I’m smack mad in love with those big ole polkie dots. Mondo, I loved you with the black and whites, I loved you with the magentas and the toucan yellows, and I loved you with the little ball hats, but those polkies have my heart forever.
Just Too Cool
Patricia Helsing, Missed
Here’s to an artist whose wit and vision ran circles around my own, always nudging me to aim a little higher, Patricia Helsing. To see more of her work, look here, and nudge your own self a bit today.
Halloween Fright
Vernon carved the most beautiful pumpkin, with stars for freckles, and the out-cuts held high by toothpicks framing the tawny treasure in a star-studded stratosphere. Continue reading
Free Rice Feeds Body and Mind
According to the UN, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes. www.freerice.com donates ten grains for each correct answer on this get-smart website. Learn a little; give a lot. I admit to loving school as a child, so maybe I’m not a good judge of “fun,” but I played this for an hour, donated 1630 grains of rice, and learned Continue reading
A Very Fine Faucet
Since she doesn’t have the option of hiding in the pantry on bad hair days, the Perfect Kitchen Faucet is decorative as well as functional. I’ve been looking for the impossible, naturally — a European antique-style one-holer with a pull-down spray. While this one doesn’t fit my image of “antique,” it’s retro enough to look old and certainly un-American. Made in England by Steam Valve Original, it features a Very Cool Spray, in my opinion. If you go to the site, you can see a little video of some lettuce spraying. Continue reading
Tibetan Mosaic
Tibetan monks will create a sand mandala like the one above in Atlanta beginning Tuesday, October 16 until destruction on the 23rd. Whereas most mosaics may use several hundred carefully cut pieces, the 5′ x 5′ sand mandalas use millions of grains of colored sand. The good news is that the grains don’t need individual gluing. The bad news is that this exacting work is back-breaking, and takes three to five days to complete. And, you know, you can’t hang it in a gallery. The event is free and open to the public, and more information is available here. His Holiness will speak free to the public on Monday, October 22 at Centennial Park.