This subway library has posters of books and scannable barcodes—zap ‘em with your phone to get a 10-page preview while you ride!
Really neat.
When I Meet Somebody For The First Time
Mom Says
“To drop a comb while you are combing your hair is a sign of a coming disappointment.”
Wishpot
Let me be clear, this post is not being written because my birthday is about a week away.
There’s a site called Wishpot that I love. It’s an online (free) service that allows you to keep many types of lists with items that you find on other sites that you either need to purchase or would like to have as gifts. I know. That sounds kind of… gauche. And it is, a bit. But once you accept that general gaucheness, it’s really quite great. Once you have an account, you have an “Add to Wishpot” button installed in your bookmarks and whenever you come across something you want, you just add it to your pot.
I have two lists. One consists of “Things That I Eventually Need To Buy” and of course a “Wishlist” for when it’s gift giving times and someone asks me what I’d like.
And honestly, if someone’s sweet enough to ask me what I’d want, my answer is usually, “Oh, I have everything. Don’t be silly. You’re so nice to even want to give me anything. You’re the best!” But the real answer would be, “Umm, of course there are frivolous things that would be great to get.” And that’s where this list comes in. In all honesty, the only people who have taken this list seriously and actually use it are my brothers and, like, two friends. So… is it really useful? I can’t really say. What I’m really hoping for is enough notoriety one day so that fans seek out this list and lavish me with these treats. That’s not gonna happen, maybe - but one can dream.
Oh! I also forgot the best feature. If you do take a look at someone’s list and want to buy something for them, there’s a button to press to make sure no one else buys it since it’s then reserved. And at the same time, the person who the gift is for knows nothing because they don’t receive any notification that someone’s buying them something. Such secretism!
In conclusion, if this post were being written solely because my birthday is about a week away - then I would’ve blogged about it sooner since there’s no way, with shipping, that’d I’d get any of those gifts on time. See? Not a horrible person. Not a great one either, but I’m comfortable with that.
“I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least,
Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.”
The Dogbrella
This is the dogbrella. I saw this in a Hammacher Schlemmer catalog years ago and scanned the page so I never forgot to buy one of these should I ever have a dog again. Seriously.
Maybe it looks like a joke gift or something, but man - dogs get so wet on rainy days. What with their tiny little legs being so close to the ground and all. Anyway, it obviously won’t make them super dry since their paws will still be amongst water, but it’s gotta help a little bit, I’d imagine.
Anyway, their yearly catalogs are great. They’re basically like a higher-end SkyMall (ie. amazing).
Sabon in NYC
Disclaimer: City-specific post ahead. (There are locations in NYC, Chicago and Miami.)
If you live/visit this city, please stop into a Sabon store and wash your hands. Err, rather - have your hands washed for you. If that sounds terrible… well, that’s weird. It’s actually great. Whenever I pass a location with my friend Paul it’s not even a question as to whether we go in or not. It’s free, and it’s basically a four step (sometimes more, if they’re not busy) hand washing experience. Now, I’ve only ever bought their products as gifts, since I tend to use much cheaper items, but they smell amazing. Maybe one day when I have more money to spend, I’ll exclusively only shop here for this kind of stuff.
Anyway, my main point of this is - your hands feel like heaven afterward. Do it up. When I was single, I would get them washed especially before meeting dates and men thought I was, like, Parisian or something my hands were so f-ing soft.
Rabbit Hole By David Lindsay-Abaire
The following is an excerpt from the play Rabbit Hole (there was also a movie with Nicole Kidman based on the play - the movie was very forgettable, but the play is great). It's probably my favourite scene in the whole piece, mainly because of how brilliantly written it is. To give a small summary, it's just a conversation between two women (mother and daughter) describing what it's like to handle the death of a child in the family. Anyway, you may not think it's great, but man... it really is.
BECCA: This feeling. Does it ever go away?
NAT: No. I don’t think it does. Not for me, it hasn’t. It changes though.
BECCA: How?
NAT: I don’t know. The weight of it, I guess. At some point it becomes bearable. It turns into something you can crawl out from under. And carry around – like a brick in your pocket. And you forget it every once in awhile, but then you reach in for whatever reason and there is it: “Oh right. That.” Which can be awful. But not all the time. Sometimes it’s kinda… Not that you like it exactly, but it’s what you have instead of your son, so you don’t wanna let go of it either. So you carry it around. And it doesn’t go away, which is…
BECCA: What?
NAT: Fine… actually.
Peppermint Extract For Lips
If you’ve ever bought any sort of product that advertises itself as a lip plumper, then please read on. If not? I don’t know, maybe go here and make your brain better or something. (Also, if you’re a woman who’s adequately happy with what her lips are doing for her? I envy you.)
I never buy any of those products anymore - mostly because the majority of them are trash. Expensive trash. I read the following tip in a “Fun Facts” section of a cookbook once, so that’s probably why I trust it.
After you put your lip balm on, dab a bit of peppermint extract on next. It pumps them up like mad. I’ve been doing this for about, oh, say six months or so and I feel like it’s been working.
(Extra tip: using hot sauce does the same thing, in very small quantities, of course. Though, I wouldn’t fully endorse that idea because then you just smell like you ate something spicy all day. Not the hottest, but I’m sure some people are into it.)
“Dull nail polish? Dull life.”