Design Like Honey

Quick Note: I've added another link to the Reference Library that you might enjoy if you enjoy old photos: The Library of Congress' Photostream. Enjoy!


I had an arsenal of favorited websites on my workplace pc, and before I resigned I printed them all out with intentions to share them with a riveted audience (you). Now admittedly, some of these websites, when I view them with an emancipated eye? Dry as week old bread.  I suppose if you're fully immersed in the world of design on more than a casual level they're possibly the shiny gossamer fancy new thing you've been looking for - so I'm going to share a few of my favorites with you. Not all, though, not yet! Mustn't share all my secrets in one day.  

• Dezeen: This is a pretty, popular young thing that focuses on all facets of design, as well as employment and internships. They dig up some unique, innovative things, too - like this Ice Cube Chair made from recycled Pet plastic:
• Archi-Ninja: For architects and architecture students I'm sure this is a grail, for me it was a good source of daily industry news (along with Archdaily.com), contests, interviews with up and comers...It's one of those "dry" ones to me now sadly. I'd rather look at...
• Inhabitat: Probably my favorite among the design blogs, it's THE BEST "Green" Design blog out there. More humor than Treehugger, more interesting and "pretty" articles for the non-designer, I still visit it at least once a week. Their "Inhabitots" page is particularly worth scrolling through (eco-friendly design and products for kids) and their Link Roundups are always interesting, too:                 (Devo and Summer Dolls)
• A Daily Dose of Architecture: I don't even look at the articles on this one, and I'm sure they're well-written and informative. I'm not an architect, though so I simply enjoy the collection of links in his blogroll. It's the Colossus of a blogroll! It's keeps going and going and going all down the length of the page. Most are design related, some are arts related, most of them are just really good, solid sites. I tip my hat to you, Daily Dose of Architecture dude. 
• Design Dust: Probably the simplest (like a mid-century modern lamp) out of my favorites, it actually was the first design site I looked at regularly. It introduced me to the big ones, like Design Sponge, Design Mom, Apartment Therapy, Black Eiffel, It's Nice That, and others. 
• David Garcia Studio: This is by far my favorite design house I came across during my work-related browsing (I had to do a "daily update" with interesting links strewn about once a day...). Their body of work, from playgrounds to an Architectural Map of Antarctica is the very definition of innovation (and execution).

Read More About this Bad Boy Here. They also hold Educational Workshops all over the world. And look at this cool installation, oh how I love installations:

(Installations Page) 

And I've got more, oh how I have more! I'll post more of these lovelies and build up the database here in the hours and days to come. 

Art as Old Lover

I'm going to keep going on this image-rich vein for a while. I'm on a summit, and can only come down from here, and then will go into words and more things you have to work on a bit. 
But now. Art. Art to stare at. Old art. Established art. Of course there is a lot of new, exciting, daring, interesting art online right now, too - and I'll cover that later, but not today. Today I want to share a few of the places I go when I need to visit old friends and lovers...
Of course there's this place: 
Metropolitan Museum of Art - but you've probably never heard of it, right? (There's an assumed winking emoticon there, by the way) Well, I had never explored its website until a long standing obsession with The Unicorn Tapestries tipped me towards it. 

Here you can explore in a very research-trippy environment all the ca. 1495-1505 goodness is there for you to explore, and if you've read The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracey Chevalier this activity will have deeper meaning for you. There are other "Explore and Learn" pages,  as well as a Timeline of Art History that makes me giddy. These pages run the gambit interest from the precocious preschooler to the seasoned art aficionado, so don't feel silly exploring them (or intimidated). Of course, there's also the museum's collection database, I could get lost in there (much like Claudia in From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler). 


Other "places" I explore are listed below, and for obvious reasons, they are beautiful and worth more than a passing glance. Be willing to dig a bit, some of the website's treasures aren't particularly out in the open. I've tried to hyperlink these to the collection pages, for ease of movement...


The National Gallery - UK
Met Museum's Collection Database
Explore and Learn - Met Museum
Art Institute of Chicago  
The Louvre - Kaleidescope (easy to navigate database - pieces by theme)
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection



Peacocks and Peonies- La Farge

The Child's Bath - Cassatt

Vase in the Form of a Woman's Head - 
So, go and explore some of these databases; search for old lovers and find new ones. Find old friends. If you're like me and live far away from them in person, you can reunite online. Facebook for art lovers. 

Daily Clicks - Old and Found Photos

Have been thinking about spooky images lately. Like that scene at the end of The Shining, with the slow push zoom towards that group photo at the Overlook in 1924(?): 





And can't you just hear the trills of "Midnight, With the Stars and You"...? Here's the scene. I recall the first twenty times I saw that film, that bit gave me the willies about as much as Grady with his unfortunate head wound in the mirror. 


