Many thanks to the batsheva-dear (and her brother) for sharing with me the clever photo-tourism of michael hughes, because, really now, how have I missed this? it’s right up my alley.* Here’s an article about him on the Daily Mail (UK).
*I do not currently have an alley. Though I would glad accept any alley, street or avenue donations - but god HELP you should you try to give me a boulevard. yuck.
No, my dears, the bugs below do not have some kind of magical shiny clear tumors - they are just covered in fresh morning dew (WHOA WHIMSYTIME).
macro photos by Martin Amm. (anybody think they are photoshopped? either way, I seem to have a thing for glammified bugs…)
Thank you, edwina, for sharing this. It has made my Monday much more magnificent (and muppetful, obvs).
also,
tears of joy:
Side Note: RIP, Astroland. Yesterday was Coney Island’s Astroland amusement park’s final day before being shut down. And needless to say, this is a very sad moment in NYC history.
I saw this lovely stop-motion video over at poppytalk, called “western spaghetti”, and besides being the winner of my weekly Whimsy Award ™, it also reminded me that I have not yet in the history of NSTGD sung the praises of spaghetti western movies, specifically, my favorite, Trinity is STILL my Name!, which is the sequel to They Call Me Trinity. So, well, it’s super funny, it’s Italian, his horse’s saddle is a lounge-chair.
just checkin’ in mid-vacation at a hostel in halifax. here’s some highlights from my trip thus far:
wolverines on bibles on the US-canadian border:
googly-eyed lemon slices:
lobster-people roaming the streets in apparent distress:
here we saw a woman chasing after a man who has stole the bottom portion of her papasan chair:
gnome pinup photos:
possibly the best movie ever:
questionable labor policies in new brunswick:
more to come. hooray.
I’ve been bookmarking affordable art stuffs over the last few months and it’s time to share! this may become a series. my love of the following burns with the fire of one thousand suns.
Cardinal & Deer by Berkeley Illustration, buy here for $7-$15. They are just so stately-looking.
if only we could wear pants & Up to no good, marc johns, buy his prints here: $16-$20.
antler girl and horse hostess by Ashley Alexander (or “I’m Smitten”), buy here for $40 each. adore. also, I appreciate another opportunity to use my cryptozoology tag.
and last, but in no way least… No one wants to play sega with Harrison Ford, Brandon Bird, buy here for $7.99 (unsigned). and if you aren’t into lime green, it comes in many alternate shades of awesome.
just tellin’ it like it is:
note: should anyone decide to make a movie about me, please hire a british 1970s-nature-documentary narrator. thank you.
Just when you thought you had seen the final slug this month on NSTGD, the folk behind the “little people” tiny street art project have gone and a-started graffiti-ing snail shells…
and they call it Inner City Snail, and it makes me all pitter-pattery with joy. Also, the little people take snail public transport it seems…
swoon.
Also - hello! to the 1 billion extra hits I have gotten since the lovely jules over at ikeahacker posted my fira-shelf becomes disco-drawers how-to.
… but it seems as though the sea slug (specifically the 
chromodoris toxic nudibranch) might be the new Cutest Most Wonderfulest Sea Creature of All Time, Ever.
I mean, really, what? are you kidding? it’s smiling for heavens-sakes. truly there is *almost* no competition.
Thank you to dearlingest lauren who shared this collection of amazing photographs of sea slugs courtesy of National Geographic.
Just because it’s icky outside, doesn’t mean you can’t shoot people.
From Alex Wooley Design: “This unique, funnel shaped umbrella harnesses the flow of rainwater down into its handle, a water pistol. The user can fire at will, maintaining a constant flow of water as long as rain continues to fall.”
Genius.
this is actually fun-umbrella-design post #2 on NSTGD, here’s the first.
And because I love you, and I love the Hollies, and because the Hollies love umbrellas, and because if a = b and b = c then c = a, here is their song “Bus Stop“.
I’ve been noticing some out-of-the-ordinary (read: lovely yet completely bizarre, and in some cases sort-of-gross) textile/needlework projects recently. LET ME SHOW THEM TO YOU. yay.
Number A: Embroidered Yeti’s by Megan Whitmarsh:
That’s right, my dearlings, they are breakdancing. Breakdancing, embroidered yetis. Embroidered yetis also enjoy modern art:
I know, I know, it’s pretty much perfect. if you need a moment to dry your eyes, or to re-evaluate your life in the face of the Divine, I totally understand.
Number B: Teddybear Fetal Development by stephanie metz. (found on designboom)
This is just so… so… Special. You may not find felted, huggable anatomy lessons as charming as I do, but I mean, you have also probably never considered baking gingerbread fetuses before. and that’s just fine. to each their own. stop judging me.
