I'm feeling cranky today and am trying to think of happy (and cool) things, so I thought I'd brag about some of my real-life friends.
My friend Kiri runs Kirstinflo Designs and makes happy, one-of-a-kind handbags out of vintage tablecloths. She gave me one for my birthday and it makes me smile every time I look at because it just reminds me of that Donna Reed-esque time when women wore dresses and pearls and served "luncheon" to their friends on card tables set with a printed tablecloth. It's also huge enough to carry all of the crap I routinely lug around with me, plus I get compliments on it all the time. Check out her Etsy store to see what her bags look like.
My friend Harris writes The Japanese Food Report, a website in which he chronicles his explorations into the world of Japanese food that goes waaaay beyond sushi and tempura. He spends a lot of time in Japan getting people to tell him how they cook things, as well as shadowing chefs at Japanese restaurants here in NYC. The post up now is about steaming sea bass Japanese style, something I never would have thought about doing, but his description and instructions (and photo!) made me think, "I can totally do that." Another recent post I loved was about buying a Japanese knife.
And my friend "Mintyfresh" writes the blog Pepperknit, in which she writes about her astronomical number of knitting projects and all the delicious foods she cooks and consumes. She's an excellent writer, but it's her photos that bring her blog to life. She's in Singapore right now visiting her parents, and I've been loving her latest posts about food in Singapore: the first real meal is the most important, the gluttony continues, going on a roti hunt.
Who do you know who does cool things?
Oh gosh, well, my friend Paul made a really cool documentary about a wild piece of modernist religious organ music: http://www.apparitionfilm.com/
Does that count?
Posted by: Charisse | July 21, 2008 at 03:12 PM
My cousin makes fabulous pottery and hand-sewn journals/books from maps and other interesting papers (both of which she sells through her etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=4732) AND has her own bookbinding/book repair shop at www.thevespiary.com. (Sorry I don't know how to make those into active links; I'm a little behind the times.....)
Posted by: giddy | July 21, 2008 at 03:19 PM
oh wait, now I see the trick:
http://www.thevespiary.com
Posted by: giddy | July 21, 2008 at 03:20 PM
My brother works with a dog rescue.
My sister does equine rescue (drafts and half-drafts, so HUGE equines), and retrains for riding.
My best friend does weaving but just for fun (I was looking at my wedding present from her, just yesterday).
I have another friend who travels the world doing cross-cultural mediation, workshops, and training. http://www.culture-at-work.com/
Posted by: hedra | July 21, 2008 at 03:30 PM
A good friend of mine, who is amazing in every way, just posted this video she created. I don't think you need to know her or be a typical Star Trek fan to be really moved by this little vid.
http://gugeo.blogspot.com/
Posted by: rudyinparis | July 21, 2008 at 03:54 PM
i cave dive, and think that's pretty cool...it's the most zen thing - you have to be so focused your mind can just roam, ya know?
Posted by: marci | July 21, 2008 at 03:59 PM
A friend of mine does hand-painted ornaments and furniture. I particularly love the furniture:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5817650
Posted by: Kate | July 21, 2008 at 04:16 PM
You are real life friends with Mintyfresh??? Uh jealous! I've been reading her pepperknit blog for a long time. I guess I would have to move to NYC to have blog friends IRL. As of now, I personally know one local blogger- http://iwasknittogetherinmymotherswomb.typepad.com/ She taught me how to knit AND purl, and not just knit huge garter stitch scarves in ugly acrylic colors. Oh, and she inspired me to start my own blog.
My brother is pretty cool too. He's interning for Obama's campaign in the religious affairs dept. He has a blog http://michaelindc.wordpress.com/, but it's on hiatus until after the election. Staffer rules.
Do you know Brooklyn Tweed??? Other famous knitbloggers????????
Posted by: Dana | July 21, 2008 at 04:42 PM
I just started reading your friend's blog, because I am knitting one of her sock patterns. The internet is such a small world!
Posted by: Annika | July 21, 2008 at 04:48 PM
I grow perrenial heirloom tomatoes (but only because I am too lazy to pull the garden out every fall and the remaining tomatoes go to seed). I keep 5 plants in the Spring for my own garden and I give away 50 plants or so. Then, I pull another 400 out as weeds.
