Look what the UPS man just dropped off:

Yummy caramel apples from Sherm Edwards Candies. It’s probably too late to order some apples for yourself but they’ve got a ton of other tasty treats for you. We love everything they have to offer!

Thanks Dave!

Everyone’s making something these days, well, everyone but me. I’ll leave these types of activities to the professionals or highly motivated.

Etsy has put up their Halloween Trends gift guide. Please feel free to buy me anything that:

1. Has a skull or skeleton
2. Has a bat
3. Has a gravestone
4. Is scary, not cutesy

More Etsy stuff to buy me (remember the guidelines above).

Now get shopping!

Decided to shop by color today on Etsy. And given it is Halloween season and my affinity for orange, it thought it’d be appropriate. Here are a few finds from my favorite crafty ecommerce store.

Bag by nitelily3: $34

Bliss print (signed) by dazeychic: $20

Ok i dont know if i would buy these, but they are too funny to not post.
CROCHETEd HOTPANTS by IMBUTTERFLY: $65

Pendant by sushipot: $12

Elephant Dress for 3 Month old by kinchi: $29.50

Kitty Magnet by CircaCeramics: $8:00

Candy Corns by CarolEsther: $4.00

You may think I am a little biased about this site (as OYG helped to design it) but really, Cookthink is an amazing new recipe site that can not only help you search for the perfect dish by ingredient but also by mood, dish type or cuisine. The great thing is that instead of giving you 100s of random unproven recipes you get a single recipe that sounds absolutely delicious (and you can always browse for more if you want more options). The site is currently in beta but look for an ever growing database of recipes (the recipe mapping project) and some fun new features.

Tonight I’m going to take a stab at the Tomato, Corn, Cucumber And Feta Salad. The site even has nicely integrated tips such as “What makes a mustard “Dijon” and “How to seed a cucumber“. This is especially helpful for those of us who haven’t made it past boiling.

My new favorite time wasting, treating myself, inspirational activity is cruising some of the artisans, crafters etc on ETSY. Here are a few of my latest favorites.

MatteArt

LaurenAlane’s shop

Rainy Prints Shop

MadeByMax

(this one will soon be hanging in my kitchen!)

After a horribly frustrating morning I decided that listening to Brian Eno would be relaxing (Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks anyone?). That got me thinking about Eno and Peter Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies cards. I thought it would be fun to cycle through a couple to pick up my mood. These phrases can certainly be thought provoking and sometimes (well, lots of time) head scratchingly confusing. Here’s some links to online versions:

Oblique Strategies Fifth ed. with graphics

Edittions 1 – 4

I especially like this one – “A slightly tongue-in-cheek rework of the classic strategies”

An Irish morning talk show that proves once again that even something as classic as a prank call can be funny when said in a cute Irish accent.
Becky Makes Crank Calls

I happened upon a shop in the east village this weekend called Tiny Living. What a great idea! While I love traditional furniture – a standard round coffee table just isn’t going to fit in my 8ft wide living room – unless it is the only thing in there. Tiny Living has all sorts of nifty space saving do-dads, furniture and what-nots. In fact, I think I’m going to get the coffee table shown on their website. I have been searching for a narrow, bench like, coffee table for a long, long, long time. They don’t have a much of a site just yet, but when it does launch (summer 2006) we’ll let you know.

http://www.tiny-living.com/
125 East 7th Street, NYC
t. 212.228.2748

When I was a kid we used to play strip poker – all of us piling on the clothes and jewelry (the girls) in case we lost hands! I play poker pretty regularly now but I’m not sure if I’d play in the recent tourney held by Paddy Power (a client of my previous employer). Here’s a video report (warning – NSFW).

And even more fun is this latest video of arcade action featuring household objects (mmmm…..cupcakes…) from PES. Check out the rest of the videos on the site – lots of good stop motion animation.

We recently launched a nice little site for a Long Island based company Peconic Bay Originals. They’ve collected a wonderful group of artists together and offer fine art giclée prints and cards of their work. I’m particularly fond of the Botanical and Floral Cards. They also have a nice selection of landscapes, seascapes, still lifes and more.

Check out this manhole cover doormat at flaxart:

I recently had the pleasure of looking for some sound fx online. I came across this wonderful listing at www.flashkit.com. The cartoon sound fx category ain’t bad either.

According to myheritage.com Mary (as the bride of Frankenstein) is the 57% spitting image of James Joyce.

Funny videos from folks with too much time on their hands:

Brokeback Mountain parodies

Been staying late at work the last week or so. As a result I’ve been cruising itunes radio stations for some music to keep me awake and productive. Finally i found a winner! Check out www.wefunkradio.com for your hip-hop and funk fix!

Professor Groove and DJ Static team up and break it down to the deep funk, underground hip-hop, and rare grooves on the weekly show WEFUNK.

You can stream all the shows in their archive. I’m gonna start at the first show and work my way back up.

p.s: Kool Moe Dee’s – I go to work - just came on. I’m in heaven (well, with the exception of the fact that I’m AT work)!