Number C: Knitted Test Lab Bunny by jellibat.
Cuddly-gross is apparently my new favorite category of things. from the product description: “Some brain experiments were conducted on him, so he is a little vague some times. The top of his head just wont grow back. And at times his brain pops right out out!”
* no siree, I will absolutely not apologize for this pun. no no no.
so I found this super-neat and mathtational online freelance-hourly-rate-calculator (via swissmiss).
It asks you to enter in all of your yearly costs, both personal and business, your desired work/vacation schedule and how much of a profit you’d like to make, and then let’s you know what you would need to charge per hour to make that happen.
MY IMAGINARY LIFE SCENARIO: Freelance Trampoline-Tester
BUSINESS COSTS/YEAR:
How much is your annual Office Rent? $48,000: for a warehouse in queens with 26ft ceiling (for maximum bounce-capacity).
How much do you spend annually on Travel? $5,000: a few business trips to trampoline expo’s I imagine.
How much do you spend each year on Software? $0: pshah.
How much do you spend each year on Communications? $1200: internet + cell phone + handsfree ear piece, so I can conference call mid-air.
How much does your annual Insurance cost? $10,000: totally making this up, but I imagine trampoline-testing might require ample insurance…
How much do you need to spend on Legal Fees? $0: nothing says “oooh, great idea! no really.” like deciding to represent yourself.
How much do you need to spend on Accountancy Fees? blablabla boring question, next.
How much will your Office Supplies cost annually? $2350 = $350 (several pairs of skid-resistant jumping socks) + $2000 (knee pads/helmet/mouthguard/parachute), because Safety First.
How much will you be spending on Advertising and Promotions? $22,500 (for 5 sky-writing campaigns at $4,500 per flight).
PERSONAL COSTS/YEAR:
How much is your annual Rent / Mortgage payments? $16,000 = $10,000 to build my treehouse (I found a tree house construction company in philly) + $6000/year (a guess on what someone might charge me to rent their backyard tree in NYC at $500/month)
What is your annual budget for Daily Expenses? $20,000 = since it is probable that I will not have electricity in my tree house, and since fire+trees=no-good, I will be dining exclusively on food thats require no refrigeration and no cooking, and takeout. so let’s say $10,000 on food + $10,000 for other-important-life-stuffs, like ships-in-bottles and the like.
How much do you intend to save for your Retirement Account? $15,000 (hey, why not?)
How much do you spend each year on Occasional Expenses? $13,500 In this imaginary life, I’ll obviously want to take taxidermy classes (Here they cost $3500) + I will take a month long vacation to the Canary Islands (approx. $10,000).
WORK SCHEDULE
How many days a week do you work on average? 4 days. when you work for yourself you create your own schedule, gosh darn it.
How many days of vacation do you need annually? 30 days. (for the canary islands trip)
How many sick and personal days do you need annually? 20 days (just in case I fall out of the tree house, or get a heart attack from eating only take-out)
How many public and religious holidays? 31 days (though no religious holidays will be observed, I will take an entire month off to celebrate Bastille Day.)
How many hours do you work a day on average? 7 hours (4 hours bouncing, 1 hour lunching, and 2 hours administrating)
Approximately what percentage of hours can you actually bill? 85%
Enter a Dollar amount of Savings/Profit you’d like to make each year Profit is the money above what it costs just to run your business and live, what extra cash do you wish to earn: $1,000,000 (listen here, buster, I’ve been working for non-profits all this time, allow me this one imaginary moment of corporate greed!)
AND FINALLY,
To live this magical life, I would need to charge a mere $1533.18 p/hr. Easy.
if my apartment were just the teeniest bit bigger, I would most certainly get one of these*. Just THINK of all the money you could save on therapy bills:
* well, I’d probably get a wonderwheel or a set of twin timpanis first, but THEN I’d get one of these.
More info on “punch and cuddle” can be found here.
via swissmiss.
just in case you were wondering, here’s some of what’s been keeping me giggling over the past few days:
number 1: feltidermy
so so so beautiful-bizarre.
number 2: garfield-minus-garfield
basically, if you take out the annoying cat, this comic strip becomes pure, absurd hilarity.. and possibly poignant commentary on suburban isolation. (credit to taylor for sharing)
number 3: unrealized eye-wear fads
including but not limited to the monocle veil:
the nose-shield:
and sun visors:
(credit to -j. for sharing)
this is what inevitably happens when I am at my home, alone, for the first time in 2 weeks:
(created for an interwebs community that I have been known to frequent for a while, that is closing down next month.)
*credit to -j.-dear for the name.
