Six random and only vaguely related things that I’m loving this week:

• “Snacks of the Great Scribblers” from the New York Times (a portion of which is shown above).
• Beyond the Perf’s 2012 stamp preview (I’m loving the cherry blossom design).
• Fab.com’s daily design bargins.
• Hipster Puppies– I feel this is pretty self-explanatory.
• Pinwheels and their symbolism
• The “Airmail Origami” T-Shirt from Milatree on Etsy (found via Good Mail Day… I think.  Pictured below.)

“The Current War,” an infographic from Good magazine.

I’m loving this infographic from Good about the development of electricity, Tesla and Edison (click for a larger image).  Ever since I saw “The Prestige,” I’ve been fascinated with rivalry between Tesla and Edison.  I feel like there has got to be a great book about this, kind of in the style of Devil in the White City but with a tad bit more history.  You know– Victoriana, rivalry, science, scientific glass and brass instruments… Suggestions?

By the way, this infographic makes an excellent (if slightly nerdy) desktop background.  I’m a huge fan.

Heather K. Phillips designed these Stamps of Disapproval.  I’m a fan– there are times in my personal and professional life that these would come in handy.  Oh, and if you used StazOn ink, you could even disapprove of all sorts of public signs…  They are available for purchase from Schooled.  Now, which one really captures my feelings most of the time?  Probably, “I’m not convinced.”

Found via NotCot

“Entrance to Dreamland, Coney Island, NY” c. 190- in the NYPL’s collection.

The time!  Oh goodness.  Can I blame the holidays?  That I just ran a marathon?  That it gets dark at like, what, 4:30 or something obscene like that… Well, regardless of my own lack of writing, there is loads to read about the post online.  Here is just a little of what I’ve been spending my free time reading about lately:

• The New York Public Library has an entire section of its website/digital gallery dedicated to historical postcards.  The NYPL has over 25,000 postcards in its collection (I’m jealous).
• The National Postal Museum is recruiting volunteers for 2011!
• Kat Ran Press has loads of information up about stamps designed by type designers (and plans for a book!).
• Every Day Should be  a Red Letter Day is doing a “12 Days of Mail Art” series that is just divine
• NPR’s series “Snail Mail Struggles” is now available on their website (lots of fascinating stuff there).
• The book Going Postal would make an excellent holiday gift for someone who likes graffiti and the mail (hint hint).

Oh, and if you’re here because of PostalHeritage’s blog post, “Hi! Welcome!  I hope you like my funny little bit of the internet.” It might be a bit running heavy for a few days… I just ran my first marathon (in 4 hours and 48 minutes).

Image via Kat Ran Press.

It seems awfully early to start the calendar obsessing, I think I said something about holding off until November 1, but there are just too many good ones to keep quiet.  Herewith, links to just a few of the calendars that are catching my eye:

• Pie Bird Press’ 2011 Seasonal Produce Calendar
• Plasticouture’s Until 2044, steel working perpetual calendar necklace in silver (image above)
• Atherton Lin’s Under The Sea 2011 Calendar (image below. I had their 2010 calendar and loved it)
• DekAnimal’s Little Colorful Peacock 2011 poster calendar
• Sadly Harmless’ Adventures 2011 Calendar
• 74 Lime Lane’s 2011 Calendar Letters desk calendar

Have you joined Design Crush’s 2011 Calendar Swap?  You have to Saturday evening if you want to join.

I’m on my way to San Francisco now, but I wanted to share this with you.  Just yesterday I came across what is sure to be a new favorite blog, Design Crush.  Seriously friends, why did you not tell me about this corner of the internet?  Of course, this might be for the best for my pocket book but… on the other hand, OH MY GOSH THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD STUFF THERE!  I spent ahem more time than I should’ve ahem at work looking through the site and its archives.

Second, the lovely lady behind Design Crush is hosting a 2011 calendar swap!  Oh yes, yes, yes.  Do we really have to go into how hard it is for me to pick just one little, bitty calendar each year?  Finally, an excuse to buy two (at least).  It is a bit of a pricey swap, $20 minimum, but I’m happy to get one picked out for me. If you’d like to join in you have until Oct. 31 to sign up.

