"I always say 'beer me.' It gets a laugh, like, a quarter of the time."

Today I have beer on the mind. I picked up a nice cold growler at lunch to take up to my sister's this weekend and then I went out for a beer with a coworker after work (plus the bar was doing a free appetizer buffet, score!). I came across this beer tonight and it seemed great for a post. First, because I enjoy the packaging. Second, because I love beer and third because it kind of goes along with the whole Earth Hour this past weekend.

I've talked about beer before but Cascade Green is a pretty interesting beer. Landor in Sydney apparently held the meeting at the zoo to get in the "green" mood which is awesome. Plus, they have made this a "green" beer by changing some of their processes and buying carbon offsets (which is another discussion for another time, since I don't fully agree with the offsets idea). None the less, I do applaud them for trying to make the beer in a more environmentally friendly way.

So, if you are in Australia, check out this beer and see what it is like. I know I will be enjoying my beer this weekend which happens to be my local breweries 100% certified organic beer.

Sidenote: I really hope you know the quote in the beginning of the post...

[pictures from the dieline]

I wanted to share with you what I was randomly thinking about today. With all kinds of advancements in computers it seems like someday we may be able to control them with our minds. Who knows? I really don't think I would wan to totally control a computer with my mind though. As I was working on a layout today I just kind of wished I could think "pen tool" and BAM I have the pen, or "select arrow" and be on my merry way. I really don't want to have to think the exact spot where I want the mouse to be to then draw a rectangle. Maybe it would be easy, but on the other hand it seems like it would be hard, and take a long time to perfect. However using your mind to select things or activate commands would be cool.

I know that is totally random, but I thought about it for quite awhile today (it might have partially to do that my mouse will not scroll up, and it is driving me crazy).

So, readers? Yay or nay? Control computers with our minds? Partially? Fully? What?

This isn't a game that I play all the time, but if you really need to find a way to blow an afternoon, and you are all bejewled out, this will help. The Eyeballing Game. Test your skill at a variety of tests to see if you can really see where the exact middle of a line segment is, of finish the other 2 sides of the parallelogram. You play through 3 times and it takes an average.

The next on my list of "time sucks" is the always amazing Bejewled on Facebook. I got my wife hooked on it as well and it is beyond addicting. You can play on your iPod Touch and your iPhone as well. It has your friends listed on the side so you can compete which them as well.

One of the best (or worst) parts is it records all of your scores over 25k points. So you can see how many games you have one over 25k (well over 500 now), 50k, 75k, etc. The bad part abut this, is you can add them all up, and if each game is a minute long, you can figure out how long you have wasted your life on this. I do wish it recorded every game played, since I know I have a lot under 25k, but the last time I checked i had clocked in around 20 solid hours of game time.

This week I kind of thought about posting a bit what I do online when I am not reading design blog, working on projects (both design and art) etc. Kind of a look into my life. Usually if I am slow on posting, it is because these other sites have sort of taken my mind over for a bit.

First up is Slick Deals. If you know me, you know I love good deals and great deals. SD is a forum where everyone goes and post about great deals they have found so others can partake in them. This may seem crazy but I save $1000's a year shopping for good deals online. The only problem with SD is you get hooked and end up spending money you don't need to.

However, in the normal realm of things, and things tht may help you in your professional life, I picked up 3 more years of Popular Photography this weekend for $12 (normal one year price is $14) and I also was able to save $1440 off my Sprint bill (over the next 2 years of my contract), and was also able to do the same Sprint deal for my parents, inlaws, and sister. Not too many design related items come up, but when they do I am on them. This goes along with searching for coupon codes online, I have saved almost everywhere I shop, including MoMA.

Just be careful, you can get hooked easy.

Has it been sunny out for you? I know it has been here, and you can see that it has greatly affected my mood. The weather has been great, tomorrow it is supposed to be 70, and that means drinks on the balcony when I get home from work.

I went to etsy and typed in "sunny" and this is what I found. Want a way to spruce up your portfolio, stand out a bit? You'll stand out anywhere with this bright yellow case. Plus, can't beat a username like JohnTWalrus.

Enjoy your Friday, then it's the weekend!

The weather has been getting warmer here so last night I had the ambition to get the bikes out of the attic. Then I had an even greater ambition to ride my bike to work today. The ride went well except it is still quite brisk in the morning!

Now I just have to ride home, which is a greater feat. Since there is a giant hill between me and home, although much better then the hill on the way to work and therefore being really gross and sweaty.

Get out there an enjoy the weather!

