Oh, Kate Middleton...

Are you getting up at 4 a.m. to watch the Royal Wedding? I'm not. But I thought this blog was funny, featuring pictures of Kate with "LOL Cats" style captions. You should probably check it out.

Karmin covers "Look at Me Now"

Okay, so I usually refrain from posting overly popular YouTube videos, but I can't get this song out of my head. I like this better than the original version by Chris Brown (ft. Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes). Karmin went on to perform it on Ellen last week.

I love even more that Amy's fiance, Nick, had to convince her to produce and release this- her rapping talent was only revealed when she sung in the shower.

(from PostSecret)

From Paul Z.

The Gatsby Home

I saw this on Sunday Morning on CBS this past week. It's a shame this house has to go (or that it wasn't kept up or renovated). It was said to be an inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald when he was writing The Great Gatsby. I love the 1920's party scenes described in the book and can totally envision them happening here, eighty-something years ago.

Want free Starbucks this Friday?

Bring in your reusable mug to Starbucks and they'll fill it with coffee and tea, for free.

The project in this commercial reminds me of Sagmeister's poster composed of 2,500 coffee cups:

The Nomadic Letterhead

Eight Hour Day rolled out a new look for their letterhead/branding package, specifically designed to adapt to their traveling scheduled for this year. They scaled down the traditional letterhead to a postcard size, making it more mobile. The letterpress was expertly done by Studio On Fire.

"Our new blog was a large part of this trip. For us it was a way to record and share our travels. Because of this, we wanted to have something to give people we met along the way, or those people or places we wanted to feature that wasn’t as stuffy as a business card. Our solution was the blog pog–a bit quirkier leave behind that let people know we were going to blog about them (EHD Likes You) or simply directed people to the blog to find out more (EHD Was Here)."

(Eight Hour Day blog)

Maybe it's because I grew up in the 90's, but I like the idea of resurrecting pogs into a different new ephemera, a quaint detail in this case. I would smile if I got one of those, and I think a lot of people will.

Look at more work by Eight Hour Day; they've got some good stuff.

We aren't living up to what the 1930's anticipated.

My favorite part is when he says "whoosh!" and the part describing men's wear in the end. Too bad the guys today don't walk around with candy. Then again, maybe that's a good thing.

This skateboard is so beautiful.

Beautiful skateboard by Loren Kulesus, a NYC based designer. Check out more of his work on Coroflot (he's got some musical instruments and even a car design worth looking at).

I freaking love abandoned places! (Theatre entry)

At my old university, there was a small theatre-style auditorium in the upstairs of one of the oldest buildings. The staircases went from the well-circulated halls on the bottom floor to the increasingly quiet halls of old administration rooms and finally the silence of the old theatre. There was a main entrance at the top of the stairs, but the balcony entrance was higher, and I liked this space best. Some nights when I was roaming around campus, climbing to the rooftops to gaze at stars or just laying in the soft grass under great oaks (and partially pretending it was Narnia, in whole truth), I would wander on occasion up to the old theatre to see if it had been left unlocked. My breath would become slightly nervous and more controllably still as I climbed the creaky last steps to the balcony doors. Once inside, I would use the light of my cell phone and find a seat looking over the dark rows of chairs leading to the stage and further darker backstage. I wondered if there were any ghosts- it was a perfect place for them. I sat in silence examining the intricate trimming and odd ornamentation paired with the large, dark windows, chipped paint, and old smell, wondering if there were any others like me in years before that were content to sit in the creepy stillness of the empty theatre.

(New Orleans, Louisiana, source)

Thus I was pleased to find this link from Buzzfeed showing 75 beautiful photos of abandoned theaters throughout the U.S. The following theater is located in Norwich, Connecticut (picture by rustyjaw on Flickr-- and if you like abandoned buildings of all kinds, check out his photostream).

For more abandoned theaters, check out abandonedtheaters.com, a photography series by Julia Solis.

If you share an interest in abandoned spaces, also see abandoned theme parks, abandoned buildings, and ghost towns.