Dreams of Flying by Jan von Holleben

Photographer Jan von Holleben has got me hooked on his photo book, Dreams of Flying. Invoking the whimsy of a child's imagination, he plays with his subjects and their imaginary settings: among them, in space, mid-air in the skyline, etc, all while rooted in their everyday surroundings. 

Spring is here! Shopping, Eating, Easter Extravaganza Time!

Sorry, sorry! Spring weather came to Seattle and like a kid listening to Peter Piper, I put everything down and frolicked among the cupcakes and sakura blossoms. See, I am totally documenting everything (Loving the QuadCamera!). 

Cherry blossoms are courtesy of my neighborhood.

I went shopping at DAISO where I gathered this cute keychain cover for $1.50. I love it, so. 

DAISO is also the place where I rocked these Easter bunny ears ($1.50 also). 

My best friends are having their birthdays and, whaddaya know, Fomato cards, were my standby. Why give Hallmark when you can give Fomato with a nice side dish of snarky humor? Mmmm, snark. Pssst, click on the picture and you can read the birthday card text! I *heart* this card company. 

Bloody Good Books

If you enjoy a good, macabre joke, you'd love the double takes you'd receive from house guests with Liquid Bookmarks by Kyuoei Co. Ltd., Japan, $29 via Design Boom. Think of it as a unique gift to give for those who have gothic (horror) sensibilities or tongue-in-cheek kitsch. Need I explain why? The liquid bookmarks come in three colors: white, gray, and bloody red. 

Best iPhone Camera App: Quad Camera

Playing with this all weekend, Quad Camera by Tatayuki Fukatsu. Quad Camera is a quick iPhone app that lets your iPhone take continuous snapshots to create a single snapshot. Think, like a Holga or a Lomo with included color settings like bright, b/w, vivid, hi-contrast, etc. All this for a $1.99? Booya! 

Quad Camera accomplishes what it sets out: super fast shutter time, processing speed, and saturated/vintage finishes to your iPhone photos. It brings lo-fi to your digital photos. I can't afford to purchase a Lomo or a Diana but for my purposes, I love the efficiency (and quality control) of digital cameras. I'm OK with not owning analog cameras (which cost a pretty penny for their lo-fi hipness when you include purchasing and developing film). I also reviewed Poladroid, a desktop app that is a lo-fi tribute to analog film (in their case, Polaroids). Still, Quad Camera isn't perfect -- it has to work with the 1.3 megapixel iPhone 3G camera lenses. Just like with analog cameras, how you play with your natural lighting determines the quality of your shot as you can see in my play snapshots. 

The great thing about Quad Camera is its developer,  Tatayuki Fukatsu
created a free animated gif app, QuadAnimator, to add liveliness to your Quad Camera shots. Nice! 

Shameless mugging.

360 degree panorama shot of the University of Washington Quad.

Recession Greeting Cards

Doesn't that just sum up everyone's mood at this time? Keep up the stiff upper lip, America. If you're going to freak out, do it in style with these recession friendly cards. The best part? These crafty cards via Creature Comforts are free for you to print and dole out.