Coffee Break

As you may have noticed, I've been on an extended coffee break from blogging (although not naked like the girl in the artwork by Orly Cogan above. Just discovered her on another blog and absolutely love her work. Intimate, part pervy, part humorous, part vintage, part modern and always thought provoking).

Getting my new agency off the ground has been extremely time consuming, but nevertheless exciting. I have several clients through word of mouth who have kept me very busy, so building my own agency site is taking every bit of my spare time. In these times, it's a good problem to have.

I hope to get back on the coffee wagon soon.

Summer reading

It's summer in Chicago. Really and truly, full-on summer. Not a San Francisco summer with a teasing sun that tricks you into thinking a tank top and shorts could be appropriate attire for the day, only to give you a cold shoulder by late afternoon when the fog arrives. No, you can count on Chicago's sun to stick around for a few months. I'm thrilled to partake in all that a good summer offers: bike rides, street festivals, grilling, roof tops, cold beer, tank tops, flip flops, iced lattes, outdoor cafés, trips to the beach... and of course a great read. Right now I'm savoring a book of poems called Echo Train by my friend Aaron Fagan. Because I'm not a writer, it's hard for me to describe his work, other than to say it's visual, raw and real, sometimes tender, sometimes pissed-off and mixed with a unique sense of humor. It dangles me somewhere between tears and laughter. On the most superficial level, it will leave you feeling way smarter and cooler than you felt before you read his book.

from Echo Train (SALT PUBLISHING):

Gym

There is safety around the smell of coffee and laughter.

And a story so simply told it sounds like our story—

Like your life, a lie you made up as you went along—

Until it stopped working, and then you are the hair

Arrested in the shower and won't wash down the wall.

And it's puzzling in the purest sense of puzzling to you—

Inspiration comes in with a dusty tool bag and leaves.

And you wear that "What the fuck?" expression you have

Every time you experience an aspect of relativity like this.

Everything and nothing infinitely like something and never

Left to be what it is or would become begins to sound

Like math for peace—if you just took an involuntary breath

Of hope and surrendered even more to what happens next

And everything you can't imagine after that, with love.

And that is when we doubt and say you'd have to be dead

Or free. The storyteller tells us only our idea of who

We are is dead. And that we are all our own religion.

Lenny & Me and Mary

It was a glorious day in Chicago so Mary and I rode our bikes through Wicker Park this morning. On our way home we stopped by the vintage/thrift store, Lenny & Me. Mary spotted a cute little Brother typewriter in blue which we snapped up, plus a Scandinavian table runner (you can see our cat Zooey enjoying it as soon as I put it on our patio table). I had fun shooting as many cool vintage coffee cups and stuff as I could find.

Takes doodling to a whole new level.

As bad as styrofoam cups are for the environment, I have to admit I love the feel of a ball point pen rolling over the surface. The artist Cheeming Boey prefers a Sharpie.

You can buy a one of kind work of cup art for under $300. Not a bad investment considering it will probably be around longer than you.

UPDATE: Just introduced myself to Cheeming via email. He replied straight away and was super nice! I found a link on his site to this interview with him. I really liked his philosophy on art.

Paperless

I keep meaning to get one of these. The Curiosity Shoppe has it at a great price.

Makes me want to say COFFEE the way the Cookie Monster says COOKIE.

I love when I come across tables of woodblock letters at flea markets. They just reek of creative possibilities. I've bought some in the past and always swear I'll do something cool with them, but inevitably they sit on a shelf. I found this sweet, hand stamped kitchen towel on ETSY and had one of those, duh, why didn't I think of that moments. I love how bold the O is and the tall Fs.

Happy To Serve You - RIP Leslie Buck

Leslie Buck, the designer of New York's iconic "Anthora" coffee cup has passed away at the age of 87.

Mr. Buck wasn't actually a designer. He was a marketing man. While working for the Sherri Cup Company in the 1960's, he had the idea to create a Classical cup in the colors of the Greek flag to appeal to the predominantly Greek diner owners of NYC. He executed the cup himself and it became an instant success. Since that first cup launched there have been countless imitations, as well as souvenir interpretations of the original.

The name"Anthora" is a mispronunciation of the word amphora due to Mr. Buck's heavy Eastern European accent. It's commonly called the "Greek" cup, the "white and blue" cup or the "Happy To Serve You" cup and is almost as famous as a New York City icon as the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge.

Leslie Buck was born Lazlo Büch on September 20, 1922 in the city of Khust in Western Ukraine. His parents were killed by Nazi's and he survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald. After the war he emigrated to New York, Americanized his name and started an import/export business with his brother Eugene, who had also survived the camps. From there the brothers started Premier Cup, a paper-cup manufacturer. He later joined Sherri Cup and the rest is history.

Leslie Buck's success is a testament to perseverance, the American dream and the enormous contribution of immigrants to our country. It's a contribution too many Americans forget these days.

(Source: NY TIMES)