I was thinking about that scene this weekend, and about old photos. Don't we all just love old photographs? I used to love to slink around antique shops in Ohio and Tennessee, pawing for old photos, making up stories in my head about the strangers caught forever on film. There are several places online to do this right from the relative comfort of your computer, and I'll share a few that I frequent. In the coming weeks I'm going to dig out more, and if anyone has any suggestions...comment them here please and thank you. 


#1: http://foundphotos.com: My knowledge of this site is relatively new, but thanks to Katie in Australia I'm a convert. Unfortunately it hasn't been updated in a while but there's enough in the archive to click for a while if you've never visited before. These aren't very old photos, just candid, random, and fascinating.  


#2 Shorpy: Oh, I'm a huge, huge fan of Shorpy!! Nicely organized, nice collection, nice feature to zoom into a high-res version and really explore each image. The other evening I was just totally engrossed in their collection of Dorothea Lange photographs, exploring some of the ones that I wasn't familiar with, like Wapato Ennui: 

1939 - Dorothea Lange


and 535-07-5248 and Wife:



1939- Dorothea Lange


Dear Lord the STORIES in those images! Shorpy categorizes photos by photographer, era, "Pretty Girls", World War Two, Civil War, Kodachrome and tons more. 
#3 Albert's Eye:  I know next to nothing about Albert's Eye, I can't even tell you how I FOUND Albert's Eye - a beautiful flickr photostream full of vintage charm. Some of my favorite sets are St. Vincent's Orphanage (there's the beautiful and heartbreaking), American Studio Portraits, and In the Photobooth.



The beauty and heartbreak of humanity is all over these collections. I hope you feel as grounded and grateful of life when you browse them as much as I do...
Coincidentally, if it's vintage Photobooth images you love, here's a wonderful little book with a nice collection of them: 



         Photobooth - Babette Hines. 


*I've added the above links and a few more to the Reference Library page*


UPDATE: Thank you Princess Sarah for the following links: 
Black and WTF 
Vintage Child Abuse

Evening Finds (a bow to my rampant consumerism)

Some little things I've happened upon tonight, accompanied by minimal story-telling and commentary. 

Modern Architecture Pop Up Book - I love pop up books. I don't really love modern architecture, but having spent over a year as an admin. assistant in an architecture firm, I still find this thrilling. 

Marimekko Madison Green Shower Curtain - I had the grey version in my old house, and left it behind to boost the bathroom's appeal for staging as we had the home on the market. I spied this green one on Apartment Therapy and sighed a little, remembering my pretty grey one, but think I'll get this one eventually again, once the wounds have healed and the Spring begins. 

Prints by Sophie Blackall: I first stumbled upon her while looking at her Missed Connections blog that she pens (a drawing for the craigslist Missed Connections ads that inspire her) and then realized that I had admired her work in the children's library - she's a children's book illustrator as well! Her website is a joy, and so are her prints. My favorite: 

"Are you Scared of Birds or Something?" - Sophie Blackall

Reference Databases To Swoon By

I'll admit some of these are old friends. I've walked down their cobblestone paths before, but I've never divulged them in front of a live (debatable) audience before. What's been on my mind today is research, but that's not new. Not the research you need to do for work or school or your current project, but the joyful research that comes from learning new things about something you knew very little of before. I give you, the databases I look at when I need to be inspired (but not for any specific purpose).

New York Public Library Digital Database: You might know of this one already. If so, good! If not, good! Here it is and your life on the internet will never be the same. This collection of images grouped by architecture, art, graphics, nature, culture, cities is dizzying and totally satisfying. Cultured crack. Here's what I drooled over today:


[Winged beetle, beetle on leaf, and beetle.] - NYPL Digital Collection

[Woman applying lipstick in mirror.] (1917) - NYPL Digital Collection

Why lipstick and beetles? Simply because those were the two things simultaneously on my mind a moment ago. On the front page of the NYPL Digital Collection is a magic search bar. You can type in whatever is interesting you at the moment and go from there. Or browse the categories if you're feeling organized.

And here are the other lovelies for today:

Los Angeles Public Library image database: Simply type in a keyword to start exploring. For instance, when I entered "Hedy Lamarr" (my favorite b&w actress and wartime genius), this image came up:



"Boomtown Actors", Actors by oil derricks! Weird and glamorous! Spencer Tracey! Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Hedy Lamarr, and Frank Morgan. (Thanks to LAPL)

Smithsonian Research and Collections Database: I'll admit I haven't explored this one too much yet. I'm saving it for a free hour. But, seriously, it's the Smithsonian. It's not going to suck.

