Archive for July, 2008

Toothpaste – the essential travel accessory

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

Photo: Thomas HannichOn my recent vacation, I learned that toothpaste cleans silver!  The concierge, Marie, at our motel (okay, she’s the owner’s daughter and it’s a mom & pop outfit, but she’s the best concierge I’ve ever known), admired my earrings and I told her they were a little tarnished.  She told me to try toothpaste and it worked like a charm.  Who knew?  Here are a few other travel-related uses for toothpaste:

  • zit cream (I’ve tried it and it works)
  • beach tar remover (use non-gel)
  • google de-fogger (squeeze it on and wipe it off)
  • stain remover – ink or lipstick (depends on fabric)

Of course there’s more you can do with toothpaste (like fill nailholes in walls; I’ve filled entire cracks in plaster). Wondering what’s inside this amazing concoction? See the jump to Wired, below.

LINK:
- WIRED: “What’s Inside: Colgate Whitening Oxygen Bubbles Brisk Mint Toothpaste”

FontStruct fulfills the dreams of font-makers – for free

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

the strange allure of making your own fontsMy husband sighs over the curves of Palatino the way Hef lusts after his girls next door. My desires tend more toward Dyspepsia (or maybe I just ate too much moo shu for lunch today). But typography is one of those arts taken for granted, which could be precisely why I thought I could make my own beautiful alphabet.

As soon as I heard about FontStruct, I created an account for myself and started fonting away. I discovered that making fonts is easy with FontStruct! But making good fonts is not. I cleverly named by debut font “Strapless,” imagining it would be as slender yet curvaceous as John Singer Sargent’s famous Madame X. I should have called it Crapatino. Oh well.

LINKS:
- FontStruct
- Dyspepsia font

Not just cute kitty wrestlers

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

Need a mini-break from work? These kitties wrestle until…