Use every space possible!

I tend to go towards the realm of pack rat when it comes to my house and I tend to live by the addage, "I may need it someday!" Which can cause for quite the cluttered living space. Here's some ideas that help you use all of the space in your home.

I always feel like bookshelves are very necessary to any room but sometimes they can get huge and overbearing. Alternately, staircases are a mass of unusable spaces. So combine the two and you have the most amazing staircase ever:

Via Apartment Therapy (and circulated pretty widely around those interwebs at this point), this staircase was modded to perfection. I love that it automatically keeps all of the books looking neat and tidy.

I have always been a fan of the idea of hidden rooms and secret passageways. But when you think about a bookcase for a door, it really does help free up some space and add a bit of intrigue.

Via Neatorama (who found it over at WebUrbanist), Creative Home Engineering crafts custom hidden doors that can look like kitchen cabinets, bookcases, stairs and even working dressers.

The weekend is upon us and I have a thirst for some good food, good friends and good drink.

Via Tastespotting.com (not to be trifled with if you are hungry!):

A Pimm's is an alcoholic drink popular in southern England that consists of the gin-based, Pimm's No. 1, lemonade, fruit and mint. It sounds delicious!

Pimm's official site

Wiki about the Pimm's cocktail (called a Pimm's Cup)

Located in historic Ellicott City, Tersiguel's is a hoity-toity restaurant that my friend and I are quite anxious to visit. For the mere cost of $425, you can spend a day with Chef Tersiguel and traverse with him from the market to the restaurant. For those with a budget, they offer a prix fixe menu for $36.95.

Official site

Located in Edgewater, MD, Old Stein Inn was one of the best places in Maryland that I have ever eaten. The atmosphere is cozy and I can't wait to visit again when their beer garden is open.

Official site

A comical obsession

I've been reading and enjoying a hella lot of webcomics lately. (There are some new additions over there on the right...check 'em out.) I've been kicking around making a comic of my own, but all these other guys do it so well, I just don't think I can do it. Ehh, we'll see. For now, here's t-shirts that I am enjoying:

Now if only I had a printer...

From Crafty Computer Paper: Temporary Tattoo computer paper! A very easy way to get designs from your computer to your skin with no commitment. (Finally I can create and have my giant bald eagle with the American flag on a Harley!)

via NotCot

I'm researching

Because this is my site, dammit, and I'm attempting to get together a large collection of classic examples of 40's and 50's comic strips, you get to see what I've found so far. (If you have any other suggestions that also have the crime/romance/pinup style, feel free to share!)

Dick Tracy - one of the big classics

Crime Reporter

Crimes by Women (damn them! And how dare they want to vote! Get back in the kitchen and raise my babies!)

(I think the one on the right is my absolute favorite so far!)

First Love - they have the whole comic scanned for your entertainment

Popular Teen-Agers Secrets of Love (with a title that fantastic, how can you not love it!?)

What do Jodie Foster and doves have in common?

Here's a collection of photographs done for Vanity Fair that feature well-known actors of today in the Hitchcock classics of yesteryear. Such a great collection! (link via Neatorama)

Holy crap!

If you don't read "Questionable Content," then this will mean nothing to you.

Too amazing not to post

Fact of the day: Only one birthday matters today, and that's Thomas Edison (yeah, that's right Sheryl Crow and Burt Reynolds...you can't hold a candle to the greatest inventor in American history).



Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio on this day in 1847. The picture to the right is from 1878. Isn't he dashing?


Edison has 1,093 patents in his name. Some of the most famous being the light bulb and the phonograph...oh yeah, and the telephone. My favorite patent in Edison's name is the Flying Machine (which is kind of like a helicopter with box kites on the ends of the propellors).


Nerds are so dreamy.

Facts of the day: Today is the birthday of Chris Rock, Eddie Izzard, Ashton Kutcher, Charles Dickens, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Garth Brooks.

Today is also the day the Beatles flew in to JFK for their first US tour, marking the start of the British invasion.

Interesting facts about the Beatles:

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are left-handed.

John Lennon is the only Beatles that was never on The Simpsons.

Ringo Starr is the oldest and shortest member.

Phil Collins was an extra in the movie, "A Hard Day's Night."

The guitar solo in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was played by Eric Clapton.

In 1964, a poll was conducted to find out who was the fan's favorite Beatle...George Harrison won.

The working title for the ballad, "Yesterday," was "Scrambled Eggs."

According to rumors, Paul McCartney died on November 9, 1966 in a car crash and was replaced by William Campbell.

Comics that amuse me:

This one pretty much sums me up to a 'T' right now:

Mac is now selling a larger iPod touch and iPhone:

I sometimes wish my entire staff was made of up seals...

Facts of the day: Lots of birthdays today!

(from left to right)

• Zsa Zsa Gabor is 91 today.
• Babe Ruth is dead, but if he were still alive he'd be 113 years old. Ruth was actually born in Baltimore (this, I did not know) and he was the first American to have a voice box
• Ronald Reagan (also dead) would have been 97 years of age. A quote from Reagan, "The one thing our Founding Fathers could not foresee...was a nation governed by professional politicians who had a vested interest in getting reelected."
• Massachusetts has been a part of the union for 220 years. Random MA facts: The fig newton is actually named after Newton, Massachusetts, the birth control pill was invented at Clark University, its official state dessert is the Boston creme pie and Boston builtd the nation's first subway system.
• Kathy Najimy is 51 today. Although most may recognize Kathy from Hocus Pocus, Sister Act and Rat Race, Kathy gets a gold star in my eyes for her voice-over work. She has lended her voice to the movie, Cats Don't Dance, she is Peggy Hill on King of the Hill, and she's done spots for a bunch of other cartoons (Hey Arnold, Higglytown Heroes, The Wild Thornberrys, Pepper Ann and some short spots found on Nick, Jr.).
• Rick Astley isn't much to look at, but his voice is pretty recognizable. His most famous singles being "Never Gonna Give You Up" and "Together Forever." Yes, that deep voice belongs to this scrawny white guy. Rick is 42 today.
• Oh, Axl Rose. Quick fact about Axl: he lends his voice to some characters on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Axl is 46 today (and I have to say, he's not exactly aging gracefully these days...maybe it was all the alcohol and rioting).