long, the chance to broaden our knowledge, to discover the font’s history and developement. On the front, the font will be prominently displayed, and on the back it will be described in detail.
Like in 2009 and 2010 Typodarium 2011 is published by Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz (over 10.000 copies, coming along in design- and museum shops and selected bookstores around the world).
Format: 8,5 x 12 cm, 365 fonts, 368 pages
June 1 is Yourz Truly
July 17 is Hodgepodge
October 4 is Best Regardz
December 9 is Dearest John
Tagged as:
font,
font friday,
product,
typography
I had a job once where I hand lettered a lot of signs… so I pay a lot of attention to signs. Got a kick out of this one in our neighborhood.
Tagged as:
Madison
Look at this yummy, big, fat book. I love a big book full of visual goodness.
And this one certainly is. I bought this just before the grand move(s). And then it just ended up on the book shelf. I’ve gotten it out and placed it on a white table in my office where I intend to read and enjoy a couple pages every day.
The Art of Looking Sideways is a primer in visual intelligence, an exploration of the workings of the eye, the hand, the brain and the imagination. It is an inexhaustible mine of anecdotes, quotations, images, curious facts and useless information, oddities, serious science, jokes and memories, all concerned with the interplay between the verbal and the visual, and the limitless resources of the human mind. Loosely arranged in 72 chapters, all this material is presented in a wonderfully inventive series of pages that are themselves masterly demonstrations of the expressive use of type, space, colour and imagery.
This book does not set out to teach lessons, but it is full of wisdom and insight collected from all over the world. Describing himself as a visual jackdaw, master designer Alan Fletcher has distilled a lifetime of experience and reflection into a brilliantly witty and inimitable exploration of such subjects as perception, colour, pattern, proportion, paradox, illusion, language, alphabets, words, letters, ideas, creativity, culture, style, aesthetics and value.
The Art of Looking Sideways is the ultimate guide to visual awareness, a magical compilation that will entertain and inspire all those who enjoy the interplay between word and image, and who relish the odd and the unexpected. -Phaidon
Alan Gerard Fletcher (27 September 1931 – 21 September 2006) was a British graphic designer. In his obituary, he was described by The Daily Telegraph as “the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific”.
The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher
If you are interested there is a link for this book on the right.
Tagged as:
book
If you haven’t already signed up for Groupon you really should. And yes I am an affiliate but I am sharing this because it is a really good deal.
Groupon started in November 2008. It was started to make it easier for people to enjoy the great things in their community. They do it by offering daily deals at unbeatable prices through the power of group buying.
How It Works
- Each day they feature something cool to do at a really good price.
- You only get it if enough people join that day… so invite your friends!
- Check back the next day for another awesome Groupon!
I used Groupon for the first time this week and got a half price coupon for a favorite restaurant DT. I paid $12 for a coupon that will give us $25 of food and drink. In fact later in the day I went back for a second coupon in case we want to go with another couple.
In these recessionary times it is a good way to have some fun on the cheap. Check it out by clicking on the link on the right.
Tagged as:
product
This is a good book and at the same time an uncomfortable book to read. It is the early 60′s and it gives an insider’s look at that time and the well-to-do and their help in the South. I find all Southern books so interesting as I have spent my whole life living in the Midwest. It all seems so foreign to me.
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women–mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends–view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t. - www.kathrynstockett.com
Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in English and Creative Writing, she moved to New York City where she worked in magazine publishing and marketing for nine years. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and daughter. The Help is her first novel.
If you are interested there is a link for this book on the right.
Tagged as:
book
I just got these samples in the mail this week from Jessica at Jack & Ella Paper Press. If you like my fonts and you like paper products like I do you must check out her etsy shop.
These are samples of her newest cards. I can’t wait to use them!!! This is also a great place to get custom birthday party or shower invitations.
Or baby announcement postcards… 40 of them for $20! For an extra 5 she will customize them.
Jack and Ella Paper Press is the work of one girl living in Wisconsin who adores all things paper. The goods typically have a clean and organized look about them, are eco-friendly (recycled card stock), with a hint of fun…similar to how we all strive to live our lives.
oh…and Jack and Ella are another thing she adores…her offspring :)
Tagged as:
product
