Photographer Jason Travis has an ongoing series called Persona where he snaps a pic of what someone has in their bag and shows it next to a pic of them… it’s really fun to see what people carry around. Like that girl with the hunting knife, for example. Check out the whole Flickr set.

Via: Poccuo

If you haven’t seen this, it’s your lucky day. This video has had over 14 million views and recently the actual guy was hired by Microsoft to do a viral video for Windows Live. This guy makes me smile big time.

My husband’s parents live on a few acres in Rockford and they have a huge firewood pile out back from his dad cutting down dead trees. Some of the wood has been there a long time and so bugs and worms eat away at it, leaving this beautiful pattern in the wood. Incredible, isn’t it?

This little girl cracks me up. We should listen to the kid in us more often and be just as excited about things like haircuts and pajamas. Love this.

On Monday, Arcade Fire launched “The Wilderness Downtown”, an interactive film featuring the song “We Used to Wait” from their new album, The Suburbs. I’m loving online interaction like this… can’t wait to see what we’ll be able to do in 5 years from now.

Some Friday fun for you. Great typography. Love the design. Somewhat surprising. Makes me smile :]

Thanks to Brenda for sharing!

So… you know those little moments in life where after you experience something you think to yourself “did that really just happen?” This happened to me on Saturday and I just have to share it with you. Kyle and I were spending the day downtown to celebrate our 1 year anniversary and stopped off at PJ Clarke’s to have sandwiches and beers on the front patio. We’re sitting there with our 2 frosty pints of Bell’s Oberon, soaking in the sun and the fact that it’s a Saturday. All of a sudden, this guy who’s walking by stops in his tracks, looks at us and says “Is that a couple of Bell’s Oberons you’re drinking?” At this point we’re both completely baffled because there’s no branding on the glass and it looks like any other wheat beer with an orange. So Kyle, all confused, says “Yeah, why? Can you smell it?” And he says “I’m Larry Bell, the Founder.” Of course I reply, “No way. You are not.” He then sets down all 8 bags of groceries he has lining his arms, and pulls out his business card from his wallet (note the business card except I blacked out his info - gotta protect his identity). I asked if I could take his picture (note the guy above) and we chatted for a good 5 minutes about how great his beer is. It turns out he has an apartment right around the corner there and was getting a few groceries for a special date he had with his girlfriend on Sunday. After he left, I still didn’t believe him so I did a Google image search to prove this was insanity, but sure enough it was him. Wild. Has anything like this happened to you before?

Design Mom gives a tutorial on how to turn thrift store ties (or ties you already own) into DIY skinny ties. It looks so easy, even a man can do it! (No offense, men.) Follow Gabrielle’s detailed instructions here.

Ever wonder how long your leftovers should stay in the fridge? Or when the 4 lbs. of chicken breasts you got on sale will go bad in your freezer? StillTasty makes it easy by giving you the answer to thousands of shelf life questions including the truth about expiration dates, the secret to keeping fruit fresh and off-the-shelf recipes.

I love these State Cutting Boards by AHeirloom on Etsy. The Wisconsin one is great for serving cheese :)

Around Chicago there are life size graffiti graphics of Blagojevich in his black ninja running suit, but this is the first I’ve seen of him as Jordan. Made me smile :]

Oh Vimeo, how I love you. Here’s another fun video to watch called Words, a sweet short film of word association shown visually. (Ex. run, running, run away, runway) It was created by Everynone, in collaboration with WNYC’s excellent science show and podcast “Radiolab.”

This is great. Industrial Designer Erik Askin has designed a cigarette box that is meant to be inefficient, annoying and cumbersome in hopes to frustrate and discourage people from smoking. The diamond-shaped box makes it difficult to access and share with others and because it can’t stand upright, it’s hard to display the logo and brand. Check out his process, sketches and photos on how he came to this conclusion.

Via: Veer

I found this video on Design Mom and thought it was beautiful. Love her poem, message and the way it was shot. I love going to the movie theater alone :) What kinds of things do you like doing solo?

I find things like this to be so inspiring. Thought I’d share it with you.