It's been so many years since the seeds were ordered that I don't even remember what kinds of tomatoes they are. One is called Snow and is a yellow cherry tomato (which looks pretty in salads and salsas). And I have no idea which of the others keeps growing and no one ever knows what kind of plant they'll get from me. It's like the lottery.
Posted by: SarcastiCarrie | July 21, 2008 at 05:52 PM
What a great idea. I love bragging about my friends. Here's a few you can find on the internet.
A friend of mine quit his job to ride his bike across the country: http://transamshazam.blogspot.com/. I think he's really brave to embark on such a big adventure.
Another friend writes my other favorite blog: smartypants.diaryland.com. She's completely brilliant and original. I love the way her mind works.
Posted by: rby | July 21, 2008 at 10:02 PM
I am so proud of my friend Carol who is actually working on promoting peace through the Jerusalem Stories project
http://www.jerusalemstories.org/index.html
Posted by: &BabyMakes75 | July 22, 2008 at 12:25 AM
I can't believe I'm even mentioning this but I am so impressed by my friend xxx (will not mention the name as who knows, the mothers of his kids might actually be AskMoxie readers), who has just fathered his second child, despite the obstacle of being gay. The mothers of his children are a lesbian couple who have know my friend for years and hounded him incessantly to help them get pregnant. He has/will continue to have an active role in the kids upbringing, spends time with them whenever he wants and is actually encouraged to do so. And he is a great dad, apparently ( well HE says he is anyway)
Posted by: paola | July 22, 2008 at 07:04 AM
Oooh I love to brag about my brother. He's a pilot in the Australian Air Force and he's one of the few pilots that get to fly our Prime Minister around. So, if you see the Aussie PM in your neck of the woods, theres a good chance my baby brother flew him there!! He also flies other 'important people' around and some of them are kinda cool too.
Oh, and he also flew Hercules air craft in Iraq. A wooden plaque I sent him is actually still hanging up in the American Mess hall. Whether or not you agree with the war, you gotta support the troops yes ??
Posted by: Lisa | July 22, 2008 at 08:01 AM
My mom & I make handmade clothes for kids! Check us out at twoturnips.etsy.com!
Posted by: Sara | July 22, 2008 at 06:42 PM
My daughter's caregiver helps her sister (and others) run a charity called Project Night Night. It provides tote bags with blankets, age-appropriate books, and stuffed animals to children in homeless shelters. www.projectnightnight.org
Donating and helping out with PNN has been a nice way to introduce my daughter to charity and giving. (As much as a four-year-old can, anyway.) She sees the tote bags being assembled and has a concrete idea about the things that she has that others do not. She helps me select books to give and she has helped pack tote bags.
Posted by: amy | July 22, 2008 at 11:15 PM
paola, not asking for your friend's name, but I suspect I know the couple. I won't use any names, but Woman 1 had a boy who is about two now and Woman 2 had a girl a few weeks ago? I work with Woman 1. I've seen photos of both children (including one with father - perhaps your friend) and they're just gorgeous. Boy stays over with father every week or so and from what Woman 1 tells me it's all working out really well.
Posted by: andrea | July 23, 2008 at 01:41 AM
@andrea
Yes, that's them!! Wow, I had a feeling someone out there in MoxieLand would know one of them. I am really impressed with the whole gig actually. I think it is really hard to 'share' your children with the other partner (at least I did when number one was little), but then when you have a third party to count into the equation it must call for a lot of trust and faith in that person.
I'm really looking forward to seeing my mate xxx very soon (we are going back to Aus this summer for a holiday). I am dying to see him as a dad.
Posted by: paola | July 23, 2008 at 07:32 AM
Hey Sweets! Thanks for the shout-out. How awesome that some of your readers are already readers of mine! I'm back from S'pore and we should really get together.
Posted by: Mintyfresh | August 04, 2008 at 06:42 AM
Hello everyone and everyone will read my comment, my name is Dean, rescue work for several years, my passion to save lives and help others when they have problems. Today I got my normal work and sat down to check my computer, I found this blog, I'm super glad I had the opportunity to read, is great, I really like the content, images, in fact I like all, congratulations! !
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