So here they are.  Perfect internet cruising for a dull day at work or a late evening insomnia session. I have more to add now and have more in my magic bag of links, but I think I'll keep you on tenterhooks for a bit while you browse these babies.

Cherub Rock

I have a small(ish) child. He's five and he has a large, blonde head. Here is a haiku that I wrote about him a while back, and have coincidentally turned into a small typography art piece in our kitchen:

Little yellow head
which was once swan white with fuzz
How long until brown? 


Now this little flaxen dude soaks up information nuggets like a sea sponge (which did you know regenerate from their broken off-pieces?) so I try to steer his small shoulders towards the educational but entertaining (and genuinely) and away from the insipid. The reasons are diverse. Mainly I want him to learn something while he's playing, and also I don't want to be annoyed by Sponge Bob's maniacal giggle or the pew pew sounds that emanate from the Star Wars website (although in bleak moments I have succumbed and allowed him to click around there, within five minutes he's frustrated - kind of how I felt when the remastered Episodes 4-6 came out). Although, the Star Wars site does have a few good memory games and a killer Sound Board activity for your budding movie sound engineer.

So how do I, as the heavily eyeliner-ed, peacock feather adorned caregiver of the century, help my son have quality computer time in his (dwindling fast) preschool  years? Well, honestly I learned everything I ever wanted to know from a library. During my time in a Children's Library I learned of, found, shared, heard, and had kids bounce in their tiny chairs and raise their hands to show me a collection of fantastic and satisfying sites, cool enough to spend a bit, but not saccharine enough to cause a temper tantrum when computer time is over. Here is the short list that Xander cycles through, and I do add more and will add more here as I find them. We of course try others, which I will add to the database Small People at the left,

The National Gallery of Art's NGA Kids site: This is my favorite. Chock full of interactive art that goes way beyond playing around with Microsoft Paint. Xander has learned about the Dutch Masters, the surrealists, American folk art, and his creativity has gone through the roof from these easy to navigate activities. It's even fun for adults, no joke. In fact, most big museums have good websites for children, some are for elementary to middle school ages, but there's usually something of value for all ages. If your child is older they might enjoy the American Museum of Natural History's wordy activities. Mine's just a bit young for them, seeing as he can only read a few words.

CBeeBees: The BBC Kid's website is full of show-related activities. Some are shows that have made the jump across the pond to the states, such as Charlie and Lola. Playhouse Disney has some Charlie and Lola activities, too - but in our opinion they're not as good. The Butterfly Gallery and  Germ Counting games teach and art and math respectively and when you poke around the site you'll find Shaun the Sheep games, as well as Fireman Sam, and a bunch of others you've never heard of because you're American.

Playmobil Fun & Action:  Playmobil is a recent, all encompassing obsession of my son's lately. He plays with his sets for hours, combining them into clashing of  Romans, Pirates, Dinosaurs, Swat Teams, Giant Squid world, a twisted, dangerous place that I would never step foot into willingly. The website actually has some good activities and little films, as well as the massive collection of clickable products for sale, so  your kid can keep on dreaming of more Playmobil and harass you to buy things.

The ALA - Great Web Sites for Kids: The American Library Association has compiled a beautiful list of the best sites to steer kids to (and for older kids to click through). The presentation is a bit dry, but the content, oh the content! In the coming weeks we're going to test a bunch of these out and post our favorites here in the shiny, pretty, gossamer database that is Dano Gold.

Your local library: Your local library system is most likely to have a whole Kids page chock full of suggestions, book reviews by children, Tumble Books, activities, reference databases for homework help, and links to good and safe websites. My favorite (the system I worked for) is featured on the hyperlink. Libraries, I xoxo you.

Those are just the three most common ones we pop over to these days, in the coming days I'm going to build the database to the left, but these are some of the lesser known ones that provide a bit of educational entertainment without parental annoyance. Enjoy!

As evening deepens, I seem to walk straight into the bizarre

So I'm going to share it here, what's the point of keeping it all cooped up inside? If it festers, it might metastasize and burst. Or worse! I'll forget about it and it will be buried forever in my bookmarks.


I found the blog A Journey Around My Skull around six months ago on a late evening (just like this). My brain works in quick fits and starts when the clock turns past midnight and I seem to pick up some sort of bizarro signal from the internet. My first visit I was on for about an hour, clicking away at the visually pleasing in a dada - ish surreal way shown in posts like this and this, and images like this:


 
Jiri Trnka, illus. for Fireflies, 1969 - Thank you A Journey Round My Skull person


It was the author's focus on vintage European picture books that initially drew me in (though how I found the site I can't divulge - I'm not even sure how I find the things I do. Luck? If so, good or bad?) and the rich, macabre, image-laden posts kept me clicking with interest longer than most blogs I happen upon. Even design ones, and I can click a design blog to bits (yeah, I'm talking to you, AT).


