life:and:lim

I guess you could say I live in "the barrio" of MV (right next to the Burrito Triangle), but this truck definitely looks out of place.  Yes, the guys are Chinese and yes, they are careful, efficient and pleasant to work with.  I heard them speaking a dialect I couldn't recognize at all. Turns out they are from Hebei province!  Not something you come across every day.

It's only been an hour and they are nearly through with clearing out all the junk I have in my current apt.  $65/hour.  I better tip them well.

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My coworker Sangeetha is taking a ceramics class with her husband.  She brought all these little pieces he made to work and a bunch of us got to take our pick.  This was one of the last ones left (I assume because it's not "useful" like some of the cups and saucers that other people took), but I love it.  It is so weird and fantastic, like something out of a Tim Burton film.  

       

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If you are rolling in $ and want to spoil your kids silly, or want to make them the most popular kids on the street, why not splurge on a custom play- or tree-house from Barbara Butler, who makes a living carving handmade play structures out of sustainable redwood.

                                     

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Well, not just girls -- he does monsters, superheroes, and other characters too.  But I think pretty girls is what he likes drawing best (I mean, his website is www.idrawgirls.com)

           

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I've been wanting to post this since I saw it linked off a coworker's FB profile.

Meet Angela Y. Lee, a creator of creatures!  That is, she's a rather imaginative person in Peoria, IL who makes huggable, lovable, customized plush toys by hand.  I was quite taken by the sunny disposition of her website, its inhabitants, and the adorable little stories bursting out of every seam.  A few things you should know about her operation:

• She never makes duplicates, so no two creatures are alike!
• She customizes it with your favorite colors, animals, ideas, and dreams.
• Her day trade: graphic designer.
• Her creatures are not cheap, but isn't buying handmade worth it!?

From her website: "I was living by myself in a dark, bug-infested, sublevel apartment with no furniture. I guess making soft little creatures comforted me while I was transitioning into this new city."  I actually asked her blessing to post about her creatures.  Her response: "Sure you can include my creatures on your blog, they would like that :)"  

How can one not smile? Order here!

                         

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I'm speaking, of course, of the extraordinary British illustrator who made gorgeous plates of all our favorite fairy tales (and some lesser-known works like the Valkyrie) once upon a time.  I've been a big Arthur Rackham fan since college.  I was just thinking randomly about him because I was looking for something good to put on my computer desktop.  Someone ought to print high-quality reproduction posters of his stuff, or maybe put together a coffee table book in his honor.

                                             

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First discovered this illustrator/artist on etsy.com.  You can find her etsy store here.  And her Flickr photostream here.  Again with the strange little girls.

I hope Ashley doesn't consider this post copyright infringement.  I don't own the rights to these.  I figure I'm sharing and thus promoting her work in a positive way.

               

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