Color, and Then a Frog Ring. No Reason.

Check out these people being all like "YEAH!" about color. It's pretty... groovy, I guess, would be a fair description.



So how crazy is it that right after I watched this video, I saw this lamp in a totally unrelated catalog? I think the people who made the poured paint pedestals should immediately turn them into lamp posts. That would be the coolest.


You know what's also the coolest?


Obviously I love everything about this frog ring, except the $5,500 price tag. That's totally offensive, Lucifer Vir Honestus. Go suck an egg. Your name is quite fitting, for you are the ring devil. Is that seriously a giant block of real turquoise? I'm going to go to Toys 'R' Us, where they have little rubber animal figurines -- no, scratch that, I'm going to find an ERASER in the shape of a frog and superglue it to a plastic ring. Boom, same effect. Plus, I can totes do a crossword. How does that egg taste now, Luce?

This message has been brought to you by the end of the day after a long weekend. 

These Are a Few Of My Favorite Things

Hey remember me? Remember us? It's been a while, so let's get this self-indulgent 2012 party started with some things I like. (As opposed to most of the time, when I'll just be moaning and bitching about things I don't like.)

 Thing I Like #1: New York City in the 80s 

 Shit was ballinnn! And tuff. And fresh to deff.  (I think now it's just like flossy or something.)

People who chose to live in the city back then were making a real decision, weighing the pros and cons in a much different way than people have to do now.

CONS
 Today: the rent is 2 damn high.
 1980s: I will be surrounded by knife-wielding muggers and heroine addicts on 70% of the city's corners.

PROS
 Today: you can be anyone you want to be and do anything you want to do in the city, so long as you know the right people and the right places to hang out.
 1980s: you can be anyone you want to be and do anything you want to do in the city, absolutely anywhere, even if that entails breaking the law, because no one gives a fuck.

 So... toss up. Let's take a walk down Memory Lane and mull those ideas for a minute.

These kids are dripping with boombox pride. Forget all that hard 'n' scary stuff I was talking about before. This is just adorable. Sadly, in today's city, these kids would probably be the victims of stop and frisk and that boombox would be confiscated faster than you can say "flip the script." Damn.  

For more subway photography, check out this collection from Bruce Davidson. 

Also these! I just can't get enough: 

Man, are those trains not kind of horrifying? In the best way ever? 

Plus, at the time the graffiti was being done by the likes of Scharf and Basquiat and Haring, so, like, whaaat?! 

Clearly awesome. 

Ok, what else? 

Thing I Like #2: Sitting Down on Cool Things Made for Sitting, and Sitting Down on Cool Things That Look Like They Are Not Made for Sitting, but Actually Are 

Like this Molletta Bench by Baldessari E Baldessari! 

I hope that this thing opens and closes so, so bad. Look at that perfect-sized head hole! 

On a more traditional note, the Antelope Rocker by Ernest Race. Throw back! 

Not only does this chair make me want to read more in that charming, breezy, springtime Dove commercial apartment sort of way, but it also goes pretty well with the creepy dream I had last night about having a baby. Yeesh. Watch out, gentlemen. 

(Note: this does not go well at all with my love for 1980s New York, so I think we're safe.) 

Oh hey! Speaking of which, you know what chair does go really well with my love for 1980s New York? Blarrrr!! Bwraaaarrrr! Ack! Alack! Glurblaaaghh: 

This chair from BRC Designs' Risen in 30 Days Collection looks like something one might pull up from the East River after a particularly gruesome week of NYC's 1989-1990 murder spike. I also can't help but think of Paris Hilton. Anyone else, or is that just me? 

Alright, well let's end this chair nonsense on a lighter note. Oh no wait, let's not. Bone chairs! 

These stools made out of old cow bones by Ama Darko Williams will get your living room yelling "Yippe-kay-yay, mother fucker!" and "Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!" Metacarpals up. 

