Candyhog blog

What's right with this picture?

Several things!

1. As always, Gmail themes
2. Conversation view turned off
3. Priority Inbox

Other great Gmail things not seen in this image:

1. Labs: Undo send enabled
2. Labs: Default Reply all enabled
3. Labs: Advanced attachment options enabled

Animism

I must have become so accustomed to everything being a character, from hangin' with the 8 & 10 year-olds, that I totally anthropomorphized this object on the ferry today:

Maybe a nod to the local love of Ugly Dolls?

Sock flaws

Must we live with the itchy compression we suffer from the elastic of sock tops? Some people say, "No." With scissors.

 

Surprise landing

Today's Must-Read

Reminiscent of the McCain Golf Gear Product-Reviews-as-Artform episode, Amazon's #1-selling apparel item has 333 product reviews, and counting. A striking majority of them are masterpieces! A couple of examples are excerpted below, but do yourself a favor and read them all.

Great compliment for my skin art

Unfortunately I already had this exact picture tattooed on my chest, but this shirt is very useful in colder weather.

Why can't Amazon have more stars? 5 ain't enough!

So I'm looking for threads that say, "Hey baby...I'm real boss!" when I stumble upon this epic creation. The wolves spoke to me in a language all their own; it was like German, Mongol, and Bitchin all mixed together. I mean, one wolf howlin at the moon is major...but three???

I ordered next-day air (if only there was same day!), and, of course, a size smaller than usual to ensure the closeness of the wolves to my chest hair. When the package arrived, I tore it open, and I SWEAR angels sang. I think it was Freebird. I immediately removed my "No Fat Chicks" shirt, and replaced it with this finery. Lemme tell you: AW YEAH.

I'll spare the details of my conquests since I started wearing this shrit; suffice to say, I'm swimming in a sea of babes the likes of which are usually found on those K-Tel infomercials. I'm also more confident at work, and expect to be promoted to cashier soon. I owe everything to this shirt (I should say "shirts", since I now own 23 of them).

The joy of parsnips!

Ignore the tax forms!

— A

Patience rewarded!

After a long break — sorry about that, folks — I'm back with a very serious issue with which I need help. Richard made us a scallop lunch today and plated it two different ways. Can you believe that?!

It's like Who Wore It Better all over again.

Please vote and let your voice be heard by at least 7 people!!!

Deconstruction

We love Top Chef. So much so that we found ourselves enjoying the following quick[fire] snack the other day:

Deconstructed Nachos!

Ingredients: Doritos, Tillamook Cheddar slab.

Andrew Sullivan tipped me off

...to this awesome art project: Jeongme Yoon's photos of kids and their gender-specific, monochrome toys.

Jeongme Yoon's work reminds me of a coffee table book I saw many years ago comprised of pictures of of people around the globe standing in front of their homes, surrounded by all their belongings.

Anyone able to find references to that I can follow? I can't seem to find anything and I'd love to see those pictures again. I recall people in Arizona with their flat screens TVs and video collections, etc., , and people in Nigeria with a single plastic bowl and fan.

Yoon's photos also remind me of a photo RT took when the boys were really little of all their toys spread out in the living room. I think someone had said they had "no" toys and he was proving otherwise. I'll try to dig it up and post it.

 — Abigail

You say potato, I say OMG, WTF!

Our local produce delivery came the other day and there were some surprises! When agribusiness stops, the entertainment begins.

Joe the Unkind-to-eyeballs

When I read that Joe the Plumber had an awful website built upon his stupidity and the style trends of the fetal Net, I had to hie over there. Wow! It's worse than a bad report can prepare you for, but I encourage you to read them anyway: there are some very, very good writers out there practicing ethical savagery.

Try HuffPo  and Wonkette ... or if you prefer a drier approach in French, Le Monde serves it up well in its Americana blog, tagline "Choses vues en Amérique."

— Abigail

The secret to my moderately fat physique

I will not waste your time an mine by trying to represent myself as other than overweight and in need of more exercise. However, I would be absolutely gargantuan if it wasn't for the last several years having seen me naturally gravitating toward appropriate portions. As in, 50% of what is normally served in a restaurant setting.

When chefs were asked to estimate a typical portion size of penne pasta served in their restaurant, for instance, half of the chefs suggested portions that are six to eight times larger than the U.S.D.A.’s standard 1-ounce serving.

Not only have Americans increased their food intake over the past 20 or so years by at least 30%, but they, like me, have become much more sedentary and thus in need of fewer calories. Note to Americans: Most of us don't need farm food anymore! We don't work gruelling days in the fields!

I think the explosion of portion sizes starts with a single important factor: Americans eat prepared food more often (As of 2006, fewer than a third of Americans were in the habit of making home-cooked dinners from scratch). Prepared food must be marketed and sold. To appear to be a "value" it must give you "more" for whatever the market-will-bear pricepoint is...and the "more" is not likely to be organic, fresh vegetables or high-fiber or high-protein elements. A marketable alternative to (and a relative of)  value is the need for a wow factor, which is likely to be size. A big, bountiful packaged or restaurant meal sells better than a lean, efficient, high quality meal in a small package. 

All that said, I do not subscribe to the idea that there is a correct portion of red wine. Wine is not a food, it's a necessity.

— Abigail

PS > Can we just call me phat insteada, well, you know...

Creeping insanity?

Um, the backgammon pieces from my friend's little travel set on the boat the other morning seriously reminded me of little cheeses.

— Abigail

Please no more of this

It takes Walter to be impressed by this unfortunate branding:

Piemonte is foggy in the fall!

We spent awhile trying to find the Superga after we got out of the car in its parking lot. Luckily, a bell chimed and so we wandered that way and pretty much bumped into its facade before seeing it.

— A

Something we can feel good about

I can always feel good about Paris. And in Paris the car show this year has yielded some very interesting green cars. Take a moment to geek out on these inspiring advances instead of merely wallowing in the gloom and doom (unavoidable, but branch out!)

The first exhaustive post by Steve Parker/Huff Post is followed up by a second equally detailed post in which he reports that the the $250,000 Ferrari California which debuted officially at Paris is already sold-out until 2011. I guess someone still has money or is counting on credit being available sometime soon.

— Abigail

Anything recently remind you...

...of two women who are not necessarily pals, might be rivals in a sense?

Thank you, Richard, for being my brain :-)

XO

Abigail

PS: Want more? OK!

Got iPhone, take artshotz

Isn't this how everyone entertains themselves as they hustle through their afternoon commute?!

— Abigail

A timely site

Anyone been by despair.com lately? It seems like a good time to swing by and make some demotivating posters or whatnot to soak up some angst and bewilderment.

I'm not anti-government, as you lnow, but the Government Poster they sell is so very apt about this administration it hurts.

— Abigail

Three things I love, integrated

Three things I love: Jeff Koons, iGoogle, and the Twitter Election Buzz Map from the Google Election 08 Gallery: iGoogle rocks, I have 5 tabs and counting. iGoogle artist themes rock, I use a different one for each tab. Jeff Koons rocks, he just does, and the election map is absolutely mesmerizing and grassroots crazy in terms of information sharing: Thanks to the map, a friend of mine is now following live micro-blogging of a campaign event in Michigan. Oh yeah, and how about a shout-out for Google Image Ripper? It only pertains to this post because I used it for the Jeff Koons link, but if we're talking about things I love...which reminds me, there's a craigslist ripper or two out there, I hear, to rip the images from posts to the front page so you don't have to click through....awesome!