I stumbled across The Human Calendar today, which is a dynamic calendar that changes based on the date.  I love that all of the people are looking at the person whose date it is.  Such a great concept, and so well executed.

And I love his snide remark about Windows:

“Windows Vista/Windows Sidebar

(coming less soon, I’m trying to locate a 10 foot pole)”

Yes, I feel as though it is this epic thing.  Our kitchen has quickly been falling apart over the past 2 years.  Every time I open a drawer that once contained something I might need, I see nothing.  No bottom.  Just nothing.  A couple of years ago the cheap toilet that my parents’ horrible contractor put in upstairs began running in the middle of the night for no reason and we woke up to a waterfall in our kitchen, which ruined all of the flooring and ceiling.  We have since replaced the ceiling tiles, and replaced what we could of the flooring, but its been nowhere near perfect.

Aside from the things that are physically wrong with it, there are aesthetic problems as well.  Everything is very grey.  When you make a kitchen, you want to make it warm and friendly.  You want it to be a color that makes you hungry, not that makes you feel sick.  My kitchen makes me feel sick.

The walls have wallpaper on them that will need to be removed, and the current cabinets are painted grey.  It’s just very depressing.

So last night we took the biggest step towards getting started:  We ordered the cabinets.  We already had bought one on clearance about two years ago, and last year we talked to a designer at Lowes, planning out the placement and exactly which pieces we needed.  So all we really had to do was walk in and order them.

I feel really weird about it.  Joe is very excited about finally ordering them and the thought of having a new kitchen.  I just feel very worried that we bought the wrong color, or that the pieces won’t fit, or that we will mess something up (we’re going to be installing them ourselves).

We also will be getting a dishwasher, an over-the-range microwave, a new sink, and we will be tiling the floor (we already have the ceramic tiles).

I’m planning on painting the walls a red-ish color.  The cabinets are natural maple.  It should look really nice.  Hopefully the new kitchen will help us out with the amount the house is worth.  Although, we aren’t planning on selling it for a few years.

Of course, the most difficult part of all of this is swallowing the amount it will cost.  Even though we won’t be spending a ton – we are doing this very efficiently – it still will be difficult for us in our current financial status.  My parents are going to help with some of the cost, and the rest I will be working very hard to pay off.  But all of it will pay off in the end, with a happier home, and a higher net worth.

An animation of a world completely comprised of typographic characters.

A beautiful animation about a tango dancer who cannot dance anymore - En Tus Brazos (In Your Arms).

An ad about the yard, done with a single cardboard box.

Luft Paper Puppet Theater from Monsta on Vimeo.

Radiohead held an online contest inviting DJs to remix their song, Nude, off of In Rainbows.  Apparently, this was a difficult task, being that the song is in 6/8 timing at 63bpm (most DJs mix in 4/4 time at 120bpm).  Most of the entries were only songs in 4/4 beat with sound bytes from the song arbitrarily thrown in.

The following was done by James Houston on outdated hardware.  Get through the first minute, which is just a “warmup”, and you will hear a beautiful symphony.  It reminds me of an art show I saw in Pittsburgh which consisted of a room full of dot matrix printers that were forced to play a concert (they eerily sounded like string instruments).

I think it is very much in the spirit of Radiohead.

Big Ideas (Don’t get any) from 1030 on Vimeo.

“Based on the lyric (and alternate title) “Big Ideas: Don’t get any” I grouped together a collection of old redundant hardware, and placed them in a situation where they’re trying their best to do something that they’re not exactly designed to do, and not quite getting there. 

“It doesn’t sound great, as it’s not supposed to. ”