You know what? Let's not end this chair nonsense at all. In other news.... Jesus Christ Someone Make The Swing Car by Hans Brockhage In Adult Sizes Immediately: 

This is one of the prouder moments for the Germans, wouldn't you say? Sorry I couldn't hear you, I was too busy swinging back and forth in my climby ladder chair car. 

Ok, ok, one more and then onto Thing #3. Let's breathe a fresh sigh of slightly nautical relief and appreciate the Corliss chair by Dunn. Ahhh.. 

Oh and PS - Jessica Carnevale's Puffy Dining Chair is totes a clam: 

Thing I Like #3: Rainbowy Things 

Spoons! 

Puke! (I guess?)

Bridges to nowhere! (Totally!)

Jello? (Show me how!) 

Bike Wheels! (Hey - that's pretty resourceful!) 

Phew! Hopefully that was enough non-sequitur madness to whet everyone's whistle for what is about to be the most-likely-quite-temporary-and-disappointing revival of The Daily Clam! No promises. Just dreamz. 

Got something you love? Tell me about it and I'll make the most totally smashing killer photo round-up, plus probably some awesomely terribly photoshopped collages to boot! Want to add in a cat? Boom--your cat's eating skittles. Want to get some sweet typography involved? Presto! Expletives, riddled throughout. 

LMK, K? THX! BBQ! 

Really Bad Photoshopping from a Company Who Should Know Better

Seriously Pepsi? How many times do I have to make fun of you before you realize that you suck? You need a new ad agency. This is getting ridiculous.

It looks like Bob from distribution just moseyed on over to the brainstorming sesh with a pack of crayons and drew in that can on his lunch break. This is how you treat product placement? Like a side project for a toddler? (Sorry, Bob. Not that you're a toddler.)

Also, your girl has camel toe over there. It's actually, like, the same size as the Pepsi can. This is clearly a lopsided approach.

Let's get it together.

Books and Nooks

Aren't books great? Don't say no; you'll look like an idiot. It's a fact of humanity that books are indeed fantastic.

But man, they take up so much space! I live in a 2x4 box and I have a really hard time throwing out printed materials. Magazines I find stupidly hard, but at least I can do it every six months or so. But books? I can not throw out a book. I must hold on to it and stare at it taking up space on my shelf for all eternity.

There's something about feeling like you have a library that's really satisfying, right? That's why I'm really satisfied that an entire wall of my living room is taken over by a series of book shelves. Granted, only the bottom half of said shelf system is actually holding books, but that's because we happen to hold onto a lot of other junk too, specifically... curios. So there are some books in the kitchen and under the bed too, but WHATEVER. That's not the point. The point is putting lots of books together into a library is a super satisfying thing to do in life. Plus, it makes you look smart, and probably kinda cool. (Unless you're like me and you put your books together by genre. Then you're a nerd who should probably go work at the library and get it all over with.)

There are many ways to put your books to decorating use. Check it:
Bet you never thought to make the walls out of books, huh? Well, you can thank the Michel Berger Hotel in Berlin for this one. Apparently it's a really rad hotel with theme rooms. Yeah, I said it: rad. Totally tubular.

This bookshelf is combining my love for book storage with my intense love of maps, and well... it's intense. My love for it is intense. I want a grand foyay to display all of my amazingness amongst these stately shelves.


(I'd probably just fill the Alabama shelf with porn and the backs of cereal boxes, because let's get serious.)

Another really awesome thing to do with books is color code them. Full disclosure: I did this with my CDs back in the day when people actually had those.



Speaking of color coding, and other tedious tasks:



Woo, that was fun!

If you're going to decorate your home with books, then man, you gotta have a nook. Books and nooks is like peanut butter and jelly! Ricky and Lucy! Stickers and glitter!

(Sneak attack: some of these people combined their nooks and their books. It's pure genius.)



Hello!? This nook makes me want to get tuberculosis or something. I would never ever leave, and drink so much tea and paint my nails so many colors and read SO MANY BOOKS. (Assuming I wasn't dying or anything. Whatever.)


Aren't they beautiful?

