Couldn't resist.

Solo afternoon.

I went on a hike yesterday after work at Rainbow Basin, a conservation area in Kirksville. I love the place. I used to say that I didn't think this part of the state, the northeast, was as pretty as the rest because it's too flat, not like the rest of the state, and certainly not like the beautiful hills of the MO River that I grew up on. But if you step out of Kirksville in pretty much any direction, it's breathtaking. I am self-admittedly in love with my Missouri, and getting out in it is awesome. Reminds me of tramping around the woods as a kid, spending all day outside.

Lovely.

...Oh, and I brought my camera.

Yellow flowers are pretty...

but purple ones are, too.

I see you.

I took about a million pictures of this trying to focus on it. At least this one turned out.

Brown-eyed suzies are my favorite, even the damaged ones.

I thought this was beautiful.

Just thought I'd share.

I stumbled upon this project while browsing the web one day. It's a father-daughter collaboration between David Eustace and his daughter Rachel. They went on a road trip together and documented the whole thing. I think the coolest thing about it is that, as beautiful and moving as it is to outsiders like myself, I know that the images and everything they collected and the time they spent together means so much more to them than it ever could to anyone else, like a secret.

.....Plus, I love anything having to do with road trips, and the fact that they are in the southwest makes me more excited for my own road trip down to NM later this summer.

Filling up my notebook.

I've been filling up my notebook with random sketches/drawings/musings/whatevers. I love handwritten typography (maybe because of my Sagmeister fixation?...eh, join the party), and I it's fun to practice. I think it's a great way to liven up pretty much any poster or piece of design, if appropriate, of course. I always find a lot of great inspiration at WeLoveTypography.

Quote from Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, a book I've been visiting.

I wish I could remember from where I picked up this quote.

From Emma, my sister, who claims to have written it herself.

Justin Vernon, how I love thee.

Upcycled coasters!

I love the idea of "up-cycling," or taking something that would be recycled or even trashed and making something useful out of it. I saw this neat idea for coasters made from the pages of magazines a long time ago, somewhere on the internet, so I decided to try to make my own. I made some last year for my AIGA group to sell as a fund-raiser, and they actually all sold out, by the end of the semester.

Since then, I think I've gotten a lot better at it and they look a lot neater and cleaner than my earlier ones. It's a project I'll continually do. I do it when I feel a little crafty and I want to unwind by just making something that doesn't take a lot of thought, lol!

I like to use magazines like Seventeen because they are so colorful. Luckily, I got my hands on a huge stack of mags, so I could make coasters all day every day for quite a while... Eh, maybe not, but they sure are neat!

Concert-ing

I got the chance to see one of my favorite bands of the moment on Monday at the Pageant in St. Louis (a great venue!), called Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. The concert was fantastic! The band, which consists of at least 10 people, is so entertaining, and they obvious love what they're doing. It's great to see musicians actually get into their music instead of standing there like zombies like so many bands seem to do. Jade, one of their lead singers, kept running on and off the stage, like some sort of sprite or nymph, but she fit right into what felt like a music wonderland. So great. Just a positive, fun atmosphere. I would love to see them again!

This scene was painted on their backdrop at the show.

Here's a video of them on Letterman from last year. They are absolutely intoxicating!

AND the opening band, Dawes, was awesome as well. I love when the opening band is so good that I want to rush home and download all their music, which is exactly what I did with these guys. I didn't think they could get a band that could justify themselves as openers for the Zeros--they are just so damn entertaining--, but man, these guys were good. They made these hilarious, intense faces when they played and they were just In it. It was really great!

I like their album art. They are cute guys, too!