Mixed messages

I live in the Bible Belt, so I see various things of this nature all the time. I passed by this billboard the other day on a main road and immediately burst into laughter. I know what they were going for, reminding Christians that the ultimate end for their sinner acquaintances is Hell, but I hate this kind of stuff. I hate when dogmatic believers try to scare people into Christianity. Personally, I think belief is founded better on something other than fear.

As far as going on this blog, I thought it was a funny and terrible use of graphics and typography- the all-caps letters screaming at you just as loud as the flames. If I was a foreigner who didn't know much about Christianity, I'd be very confused and maybe scared. Genuine Christians help others do what? Engulf themselves in flames? Engage in various acts of arson? Those Christians look dangerous, man- better hide your blowtorch!

And I thought regular storms were exciting...

Photo over Lake Superior by Shawn Malone .


CNN posted this stream of 100 photographs from a resident in Silkeborg, Denmark who documented the solar storm over his home. The solar storm caused beautiful aurora waves in the early hours of this morning (caused by plasma erupting from the sun's surface).

The Kraken Rum

One of the benefits of being over 21 is exploring the labels in a liquor store, and I think I get more excited about alcohol packaging than I do about alcohol. I saw the Kraken Rum in a store today and fought the urge to buy it solely to own such a magnificent bottle.

The unique shape of the bottle caught my eye (traditional Victorian rum bottle), and I noticed the design had a very refined look, giving a nautical 1800's feel. This alludes to the romantic association of rum and pirates, but without the obvious buccaneer as shown on many other rum labels.

The design was done by Stranger & Stranger of London, but the press kits were designed by Dead As We Know It, a Brooklyn agency. 50 Press Kits were produced in a time span of 3 weeks, with a production cost of $1500. It included a personalized letter, Kraken teeth, Kraken ink, quill, poster, scientific journal, DVD of Kraken tales, and of course, the rum itself, all contained in an exquisite illustrated wax-sealed box.

This entire kit was a true labor of love. Only 50 were created and each kit was silkscreened, giving it a personal touch with ink smears and natural flaws. Most of the decisions were driven by the budget, in this case, the smaller the budget, the better! At first we were going to outsource the production, but 50 was too small and expensive of a number. We decided to just do everything in house and with the help of interns, we managed to turn cardboard boxes into a kit people are on the hunt for.

(Dead As We Know It)

Check out the website for Kraken Rum too! The whole identity is extraordinary.

Places I'd like to see:

I have a profound love for books. My idea of a good afternoon is going to Barnes & Noble and just reading, for hours. Since moving to Greenwood, I was devastated to find no commercial bookstores. Don't get me wrong, I love non-corporate, privately owned bookshops, but the few that I've found here have a very limited selection and they're the kind of places you feel guilty walking out of without buying something. You can imagine how awkward it would be to sit in a corner and begin reading a whole book with no intention of purchasing. I could go to the library, yes, but to say that the library is a bit outdated would be an understatement. The computers are from the 90's and there's no solid organizational system.

I've always dreamed of having a kind of library in my house like the one from Beauty and the Beast, with books from floor to ceiling and luxurious Rococo staircases.




I came across this photo of the library in Stockholm:


That made me remember the rest of the photos I've seen and thrown into my inspiration folder:

Handelingenkamer Tweede Kamer Der Staten-Generaal Den Haag, the Hague, Netherlands

Biblioteca Angelica, Rome, Italy



Abbey Library St. Gallen, Switzerland

Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria

Stockholm Library, Sweden (as shown above)

Rijkmuseum Library, Amsterdam

Riggs Library, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA

Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Melk Monastery Library, Melk, Austria

Rennie Mackintosh Library, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland

George Vanderbilt's Biltmore House Library, Asheville, NC, USA: I've been to the Biltmore Estate once, and was too young to remember the library, if we ever got to it. That mansion is enormous!

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Toronto, Canada

George Peabody Library, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland: Known as the Long Room, this is a beautiful library that I walked through in 2005. I bought a journal with this picture on the cover from the gift shop there.

For tons more libraries like these, visit Curious Expeditions.

Color sites

Colorname is a handy site that shows colors and their hex codes. (I put Cerulean up because it's my favorite blue within Crayola crayons, though it always looks different in other forms).

Colourlovers is another great color site helpful when creating palettes or color combos.
Adobe Kuler is another great site for this too.

For basic info on color schemes, Smashing Magazine has a great article by Cameron Chapman.

Mary Chiaramonte

I'm making a minor goal to blog more in August.

Here is the work of a painter that I found in New American Painting. Mary Chiaramonte is an emerging painter that grew up in the small town of Harmony, WV. She is interested in integrating stories in her work from others' lives and her own.

At this time in my life, I am drawn to House Bound, for numerous reasons I will not bore you with.


Strawberry, acrylic & watercolor, 2008



The Fables, acrylic, 2009



Oh No, I'm So Bored, acrylic, 2009



House Bound, acrylic, 2009

The new Old Spice commercial

They've done it again!