Popular Sentiment

Fun with Percolator

I recently found out about this fascinating, albeit somewhat pointless, iPhone app called Percolator. Basically, it's an adjustable filter for photos that turns them into beautiful dots of color. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I'm guessing it has something to do with pixels.

I made a few Percolator images that I'm using as iPhone wallpaper, and I thought I'd share them here; I think they're pretty neat. See if you can guess what the original picture was!

 

 

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Miracle Fortune

I have a new part-time job, some exciting prospects for the future, and a whole lot of the unknown to face. Here's hoping.

The End is NOT Near

In today's installment of the New Yorker cartoon newsletter that Bob Mankoff sends out, he talked a bit about the political scene. As there's rarely a candidate willing to support my staunchly hippie-esque love, nature, and pacificity stance, I feel this cartoon pretty much sums up my personal feeling on politics in general:

Also, not to get too uppity or anything, I feel like sharing some prudent analogies from my friend Kevin's Facebook status, which I hope he doesn't mind: 

Let me ask you this: If your hands are cold, would you pour boiling water on them to warm them up? Then, once they are burning, dip them in liquid nitrogen to cool them off? Seems stupid, yet we do it with politics all the time. Minor corrections will keep a car on the road, going full lock to full lock will not.

Kevin is a restaurant owner and an a car aficionado, which may shed some light on his choice of metaphors. Good work, Kevin.

 

Tonight I learned…

Tonight I learned that I come from a family of strange and unique geniuses. It is a burden we must bear, but we will do so with dignity.

Tonight, I learned that love is confusing. It has little to do with size or shape or gender. It seems connected with history at times, but not always.

I have to figure out what my life is for, and it won't be easy. Nevertheless, I'll have the love and support of my family and friends at my side all the while. That's pretty sweet. A simpler person could be satisfied with that alone.

A New Camera, a New Coffee Maker, and a Story

I have been putting off getting a new camera for a long time now, saving up for something really nice. It wasn't what I originally planned on, but when I came across the new Olympus PEN, I fell in love. I can't explain it, but somehow the camera seemed perfect for me.

I was inspired to trust my gut and purchase the PL-1 in part by something unexpected my father did just last week. Let me spin you a tale…

Our coffee maker broke three weeks ago. I love coffee, but I am perfectly capable of getting through the day without it (not that I don't have a caffeine addiction like the rest of us; I can be sated by Diet Dr. Pepper, nectar of the gods). My dad, on the other hand, drinks a pot of coffee before noon every day; in fact, on weekends I would sometimes wake up to an already emptied pot, dad jumping to his feet to say "I guess I should make some more coffee." Our little coffee maker had worked hard for five years, and then it stopped, right before my dad left town for two weeks.

While he was gone, I was at Williams Sonoma, a place I often go to lust after things, dream of future space and money, and buy nothing. I spotted a beautiful Moccamaster coffee maker that had Dad's name ("Dad") written all over it. I figured it would be one of the candidates in an exhaustive body of coffee maker research. I was wrong. Dad walked into the store behind me, looked at the specs of the gorgeous machine, and said "well, let's get it."

I was shocked! I even suggested that he look around a bit and think about it before biting the bullet. But much to my surprise (again) Dad said it was something I'd told him that made him feel like going for it. After reading Dan Ariely's Predictable Irrationality, I'd talked non-stop about Ariely's study showing that comparing similar things with totally different features can be more frustrating than helpful, and often leads to an (economically) irrational choice. Dad stated his reasoning simply: he didn't want to frustrate himself with a big search when it was already clear that this was the ideal coffee maker.

Long story short, I bought the PEN. I didn't consult my photographer friends. I didn't do a particularly thorough side-by-side comparison of the PEN and other cameras. And I couldn't be happier with my decision.

All photos taken by me with my new camera! Yay!!! Check out my Flickr.

Axe Cop Rocks

As if the mind of a five-year-old weren't amazing enough on its own, five-year-old Malachai Nicolle's mind has been distilled by his amazing, much-older, comic-book-artist brother's talents. The result is Axe Cop, a gorgeous, periodic web comic that makes me laugh so hard I feel like I'm exercising.

Axe Cop has it all: a cop that finds an axe, a shape-shifting (possibly radioactive) soldier sidekick, a uni-baby (a baby with a unicorn horn)…if you're not already convinced that this is great stuff, I am not sure I want you reading this blog.

No, wait. Come back. I do want you to read my blog! I just also want you to check out Axe Cop. But not from you iPhone, because it's Flash-based. Ugh.

Happy reading!

Daily Drop Cap is for Prettiness

 

I just found out about dailydropcap.com and I am in love. I have a feeling several of these fancy letters, made by typographer Jessica Hische, are going to be featured frequently in my PopSent posts. Fair warning.

More Art Institute Modern Wing (With Pictures!)

Here are some more details on my visit to the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, which opens this Saturday. Enjoy! As before, this was originally published on Gals' Guide.

OK, so the results are in. The Art Institute's new Modern Wing is GORGEOUS. In addition to being internally and externally beautiful (lots of suspension staircases, light and open air), the new wing allows for much more of the Art Institute's massive collection to be showcased at any one time. This true of the European Modern collection, housed on the third floor (this will be where many enter the wing when the big Renzo Piano ramp is opened on Saturday; the third-floor café will open then as well), but it's particularly big for the Contemporary Art (post 1960 stuff). I spoke with an Art Institute employee who informed me that AIC has the 3rd largest Contemporary collection in the world; the relatively tiny former Contemporary space could only display 2% of their collection at any one time! So while there are a few new pieces, much of the second-floor will feel new, as a lot of it was formerly under wraps for most of the year.

Anyway, I had a grand time – over 3 hours! – at the Preview, and was able to snap some photos. You can check it out for yourself starting this Saturday!

A view of the new north entrance from the west.

The lovely main lobby on the first floor, with a view to the second.

A large Matisse greets you on floor three; note how the entire ceiling lets light in from above!

The next three shots give you a sense of some of the architectural details. I know the shades are down and it's rainy, but the view to the north is really exquisite.

      

Hope you enjoyed these! Click on any of the images to enlarge, and don't forget to check this out yourself starting this Saturday.

Art Institute Sneak Peek

Here's a hot item I just posted on Gals' Guide Chicago!

Exciting news, ladies of Chicagoland who like art…this afternoon, I'm going to get a chance to see the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute! There's no flash photography allowed, but if I can manage to sneak a few shots with my phone I will certainly do so. I'm hoping we get to check out the new ramp that leads from Millennium Park into the new north entrance; word is that the addition of the wing means a bigger Modern Art collection for AIC, which I'm also thrilled for. Haters can stick to the south side of the museum. ;) 

More this evening!