see you in 2009

i'll be busy with family and friends over the next couple of weeks, so you won't be hearing much from me until january. however, i promise to come back with some good stories and photographs. i hope you have a lovely and peaceful end to your december, and i'll see you in 2009.

the bird whisperer

my dad loves birds, and they love him. he feeds them all winter long, and they sing their little hearts out in our backyard even on the coldest of days. sometimes they are so distracted by all of the bird seed and the singing and their love for my father that they mistake our windows for open flying space. this, my friends, is a sad reward for beautiful song. running head-on at bird speed into a wall of glass usually means the end of a little creature's life, but for the ones who happen to hit our window, they are the lucky few.

my dad, The Bird Whisperer, is a one-man bird revival team. the second we hear the ping-thump! of a little beak hitting glass, he's running for the back door. boots, gloves, door slams, rounding the garage, scooping up a dazed bundle of feathers, back inside, holding tight in warm hands. you see, my ornithology-knowledge-less friends, birds who have had a run-in such as i've described can die of shock within minutes, especially in cold weather, if they aren't kept calm and warm.

i'm both happy and proud to say that this past weekend i witnessed my father saving yet another one of his favorite backyard friends- a White-breasted Nuthatch. it was oddly touching, watching the little guy (gal?) sit happily in my dad's fist, knowing that without The Bird Whisperer, the poor thing would have surely been dead in a snowbank.

i know it's odd, but that's okay. it makes me happy and it's a memory i have that goes as far back as i can remember. i'm glad that my dad has taught me the intricacies of bird-revival, so that some day i too will be able to save the little singers in my own backyard.

catch

and release

(please forgive the sideways-ness of these videos... i am, occasionally, a techno-idiot.)

sleds

it's hard to beat the magnificence of sledding on a cold, sunny winter day.

hallelujah

flickr has this great little thing called interestingness, where interesting pictures posted each day of the year are gathered for our pleasure, and put into a photo calendar of sort. i could get lost for hours, so i gave myself the task of focusing on december, and more specifically, images that made my holiday spirit sing. did i just say that? i suppose i did.

matteart

Matte Stephens is an artist i first learned about back in september, when one of my favorite bloggers, sfgirlbybay, posted an entry titled The Brainiac in Portland. i've been poking around his shop and photostream ever since- i never seem to tire of looking at his fantastic prints... they're quirky and full of color, and i love the way his characters come to life, telling stories in a single frame. i have not yet purchased any of his art, but it's on my (long) list of "apartment to-dos" for january.

kusudama

i have a friend getting married in april, and she's decided on bouquets of origami flowers- genius. they'll last forever, and they're absolutely beautiful. click here to check out some fantastic bouquets.

o8ama

check out this great article on Logo Design Love. it shows the logo ideas that weren't chosen for Obama's campaign, featuring an interview with the logos' creator, Sol Sender.

holiday high

a weekend full of holiday festivities, good friends and snow. hopefully this holiday high will help me make it through a busy week of work. my holiday weekend highlights:

laughter.

a long winter run.

a hostess with the mostest.

a little dance.

an american breakfast.

can't have it? stick it.

i've been intrigued by these funky wall decals for quite some time now. i love silhouettes, and like the idea of being able to "own" a cat or a lemur without actually having to take care of it, but can't quite decide how these would look in my (our) place. (plus, they've already gotten the kibash.) either way, i take pleasure in seeing how other people have placed them around their spaces. enjoy!

advent art

a little thursday morning show-and-tell... an advent calendar that i made for a friend last year- complete with happy thoughts and compliments behind each door. i think everyone needs one of these to keep up year-round as a reminder of their good qualities and overall fantastic-ness...

assemblage

i received a link to this flickr photostream from an unexpected source over lunch. i poked around and discovered these fantastically quirky pieces of art from iHanna, who just happens to have her very own shop on etsy. i swoon.

whispers

secret secrets from PostSecret... a collection of these, a delightful gift.

funky chicken

once again, etsy has me hooked. look at these fantastic switchplate covers and coasters by Funky Chicken Design. i think some of these will soon be owned by me.