Kim From Dallas

2008...not completely heinous

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:25:59 -0600

Being the optimist that I am, I'm going to devote my last post of 2008 to all things good that happened to me during this trying year. I hope it's good for everyone else, too.

Great stuff about the year 2008 (to me, anyway):

1. I discovered this song by Carl Jurgens/DJ Alex Gone - it's pretty cool and I recommend listening to it as I have, over and over, for months.

2. Barack Obama's White House victory.

3. The film Gonzo, which just proved to me after years of appreciating the writings of Hunter S. Thompson, that I've been right. He was more than your typical stoner/shock-artist. He was brilliant, and I'm sad that he didn't hang on for at least four more years.

4. My sweet husband, MikeD, who I can only reference online by posting this link.

5. My crazy work mates, who I think can be summarized visually by this glittery image:

6. My kitties...I'll spare everyone from having to look at yet another cute kitty photo by just assuming that it's obvious that mine are supreme.

7. Facebook, which surprised me, after all this time, by not being as ugly and creepy as MySpace and is keeping me in touch with friends I probably wouldn't be in touch with, otherwise. I'm warming up to it.

8. Kars 4 Kids, which gave me the opportunity to get rid of my pain in the butt car and to be philanthropic at the same time. With a little work and love (and/or a good price on salvaged parts), it could be worth something to someone.

9. Family, without whom we would be lost - no matter what kind of drama is involved.

10. The interwebs, without which I would not have my dream job, would not know the lyrics to many songs, and would not have been exposed to so many great sites with so many cool things, information, inspiration, etc. Many of these sites are listed under "Recommended," to the right...but there are a lot I need to add and certainly there is much more to discover.

Happy New Year...I hope everyone holds onto the good that happened in '08 and can shake the bad.

Merry Christmas!

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:25:11 -0600

Masood Kamandy's Photography

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:30:28 -0600

If you haven't seen Masood Kamandy's photography, you should. He is based in Brooklyn but has exquisite shots from Kabul, where his family originated. Check out his Afhanistan Project First Light Exhibition photos from his students in Kabul - they are amazing.

The Secret Diptychs shows the slight difference in the human face when thinking of a secret. It's really interesting to see how each person's face changes as they think of some secret...some of them have a sly look, some worried, others giddy.

Below is the intro shot from his two twenty nine project, which documents some of the NY Times former offices.

Color!

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:14:28 -0600

Found via COULOURlovers, this amazing site from Kashiwa Sato. It features animated color palettes using the colors of various projects. It could get hypnotizing after a while...check it out!

Wallpaper's Graduate Directory 2009

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:13:59 -0600

From Design Mind I jumped over to Wallpaper's 2009 Graduate Directory, a listing of bright recent gradates in fields ranging from Design to Travel. There is some great inspiration to be found, like this from Meng-Chia Lai:

A Recession Doesn't Have to be Ugly

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:37 -0600

Lately, like a lot of people, I've been thinking more about the 1930's than I have since Junior High School. It seems like there are articles everywhere dissecting the ways that people held onto their lives through bad economic times, which industries fared better than others, what had to happen to get out of it...reading about the depression is, um, depressing.

I did a search of depression era art, hoping to cheer myself up a bit, but only found photos of dust-bowl victims or bad drawings. Changing the search to 30's art, though, yielded a totally different and much more encouraging list of results.

One gem I found was Gatochy's Flickr Stream, which has a great collection of fashion photos from several eras, including the '30s. Here is an image from her Art Deco Blog, a 1932 "Wanderer" brochure:

And another - the text is unbelievable, but the appliances are divine. I really want a toaster like that...

Tranquility

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:39:24 -0600

My brother-in-law turned me onto an old photo archive site called Shorpy, which is amazing. I have a feeling I am just late to catch on, but if not, I recommend it. They have a huge archive of old photos in high definition...I could spend hours there just looking at them.

This is one of my favorites - an amazing photo by Toni Frissell that was in Harper's Bazzaar in 1947:

Gmail gone bad

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:06:37 -0600

Maybe it's a virus, but...

Somewhere in-between 8AM and now, Google has changed Gmail so that it has a mountain theme, instead of the minimalist theme that I've appreciated and loved since its inception. I'm really upset, seriously. I love iGoogle...I have a great Carrie Chau theme there, but Gmail? Seriously?

Anyone else feel violated, besides me?

Fashion Rocks

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:31:24 -0600

I found a new site this evening called oligoville.com. It's created by a small group of people who decided it was a great idea to build a community where both designers and musicians can socialize and sell their stuff. It's hip, it looks good, and they have great content. And it's only the beginning. Check it out:

What's your favorite letter?

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:52:20 -0600

I found this via Samantha Warren's Bad Ass Ideas:

It's from the "my favourite letters" flickr group, started by John Boardley of I Love Typography. There are a lot of wonderful examples of typography used as the centerpiece of a work of art...the letter R above, one of Samantha's, is one of my favorites, but it would be difficult to call any of them an absolute favorite.

I was inspired to create one myself:

Hey, it even rhymes! Courier New was the first font I really fell in love with, and I wish there were more situations where I could use it.

Gorgeous

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:30:41 -0600

I just found Sonia Szóstak's photography on deviantART - it contains the most amazing muted colors that gives her photos a weathered, dreamy, nostalgic feel. Most of her work is fashion photography but she has some fantastic photos from her travels...she really knows how to capture human beauty. Here are two of my favorites:

Between You and Me

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:47:41 -0600

I've always resented being born in the year of the rooster for obvious reasons, but recent events have made me see the word "rooster" a little differently. It's not necessarily bad though...it's all in how you Google it. See for yourself:

Czech Design

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:25:32 -0600

I can't remember where I came across Tomas Pojeta's site, but I re-found it in my "pretty sites" bookmarks folder. He asked people to tell him what they would like to see on his site and then he put the best ideas there, and has come up with one of the funnest sites around. Scroll up and down to see the full design.

Alphabet

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:33:07 -0600

This is one of the most enjoyable pages I've seen in a while, found via Swiss Miss: from Reuben Miller's blog, 22 of the World's Most Creative Alphabets. He has compiled a great selection of Alphabets found in everyday items or everyday ideas. One of my favorites is Kjell B. Sandved's Butterfly Alphabet:

Sometimes I wish I was Kim from NYC

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:01:23 -0600

I love Dallas, but sometimes I want to pack up everything and move to New York -- especially after reading some of my fave blogs written by New Yorkers. Michael Surtees captures some of the best street art on his blog -- check out this entry showing Banksy at work. This shot is great:

While I'm mentioning my affinity for NYC, I'll add the link to a blog I've read for several years, NY Nitty-Gritty. He gets some of the best graffiti shots ever -- check this one out.