I’m going to try to hold off on the calendar obsessing until at least November 1.  But… while poking around in Design Crush’s archives I did come across this day planer which might actually be perfect.

Once again, I’ve been away much longer than I meant to.  Unfortunately, well happily for me as a human but not so much for me as a blogger, I’m going to remain busy.  I’m heading to San Francisco and Oakland this weekend and into next week– some for fun, some for work.  Plus, did I mention I’m running a marathon in about 6 weeks?!  Sheish running 18+ miles takes a lot of time (and requires substantial napping).  Do forgive me, wont you?

A few things catching my eye in the meantime:

• Mailable, Japanese Kit-Kat boxes (found via the Good Mail Day Tumblr)
• Schmutzerland’s “Feathered Friends” rings (wish I’d picked one up at Crafty Bastards)
• “Everything in Iceland has a milky white quality to it” in Jeanine Caron’s Flickr stream (above)
• Hulu’d episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report (how did I forget?)
  
• The New Orleans Saints‘ games
  
• Design*Sponge’s San Francisco City Guide

What have you been looking at these past few days?

Inspired by a post on the Letter Writer’s Alliance, today I present two spaces– one space I’m seriously jealous of and one space I’m really excited about. First, how cool is The Papered Parlour (pictured above via Don’t Panic Magazine)?!  The more I learn about London the more I’m convinced I should move 3,600 miles northeast.  I’d love to have a space outside my apartment dedicated to crafting.  Plus, their motto makes me smile: “We hold these truths to be self evident; tea, cake and the pursuit of craft…”

In other news, I’m so excited that Dave Egger’s 826 writing center will be in DC soon!  AND!  AND!  The storefront’s theme is “Museum of Unnatural History!”  Could it be any more perfect for my current aesthetic?!  Beyond the completely selfish shopping reasons I’m excited about this, DC has trouble with its education (although we’re working on it, I’m a proud Washingtonian don’t get me wrong) and it’ll be a great community addition and I am a fan of childrens’ literacy causes and  all that too.  BUT A MUSEUM OF UNNATURAL HISTORY?!  Yes, please.

Things will be a big quiet around here for a bit.  I’ve got some work travel this week (so, actually it’s hardly a break…) and it’s my birthday.  Let’s pick back up on the 19th or so, shall we?  For now, here are a few things I’ve been ogling or reading lately:

• Budget Raygun: honestly, do I even have to explain this (via NotCot)
• Back issues of the Dummy Stamps newsletter
• Etsy Finds Decor: Natural History
• Anthropologie’s “Stacked Paperback” wallpaper (pictured above, via Design*Sponge)
• Snail Trails’ “retro rentals” and campers (via Uppercase Magazine)
• Field Notes’ “County Fair” series (pictured below). I’ve resisted the lure of Field Notes’ notebooks but this just might be the breaking point…
• The Radical Homemaker website (and a critique/response to it’s philosophy)
• The book Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express

What are you all up to this summer?  Leave a note in the comments– I’m always interested in new sites full of pretty things, mail-related objects, or whatever it is that brings you joy.

I spend a lot of time on my computer (at work and at home) and on the phone.  These two items have gotten me thinking about the possibilities for an incredible home office/studio/desk/base.  First, (pictured above) the iRetrophone Classic Black by Free Land Studios, $195 via Etsy.  Wouldn’t it also look great on my bedside table?  Yes, yes it would.  If only I had $200 laying around…

Second, the USB Typewriter is just too cool for words.  Of course, not only do you need the DIY kit, a typewriter (which I have), and an iPad but the time to put it all together and the ability to “ruin” a perfectly good typewriter.  Oh, and they cost anywhere from $300-500 plus the screen/monitor.  Yikes.

Lovers of the look, feel, and quality of old fashioned manual typewriters can now use them as keyboards for any USB-capable computer, such as a PC, Mac, or even iPad!

Finally, the desk itself– a steel mail sorting desk.  Yes, I’d love a wooden vintage one but they are expensive (ahem not that this isn’t) and the desk portion isn’t quite as deep as I’d like.  I’ve thought about this a lot.  Plus, how totally awesome would be it be to have all those compartments up there to keep things tidy!