[image is a shirt on threadless]

I'm in kind of a blah mood today. Might be because it is Monday, or because it was gray out yet again today, or everything feels like it is stuck in a rut. Something's gotta change (although tomorrow is Tuesday, so that is a change!)

I did get my sand shaper in the mail today, super fast shipping (especially for free!) now I just need a beach to try them out on, I don't think i'll be testing it on snow this year...

Today I have had the beach on the mind. It was a long chain of events that got it on my mind but then I remembered this awesome post on swissmiss, and about a really cool new tool called the Willysphere. I wanted to post it back then, but it wasn't available anywhere, so you'd get all excited about it (like I did) then have no way to get them.

Well they are finally available in the US!

The Willyshpere is a sand shaping tool invented by a guy from the Netherlands. The creator won second place in a "Best Idea in the Netherlands" contest for the product. Basically you move them in a circular motion on well packed sand or snow, and the slight curve in the tool will create different size spheres. Check out the video to see it in action, and just how insane of a project you can make out of it.

You can get them here, for $14.95 (regular $20) for a set of 4 of them with free shipping. You'll be able to make 20, 30, 40 and 50cm diameter spheres. So not as big as he said in the video, up to 1m, but still a pretty good size and more manageable for the everyday user. I am ordering a set for sure, and can't wait for the warm weather to get here and try them out (I need something else to do when there isn't enough wind for my kite, and plus, these are beyond cool). I am really happy they made it a reasonable price too since it is such a simple product, this way everybody can pick up a set and play on the beach all day. Pick up a set for yourself, friends, family, kids, anyone who would love making shapes in the sand all day.

So this is something I have been wanting to post about for awhile, but it kept slipping my mind. But, yeah, this is totally on my wishlist. Although my wife is not the biggest fan, so it may take longer then planned.

This is the amazing Donkey Kong wall graphic from Blik. What is Blik you might ask (ironically that is their web address too, whatisblik.com)? They make vinyl wall graphics and are probably the leading company doing this. The graphics are fantastic. They have officially licensed graphics from Nintendo, Eames, Threadless, other artists, and tons of other great ones.

So I have been craving the Kong one. It is made with reStik, which is the kind of vinyl you can take down and put back up. How awesome is that? It is $65 for a set, but if you can reuse it, it's worth it. Unfortunately, the image at the top is most likely made with multiple sets. They recently redid their website, and I miss 2 great features it had. 1. It used to have more photos from people who have bought them, there was a great donkey kong one on a light grey wall wrapped around a corner (they have it as the icon if you search "kong" you'll see it) Found it! 2. It had a little graphic that showed what you could do with one kit, then two, then three, to show you how elaborate you could make it. Essential for this type of kit where you really need to see what you could do with one if you are on a budget, obviously not making the show stopper above.

What is with the Mega Man picture you ask? Yeah that's right, Mega Man coming soon, killer. If I had a perfect world, I would have my own studio, old school Mario in one room, Kong in another, Mega Man in another. I doubt I would get any work done though, since I would just sit there and play my NES on the biggest TV I could while blasting the Double Dragon theme song.

Ok, back to a point. If you have checked them out in the past, go again, because they are adding amazing things. If you haven't been before, go now, and see how you can spice up your place (these are key for rentals since they are removable). I would really like to see how the reStik works, how many times you can reapply it etc. One day, my wall WILL be Donkey Kong, one day. The wall behind me is begging for it right now...

So I know I have been slacking with the posts lately. I have been diligently working on a new website for  a local business here, and it is taking up a ton of my time at night. Add in we have the Mad Men season 1 dvds from the library right now, so we have been watching that as well. I promise quality posts coming up.

To pass some time, I recommend this old post, and read about some Clients from Hell . Your entire afternoon will just drift away.

This is a self promotional package for NNSS. What really drew me to is it the color. The bright cyan (I think it is cyan, the one shot looks a little green...) in combination with the white and then add in some thin lines and thin type. Sold.

Go check out their website too. That bright cyan again with some dark gray and again the thin type, looks fantastic. Unfortunately, most of it is in a language I don't know.

I saw this website the other day, Simple Desktops, and loved it. They feature really simple backgrounds that won't clutter up your screen so it can look great and still function. I picked a few out that I really liked above but they have a ton more.

Now the only thing I need to do is not have a desktop that looks like a bomb went off. I honestly don't use it, except for a dumping ground. I always have something open so I hardly ever see it and it is just completely full of files and folders. Maybe one day it will be night and tidy...

[via How About Orange]

Things don't always have to make sense, ands that is why the world is awesome.

Lunasaurus by Aesthetic Apparatus. $20