Do you love linen?

Neenah Paper now has a cool way to test out textured stocks- specifically Classic Linen! You can upload your artwork and they will proof it on Classic Linen! Cool!

http://www.neenahpaper.com/DoYouLoveLinen/

PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise

The Color of the Year for 2010:  PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise! Read more here. Reminds me of tropical breezes.  In honor of 15-5519′s win, lets make a Blue Hawaiian!

1 oz rum + 1 oz blue curacao + 2 oz Pineapple Juice + 1 oz Cream of Coconut + ice + pineapple garnish!

And actually, I just found a turquoise margarita recipe here: http://www.in-the-spirit.co.uk/cocktails/view_cocktail.php?id=307

I’m digging the happy colors- I’m a firm believer that happy colors make happy people. And we all need some happy things in our lives.

PS this does NOT mean you need to stop sipping on your 14-0848′s

Thomas W. Reese

Mr. Thomas W. Reese, benefactor to ASU’s GAIT department passed away on Thanksgiving Day.

http://www.tec.appstate.edu/documents/Tom%20Reese2009.pdf

Droid

The girl that didn’t even have text messaging is now in possession of the Droid. Touch screen, slide-out keyboard, internet browsing, camera, usb charging, tons of free applications, and voice navigation/maps!!

Very excited about it. Although.. I might not be excited once I get my bill with my new plan information It’s probably doubling.

It took me about 2 hours of accidentally clicking on things but I finally figured it out and can navigate like a pro. I’ve demo’d my phone around work and to random people out on the town.

I can see people with iPhones sizing up the Droid. They’re trying to figure out if its cooler than  their phone.

I haven’t had any problems with connections or calling. I have hung up on people when I hit “end” instead of “mute” (mute is under the end button). I’m not much of a phone talker, but the battery life seems to be good. I’m only charging once a day and it the past couple of months, my KRZR would die after a six minute conversation.

Happy Halloween!

Courtney and I went to UNBOUND’s Carpe Noctem to celebrate Halloween. It was a dress up party! Courtney was a devil and I went as an Elvis impersonator.

Don’t hate on the Elvis costume. I paid good money for that and I am going to wear it whenever appropriate.

Girls Inc Photovoice

Last night was the gallery opening of Photovoice! This is the group of girls I worked with this summer through Girls Inc of Greater Columbia. The girls did a great job..  here are some pictures.  A brief description of Photovoice from the website:

Photovoice: Girls’ Visions, Girls’ Voices put cameras in the hands of adolescent girls, ages 10-17, so they can take photographs of their community – things they like and don’t like.  Girls explore their “points of view” using photography and accompanying narratives to give voice to their concerns. Working with family members, they identify their unique viewpoints and discuss generational differences. At the end of the project, girls share their concerns and perspectives through a public gallery exhibit of their photos to engage decision makers and create partnerships for community change.

Anyway, I really enjoyed working with this group. It burned up a lot of my Saturday mornings, but I think the girls were able to get some good things out of it.

Reading Rainbow

After obsessively tweeting about this topic just now, I realized that I need more than 140 characters to discuss Reading Rainbow.

Read the NPR article here. ‘Reading Rainbow’ Reaches Its Final Chapter by Ben Calhoun. Reading Rainbow really was one of my favorite shows growing up. We watched every show until we aged out (moved on to Carmen Sandiego I suppose). Love love love. I think this statement sums up what RR is,The article goes on to say that programming that teaches how to read (phonetics, etc) is still on the air, but “Reading Rainbow taught kids why to read,” John Grant says. “You know, the love of reading — [the show] encouraged kids to pick up a book and to read.” It definitely made my brother and I go to the library and pick up the recommended reading lists.

A few of my favorite episodes. TEAMWORK. They sang and danced around. I love musicals so there shouldn’t be any surprise here. The featured book was A Chair for my Mother. by Vera D. Williams It was about a family who saved up money to buy their mom a chair because their house burned down. A big comfortable chair.

The hat episode, A Three Hat Day by Laura Geringer. I just remember that he went to a hat shop and could go anywhere (like you can go anywhere by reading books!) by putting on a hat. They you take the hat off and yell “HAT!” to return back to the hat shop. I think he put a knight helmet on and ended up in a jousting tournament?

Favorite book Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe” also by Vera D. Williams (who knew!). We drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove… I liked how the book gave cool survival tips. I think I also really enjoyed that the moms were the hard core paddlers. Strangely enough, one of the recommended books from that episode is the Worlds to Explore: Handbook for Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts.

Abiyoyo was scary. He ate sheep and cows. Anyway. I heart Reading Rainbow. I still love to read. My love of reading comes from my mom, who probably let us sit in front of the tv watching PBS I haven’t seen RR anytime recently, but I have fond memories. Hopefully it continues to run in syndication and/or dvds.

AIGA 11 questions

Eleven questions to ask before you design, specify or buy anything by (and my responses)

Questions are at http://sustainability.aiga.org/sus_questions

1. Do we need it? Can we live without it?  Obviously not. You can live without advertising.

2. Is the project designed to minimize waste?  This is a big thing. There are lots of things that can be done to reduce the waste impact. For instance, understanding imposition is a great way to minimize waste. Yeah having a fun sized brochure is well fun.. but there is a reason things are 8.5 x 11 or 5.5 x 8.5. They fit very efficiently onto standard size press sheets.

3. Can it be smaller, lighter or made from fewer materials? Definitely. See above. You can also design as “self covers” This will cut down on plates, etc. I can obv. Talk about a lot of things on this subject… but that’s another story..

4. Is it designed to be durable or multi-functional?  Well. Paper is actually very durable.

5. Does it use renewable resources?  Paper is a renewable resource!

6. Is reuse practical and encouraged? Yes! People have the ability to keep printed material as long as they would like. Internet files etc, use electricity to power the computer, etc.

7. Are the product and packaging refillable, recyclable or repairable?  YES! Paper is recyclable. The cardboard boxes it ships in can be reused along with the craft paper it is packaged with!! Consumers realize that paper is super recyclable which makes it even better. And even if they don’t recycle, it will decompose after a while.

8. Is it made with post-consumer recycled or reclaimed materials and how much? I can help pick out a sheet with the PCW you are looking for… sheets range from 0%, 10%, 30%, up to 100%. There are also some sheets made with alternative fibers like sugarcane.

9. Are the materials available in a less toxic form? Can it be made with less toxic materials?  Again, this depends on what sheet you choose. Some papers have a ECF/PCF designation. This refers to the chlorine used in the bleaching process.  Most printers (Wentworth included) are using soy based inks. The exception is UV inks (which are made from plastics)

10. Is it available from a socially and environmentally responsible company?  I am the quality/sustainability person at my company… so I would say yes!

11. Is it made locally? I’m in Columbia, SC. But of course, because we’re part of the Consolidated Graphics group of companies, if you have a client in San Francisco, we can communicate with our sister plant Anderson Printing, have it print locally in California thus saving overnight FedEX air freight from SC to CA. Saving all that jet fuel, etc.

Dress up like a cow, get free Chikin’

Cow appreciation day http://www.chick-fil-a.com/#home Get your costume kit here http://www.cowappreciationday.com/_downloads/costume_kit.pdf

Mooooooooooooooo!

Camy and campers dressed up like cows

GS trip to Asheville

A cute cabin, scenic rides on the Blue Ridge Parkway, fording rivers (ok, walking across a stream), downtown Asheville, Mellow Mushroom, and waterfalls. Oh, and then a dead crow hanging upside down in the middle of someone’s garden.

Good times