Spaghetti Toes

The other day I came across a super neat blog called "Spaghetti Toes", where a father draws and posts illustrations of funny things said by and to his toddler daughter. Here are a few of my favourite illustrations from the blog - a delightful look into a little girl's curious mind and the dialogue of a young family.

Too good!

She might.

Love this one.

Too cute.

This one is probably my favourite.

This girl loves her bacons.

The thought of having children becomes scarier
the more I found out about the kind of things they get up to.

Awkwardly it seems that I've reproduced most of the blog. Looking forward to seeing future illustrations, it's such a cool way to preserve memories!

G.

Ron Winter's online drums

I came across this online drum set today and it is awesome.

Such colour.

This is the kind of thing that people with highly co-ordinated fingers can do with these beats:

I may have stumbled across my new summer project.

G.

Why procrastinators procrastinate / How to beat procrastination

I'm a procrastinator. I don't think I used to be. I don't know what has caused me to become one in recent years. But it doesn't matter, because I am one now. It's not great. I know I have things I need to get done, and things I want to get done, but I find lots of excuses and reasons to put those things off for another day - a day that never comes.

I came across these articles on procrastination and how to get out of it on waitbutwhy.com the other day, and I found them both amusing and helpful. They're quite long and have illustrations so I won't reproduce them in full, but the links are below.

Part 1 - Why Procrastinators Procrastinate

http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html

My Instant Gratification Monkey is a powerful jerk. And I often find myself in my own sticky version of the Dark Playground where Facebook is a 24/7 ride. (I found it highly intriguing that a the goals used in the article as examples are pretty much actual goals I often set for myself in real life. I quote, verbatim: "[G]etting in shape, cooking elaborate meals, learning to play the guitar [well], writing a book, reading, or even making a bold career switch ...")

Part 2 - How to Beat Procrastination

http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/11/how-to-beat-procrastination.html

This makes perfect sense, and it's gold. Plan effectively by prioritising your goals and turning each goal into a series of manageable tasks. Discipline yourself to escape the Dark Playground and persevere through the Dark Woods until you get to the Happy Playground, and you may even find yourself in the Flow. Enlist external support if you need to. Ultimately, you'll become a more productive, happier and better person. I want to be that person - a more fulfilled, well-rounded and useful version of my current self.

Easier said than done? That's what a procrastinator would say.

G.

All the buildings in New York

There's this Australian artist called James Gulliver Hancock who is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He's on a quest to draw all the buildings in New York, and he puts his drawings up on a blog called "All the Buildings in New York": http://allthebuildingsinnewyork.blogspot.com. His work is really cool, and it seems like his project has been receiving a lot of attention lately.

On this blog I found some buildings that I really enjoyed when I was in New York a couple of years ago. (Of course there are heaps of others, like Rockefeller Centre, the The Museum Of Modern Art and the buildings that make up Times Square, but I don't want to go through all the posts to find these, if they were there at all.)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Guggenheim Museum.

The Chrysler Building.

The Empire State Building.

The New York Stock Exchange.

The above selection consists of major landmarks - not surprising that these kinds of buildings were the ones that stood out most for me during my 10 short days as a tourist in New York - but Hancock's drawings of regular New York buildings are really neat too, like these ones.

17 East 70th Street.

1 West Street.

142 West 4th Street.

313 20th Street.

I love New York. I miss New York. I hope to go back to New York one day.

G.

Children with swag

I came across this blog called "Children With Swag" through some American friends of mine. The title says it all: it's a collection of photographs of stylish children. Here's the link to it:

http://childrenwithswag.tumblr.com/

I don't know whether I should feel like a paedo for rating this blog, but I can't help the fact that I love children and I love swag. Combining the two may seem unnatural at the outset, but once you embrace the concept you'll see that it's awesome.

Here are some of my favourite children with swag:

Cutest little gangster!

Rocking some shades.

Ohhhhh yeaaaaa.

Posing with a bicycle while friends hang off a gate.

S.W.A.G.

So much swag.

He must be a part-time model.

A young gentleman.

I heart hot milk.

"Swag" is my middle name.

I wish I had as much swag as these kids do.

G.

A rough guide to non-awkward hugging

I love hugs. There's nothing better than a great hug to lift up your spirits and make you feel loved. I came across this rough guide to non-awkward hugging through Liz (an incredible source of cool things on the internet). It's from a blog called "Anna-grams" (http://anna-grams.blogspot.com).

A Rough Guide to Non-Awkward Hugging

I hereby declare 2012 "Year of the Non-Awkward Hugs".

A year of NO A-Frames...

A year without ANY Sideways Hugging... (it is not your friend.  It is not even really a hug.)

There is no need to resort to the Pat-Pat-Hug.
You are no less manly for your lack of back-patting.

I am not a hot potato.  You can maintain contact for a full second if you like.

Lifting people off the ground is considered impolite.

 

And please, please, ALWAYS go left.

The important this is not to be afraid of the hug.  A good hug is a confident hug.

Now go forth, to hug in peace!

(Happy New Year)

I totally support eradicating awkward hugs in 2012.

G.