I desperately want to live in a place where I can build a nook somewhere. For now, I can totally do this:


Who's up for a sleepover?

Welcome to the Fun House

They've done it. Those crazy Asians have finally done it. They've created the most fun place to live on the planet. Level Architects have made my and every kid's dreams come true with this:






That is one hell of a slide house, boys and girls! Unfortunately, you'd have to go shack up in Tokyo to experience the overwhelming joy that clearly pervades those four walls.

The slide even ends in a secret library


Which brings me to another point about things that make houses awesome: books and nooks. Books and nooks to come. For now, let's continuously ogle this fun house.

It also has a blowing ball pit. For real. These kids are the happiest children on the planet:


This is an actual room in their home, just for them. Just wait until they get old enough for homework. Then what? Mom and Dad are just going to casually get them to stop playing in their awesome in-home ball pit and do math? Pfft, yeah right. Oh wait, they're Asian. Alright, they should be ok.

I guess it's time to start gearing up for Christmas List 2011, because this bad boy is definitely going to top it.

(PS - I basically just jacked this whole thing from dezeen.)

My Paperless Post Post

I am a huge fan of Paperless Post. Ever since my cousin's fiancee sent around invitations for her bridal shower, I was converted. There is no turning back. I am sending cards left and right, popping them out like it's nobody's business.

Well, I guess it's Paperless Post's business. And they are good at what they do. For far less than it would cost to send actual cards, you can send out really well designed digital ones in about 30 seconds. Plus, if it's an invitation, Paperless Post provides you with a really useful RSVP tracker.


Really, though, the best part about this site is the designs. These cards are awesome to look at-- whether they are cute or girly or serious and formal, they are all on point. Run one quick google search for cards and invitations, and you'll see how much awful, garish, cheesy, color-overloaded crap is out there. This site is extremely refreshing.

I sent two cards to James on Valentine's day, which were very funny, I like to think, and I'm extremely tempted to put them up here. But I am not going to be that girl. So I will show you the fronts...



Not too shabby, right? Later on I fell in love with this one, and it's making me wish one of my friends would get violently ill.

It turns out that all three of these cards are made by a Brooklyn-based design company, called Enormous Champion. Realizing I clearly love them, I check out their site. Turns out they also make amazing WHALE TOWELS and have a cat named PENNY LANE! Meanwhile, here I am, loving the shit out of whales and naming my cat Penny Lane. This is magic. Do not deny it. Look at this effing whale towel I am going to own in 3-5 business days. Thank you, Paperless Post. Thank you.

Alice + Olivia + Digression

So... blah blah blah, it's fashion week. This time of year does nothing but make me feel short, poor, and covetous. Well, pass me the Ben & Jerry's and a gift card to Forever21, because I'm diving in head first.

(see the whole thing at Refinery 29)

Alice + Olivia are kind of the coolest, right? And they're, like, almost in my price range. There's this glimmer of hope that some day within the next decade, I can walk into an Alice + Olivia boutique and be like, "BAM - Grab me that dress in a 4, woman. Mama's taking it home with her tonight." And then I spill like a milkshake or something on it and my cat cuts a hole in the sleeve that night, but WHATEVER! It's still mine.

So um, the 20s? Yeah they're kicking it. It's good because in nine years it'll be the 20s again and then, shit, we'll all be ready to shimmy and party and just roar it the fuck up in golden age part two. It's gonna be the bees knees.

Also maybe this is the sign of the end of the prohibition coming? Eh? Eh? Wink wink?

Whatever.

Look at this couch that's almost ten times better than those clothes, but also very reminescent!


This photo was taken in the dressing room of what is clearly the coolest place to buy clothes on the planet: Post Script. It's all vintage shi shi run by ex-model Julie Skinner, whose life basically makes my existence look like a modern tragedy. Check it out.


This is some sort of *totally amazing* item you can apparently buy at her store, *if your life is made of silk and diamonds and unicorn tears that you sprinkle in your champagne to make all your dreams come true that day.* I would sell a sizable portion of my soul to wear this out to a disco dance party.


