Yes, I am shameless with self-promotion.  I know this.  But today I’d like to shed some light on a great friend and fellow photographer, Natalie Heck.  We grew up, danced in our ballerina shoes, took our first photography class, and studied abroad in Firenze, Italia together. 

She’s handy with a camera,  good with a paintbrush, and an Apple fan.  Plus, she has a cool last name that immediately brings about horribly corny jokes.  All things I require in a friend.  Now if only she would move to the BIG Apple to come play with me on a permanent basis. 

In the meantime, check out her DeviantArt gallery.

This could possibly be my new favorite internet device. And this is why:

“Zen Habits covers: achieving goals, productivity, being organized, GTD, motivation, eliminating debt, saving, getting a flat stomach, eating healthy, simplifying, living frugal, parenting, happiness, and successfully implementing good habits.”

This is probably the most useful blog I have come across to date.  As an overly ambitious 22 year old adrenaline junkie, these categories are basically like crack to me… minus the parenting thing, but maybe that too in a decade or so.   Regardless, this guy’s writing is informational, inspirational, and eloquently worded.  It’s also uncopyrighted, which is a pretty cool and rare thing these days.  Enjoy!

Ridiculous. I love it. I wonder if the birth/abortion rate would change in the U.S. if these playful ads were deemed acceptable to publish in this fine country. Prude Americans.

See more here.

Welcome back!  From here on out this is where my blog will be located.

2 days ago I realized that my blog could be supported on my host.  Since then I have slaved away to figure out how to edit Wordpress’s CSS to make it all pretty and match the rest of my website.  Mission accomplished.  For the time being anyway as I’m sure I’ll find a million things to add, subtract, move, change, or delete.

Regardless, I’m pretty pumped about (kind of) figuring out how Wordpress really works since I have a few projects coming up that I believe will be made much easier now by use of this handy thing.  Though I’m a web designer, I have minimal experience with coding and it’s pretty awesome how Wordpress virtually eliminates the need to do things from scratch.  Why reinvent the wheel when it already works fine?  Just add a few bells and whistles and you’re good to go.

I wish I could post a list of the tutorials that helped me out, but alas I didn’t save the URL’s and I have been clearing out personal data like it’s my job.  So thank you, world wide web, for helping me out.  It’s appreciated.

8 Ways to Drive a Graphic Designer Mad.

Follow these steps and you are sure to up the ante of the War on Drugs.  Because that is exactly what these things will lead a designer to.

Via Coudal. 

Forget electricity and sliced bread, brunch is possibly the greatest thing to ever happen to humankind. This weekend my lovely friend, Jessica, and I ventured out in the cold to Alice’s Tea Cup on the Upper East Side. Yes, it was Alice in Wonderland themed, and yes, it made me want to spit rainbows and cry fairy dust. I loved it… except for the amount of people under the age of 10 and their mommies with strollers.

Aside from all of the munchkins running around, they had great food at good prices (I had the vegetarian egg-white omlette) and an excellent selection of tea (I even purchased a few ounces before I left and they came in hot pink bags). They also have fairy wings, tiaras, and wands to be purchased if the mood strikes.

I asked about holding a cocktail party there for my birthday next month, and though it seemed reasonable at first, it’s actually quite pricey at $100/hour in addition to $27 a head for food that doesn’t include drinks. Maybe next year.

Leave it to those Vermont tree huggers up in Killington to make their ski resort environmentally friendly.  They are literally using winter to keep their fridges cold via the Freeaire system.  So ski happy knowing you aren’t contributing to a CO2 footprint.

Read the details of this and other Killington eco projects here.

There will be 4 waterfalls constructed as an art exhibition this summer.

My favorite quote from the article: “It’s about seeing water in a different way.”

My cousin/roommate’s response to that: “Seeing water falling is not that impressive. It’s gravity. Not magic.”

They also compare this exhibition to The Gates that were up in Central Park in February of 2005. I totally didn’t get that show either, though I think that was more of a generational thing since the artist was huge way before my lifetime. But, in all seriousness, couldn’t the $15 million from the New York Public Art Fund go to something cooler than this? Like maybe dividing that up and having a huge show with up and coming artists? (It does say on their Mission and History page that they are “committed to working with emerging and established artists to produce innovative exhibitions.”)

Who knows? Maybe once it’s up I’ll change my mind, but for now, it seems a little silly.

I can’t believe it, but I have started watching One Tree Hill again.  Absolutely ridiculous.  I thought that I was done with WB teen drama shows for life for several reasons: 1. nothing will be as good as Dawson’s Creek  2.  the WB went out of existence and became the CW or something like that and 3. I attempted to watch this particular show and after the first or second season decided it was just getting too ridiculous and that I could no longer relate to it since the characters were younger than me, yet dealing with issues such as pregnancy, death, and marriage.

Why the change of heart?  By some weird coincidence I managed to catch the 2 hour season premiere last week and, lo and behold, they skipped ahead four years.  Four.  That means they are my age.  And I can relate again.  There are still some points that are a bit ridiculous (ummm Brooke’s fashion company is successful enough at age 22 to work from Tree Hill, buy a house, and back Peyton’s new record company?  Please.).  But I’m willing to overlook these things because 1. everyone on the show is still super hot 2. music and fashion dominate and 3. they are still technically at the same point in their lives as me.

So for now, long live One Tree Hill.

In the spirit of Macworld day, why not head on over to Colorware and choose your custom colors for the new fun toys that, if you are anything like me, will be purchased within the coming days because you cannot live one second longer without that cool new feature on the insert Apple product of choice here.