So here I'm sharing it. I've forwarded it several times to those friends of mine who enjoy a bit of the disturbingly beautiful, like my friend Tony. If I don't share I might forget it exists, and where does that leave you? Without a cool site to wind down an afternoon with while avoiding spreadsheets. 


PS! Will from Journey Round My Skull has a hypnagogic photo stream on Flickr that's highly enjoyable. Here it is in all its nicely categorized glory. 


PPS! I'm guessing the title " A Journey Round My Skull " is a nod to the perhaps original medical memoir of the same title.  It's a topic I'm quite taken with, the effects of brain tumors both benign and malignant on the senses (and the formation of hallucinations visual, auditory, olfactory, etc.) I haven't read it (yet) but you can bet I'm opening up a new tab as I type this to put in on hold at the library (I had to do it Interlibrary Loan, by the way). 

What's been drudged up today

• 1920's and 1930's music from www.live365.com (Radio Dismuke), reminds me of the tinny goodness my husband and I listened to in his tower room when we first started dating. 
• DVD cover art from my favorite darling letterpress Yee Haw Industries in (say it) Knoxville, TN. And yowza it's for Jim  Jarmusch's Mystery Train! What a match made in a guitar from a Tupelo Hardware Store heaven. 
• Spotted these little darlins from a friend of mine's vintage-sweet blog Garage Sale Girly. While Gary and I have decided to have just one child I will admit the sight of these ducky leg warmer buggers from Saint Raegan's Hollow made me spontaneously ovulate -(Saint Regen's Hollow)
• Have also been salivating over my friend Michelle's trip to India. Perhaps simply because I feel the need for a hot climate right about now - here in Alaska SNOW is still our constant fishwife - or perhaps because I've always been drawn to all things India. Her posts about the voyage are captivating. 
• And here's today's "Photo I Want to Live In": 

(from the Starlight Studio)

I can't decide which lady or gent I want to be. The bride with her little cap and silver draping? The sailor girl in the back - because I'd get to stand on that fabulous deco set piece? What was it like to live in a time without hipsters? When legs were plump and humor was more than a bit corny? When lips were painted maroon and eyes smoked with kohl? Oh, I know we can do all those things and more now, but what was it like to have a hat and gloves with every dress? And to purchase something like a jet bead bag - just ripe for the picking in crystal department stores with newfangled escalators? To talk like this? It would be the berries, and how!

Why.

Taking a bit of a break from my usual introspective and highly angsty and metaphysical writing, as well as a sexy blog (no, you can't see - it's a secret), and some children's literature thrown in, I've decided to create a bit of a database of sorts. I find interesting things online. I have a knack for the gathering of information. I used to work in a library, and it was a perfect fit. Like a good pair of black tights that never, ever get holes in them. Tights that you tell your friends about and they grab your arm conspiratorially and beg in a hiss to share where you got them. I share. I am a generous oracle. 

This vehicle is new. It is rough around its metaphorical edges. The goodness and gold will be categorized, maybe in the order you see to your left, and maybe not. I'm a fickle, ever-changing oracle. There's simply too much in my head and too much I'd love to share to keep it to myself. 

I'm not ashamed in my love of the internet, like others might profess. I could wax whimsical and nostalgic for hours about my first experience online (no, not like that), playing Doom in a dorm basement during theatre camp in 1996. We talked in a chat room with FOUR other people, a VIDEO chatroom that was for some sort of fancy Linux people. Our camp counselor was a fancy techy engineery major and knew the inside of what we had barely heard about - most of us still typed our papers onto dot matrix printers from DOS systems. Clack.clack.clack. Bzzzzzzz. Tsst. Tsst. Tsst. That was the sound of a dot matrix printer - deafening and harkening back to the days of beige plastic everywhere. 

A bit about me? I'm currently living in Alaska. But watch! I move around a lot. In a few months I might be somewhere completely different. I write. I make. I have a brilliant photographer husband and a beautiful, bright, brave little boy (he doesn't have a website yet). I try to see the beauty and the luster and the patina in everything. Sometimes it makes me frown, being like that. 

But mostly I like to find the wonderful, beautiful, recreational, pointless, pointed, meaningful, helpful, meaningless, silent-laughing shoulders shaking, and informative on the internet. Like I said, I have a brain like a reference library (or did I say that?) and I retain an awful lot of trivial bits up there. 

And please do share. 

Soon and thanks.