Speaking of... whatever it is I'm saying, Swirl by Daily Candy is now selling vintage bags from Balenciaga, Dior, Chloe, Gucci, Valentino -- you know, all the kids at the popular table. Really, "vintage" here means "totally outdated-looking a la 1998-2003." This was not a good time for bags, folks. Remember the tiny little u-shaped slouchy ones? And the saddle bags? Say what you will, I was not a fan. I am even less of a fan now. These things do not translate well over time. That said, this little number is pretty tight (and kinda goes with my theme here):


Skunk. Who'da thunk it. I could add this to my odd varieties of fur collection... or my curio collection. Whichever. I want to wear this in the rockiest of ways, even though that's about the lamest thing that's come out of my mouth in days. What I'm trying to say is that this bag would look best with some skin tight leather pants and a BMI of about 2.5. You should definitely only hold it if you also have a cigarette in your hand. I mean, your mouth.

It's like if Kate Moss and Nancy both had time machines, and they collided mid-trip and smashed down in 1924, you know? It's not hard, people.





By the way, 1920s chicks were totally badass. Look at these broads, just out on the town, broadin' it up. They're probably about to go flap. And drink moonshine.

On a final note (finally) this is my favorite one. Give me that head, right now.

This is a Post About Bats!

I'm getting a little psyched for Halloween -- mostly because of the huge candy stash that started appearing in the freezer. (I'm going to get diabetes!) Aside from the all the twixing and snickering, I'm also psyched because of the decorating and costuming. (I'm going to wear the coat!)

Did I mention I'm also kind of psyched about the bats? Greenpoint Tavern is currently covered (COVERED!) with cheesey bat and ghost decorations, and it's really kitschy and great. Also just last night I hallucinated that some leaves dangling off a branch were actually a bat, and I got all excited... and then really disappointed. So, yeah, they're on the brain.

These bats are from my new favorite discovery, Brand New. Also did you know that a group of bats is called a colony? I wanted it to be a battery, but I guess that's asking too much.

OMGZ Give Me Suitcase Furniture Now

And I'm not talking about the kind with rollers.

Gone are the days of hard-topped, square-shaped, leather-handled briefcase-style suitcases.  You know, the kind you might wear with a bowler hat, some white gloves, or a weird smattering of lace across your face.  The kind of suitcase you held in one hand, while puffing a pipe in the other saying, "Now, look here, see!"

Now it's all nylon and rollers, and people who can't seem to take responsibility for 30 pounds of their shit dragging behind them.  (That's you, guy running over my foot.)

But wait! These sexy traveling vestiges are back! Back and better than ever.

This brilliant idea comes from Recreate, a furniture design brand started by Katie Thompson in 2009.  Everything they make comes from recycled bits of awesomeness past, i.e. this old scale-turned-clock:

So brillz, I can't take it.

Ok, that's it. Go buy.


PS - this is all procrastination from talking about New York Fashion Week. 2much2handle.com.

PPS- let's buy the domain 2much2handle.com right now

2010 Architecture and Design Film Festival

Just got the news (a little late thanks to Labor Day festivities):  The Architecture and Design Film Festival will be hosted at Tribeca Cinemas, October 14 - 17.

This is the first film festival to celebrate architecture and design in New York City, and it should be a great place for industry minds to commingle.  Plus, the connected bar/lounge will most likely be filled with swank new design products -- hooray sponsorships!

The line-up of films has yet to be announced, but event organizers promise a mix of feature-length films, documentaries and shorts, profiling architects and their process, environmental issues, and all the obligatory, cool design eye candy one would expect.  

Movies will be announced in mid-September.  Perhaps too much time has gone by for it to be included, but while we're on the topic of design films, here's a quick shout to Objectified, which was excellent.  Here's the trailer. 

Tickets will go on sale September 27th.   Keep updated at the festival site here. 

Obligatory cool design eye candy! Yeah!

“Artistic Foyer” - Nüvist Architecture & Design's entry to the Izmir Opera House Competition