Call for Letterers

If you haven't heard, Ad2 Phoenix is partnering with FilmBar to screen the documentary, Sign Painters. We are so excited to also be skyping in Faythe, the director of the documentary, afterwards to do a Q&A session. This is going to be really fun. The screening is on October 3 at 7:30PM.

We are also going to be featuring local hand letterers and typographers for the entire month of October! This is such an amazing opportunity for people to display their work for First Friday and the entire month of October. 

This is where we are calling you! We need you to donate a piece for the art show. After October, your piece will be sold to raise money for Ad2PHX's Public Service Campaign. 

The piece you donate doesn't have to be a new project, it can be something you have around the house. The only thing we ask is that it has to do with lettering. 

Please contact me if you have any questions! 

TED Talks: Uldus Bakhtiozina: Wry photos that turn stereotypes upside down

It took me a minute to understand her accent, though looking at her work and listening to her explanations was awesome. This video is less than five minutes and touches on the stereotypes of people in Russia.

As you know, I am fascinated by stereotypes and how they influence people. As I work on The Tomboy Project, I am discovering people who share my interest. I love it. 

Doggie Date: September 2014 Barkbox

This week Leroy's BarkBox got here! I swear this dog can smell the box in the mailbox from our house. So here's what we got!

PetProjekt Football Tretbal - $9.00
This is a football that has holes so Leroy can smell and taste the treats, but not get them so easy. Let me tell you, he's going incredibly nuts right now. I put the treats (see below) we got in the BarkBox inside the football and he's running back and forth through the house trying to get those treats out. It's pretty funny.

Nootie Jerky Burger BBQ Duck - $7.00
These are the treats I put in the football toy. These are made with real duck and are grain free which is always a plus. They have a decently strong smell of bbq sauce and Leroy seems to like them.

Etta Says Duck Chew - $4.00
These have been in many of our BarkBoxes. Leroy loves them and they take a few days to go through. Make sure to watch your pup when they are chewing these, sometimes it breaks into smaller pieces.

Muddy Buddy Dog Mop - $12.00
This is a doggie mama's dream. This baby sucks up 7x it's weight in water and/or mud. So when Leroy decides to dig in the back yard after some lovely Arizona monsoons, I am now prepared.

Safemade Pet Barkeley Pennant - $7.00
This pennant is fun and really tops off the college football theme! It has the crackle paper and a squeaker in it. Leroy hasn't really got interested in this toy yet, but again, this toy doesn't have treats in it. There's no link out because this was specially made for this BarkBox.

Do you get a bark box for your pup? Share your photos with us!!

Tomboy Tuesdays: 1953 Comic Strip Tomboy

Umm did you know there was a comic called Tomboy in the 1950's? How cool is that?

Basically, a girl with no super powers that was saving the world. Apparently women don't need superpowers to save the world. We just do what comes natural.

Check out one of the comic I found:

How did I come across this amazing graphic? Twitter! of course! check out the tweet that set me lose on a Google mission. 

TOMBOY (1953) is amazing: Basically a 12-year-old girl with no powers improbably beating the shit out of grown men. pic.twitter.com/NaUI3bOroD

— Saladin Ahmed (@saladinahmed) September 19, 2014

Alice Cooper's Solid Rock: Christmas Pudding Auditions

This past Friday I had the privilege of spending some time behind the scenes at Alice Cooper's Solid Rock Teen Center. This weekend at the center was a little different than a normal day at the Rock.

It was the Grand Opening of their new thrift store. There are a bunch of great items for sale to help benefit the center. Alice was there to sign autographs and take photos with people. He truly is an amazing person. He was only supposed to sign autographs for an hour but because the turn out was so large, he stayed to meet everyone. The diversity of people there to meet him was equally inspiring. 

After the opening of this great new store, everyone moved into the Rock where one of the mentors, Marissa, and her sister opened up with a couple songs. She is amazing. I wanted to be like here take all my money and write more music. Check her out on her Facebook Page, she is seriously talented.

Next was Daniel Bernard Roumain. If you don't know him, he's a sick violinist. He's playing at Gammage Auditorium September 27 and you should check it out. 

Finally, Alice took the stage with Co-Op which features his son, Dash, as the lead singer. They performed Eighteen, No More Mister Nice Guy and School's Out. It was awesome to see parents and their kids rocking out to the same music.

After they finished performing, Alice took questions from some of the teens. They were so engaged and inspired by him. It was pretty inspiring to watch. 

To wrap up the night, the leader of the Rock got up on stage and went over all the rules for the bands auditioning for Christmas Pudding. 

As we continue to learn more about Alice Cooper's Solid Rock Teen Center, the more inspired we get to help them spread the word of the center. 

TED Talk: How Giant Websites Design For You

I love this. It's one of the most simple ways of explaining how important and the goal of design is. It's not about the designer, the account people or even the client. The point of design is for the consumer. The person who is going to actually interact with the element and then use that experience to decide whether or not they are going to give you all their money. 

Doggie Date: Home Depot

For this week's doggie date we went to Home Depot. Leroy and I were on a mission. We had to find a leaf blower/vacuum.

Why, you ask?

Well, while my neighbors are very nice people, their landscaping people are assholes. On both sides, they use the leaf blower to blow the shit from both sides of the lawn into my yard. This is maddening. As much as I would like to blow the shit back in their yard or do juvenile shit to get back at them, I am now a grown up and must understand the consequences of actions like that.

So as boring as it is, I am going to take my newly purchased $100 leaf vacuum and vacuum all the shit and throw it in the garbage.

Anyway, back to the doggie date. Leroy's never been to Home Depot before, so he was sitting up straight trying to figure out where we were going. Even when we got there, he was like, what's happening?

No joke, we walk in the door and there is this amazing looking man, tall, dark hair and bright blue eyes. First thing out of his mouth, "Hi, beautiful . . . dog." Yea he gets all the hotties. There were some ladies in the store that definitely didn't approve of him there, but all the men were for it.

Leroy was amazingly well behaved and just sat by my side as I tried to figure out the difference between a Mega Blower and Ultra Blower (I know that's what he said). Apparently it's the power and only 5MPH more. I gave in and bought the Ultra.

Do you and your dog go on dates? Share some photos with Leroy and I on twitter @geooorge_

Tomboy Tuesdays: Mausi's Daisy Finetto

Noisey, a site by Vice, recently posted a story on Masui's Daisy Finetto. Check it out, this lady travels around with a bunch of dudes and is making some great music. She puts her own spin on what she loves to wear and take on the road! 

Don't forget to follow The Tomboy Project on twitter and facebook. 

TED Talk: Lunch Lady Heroes

I watched this TED Talk this weekend and wanted to share it with all of you. It's a short bit on the importance of Lunch Ladies.

Looking at it holistically, it's about the importance of everyone in your life and how the little things matter. Take 12 minutes and watch the video and then remember to notice the little things and be grateful for them.

 

Leroy's Life: A Trip to PetSmart

Leroy's Life takes a simpler look at life through the eyes of my dog. He is my rock, he's always there for me, keeps me entertained and cheers me up when I need it. These next few weeks the goal is to not only have fun with Leroy, but also slow down a bit and remember that life shouldn't be all work.

To start us off, I figured we would go to his favorite store. He got a PetSmart gift card from his Aunt Danita for his birthday and I haven't taken him to cash it in yet. Well tonight was his night!

It's pretty equivalent to taking a child to a toy store, though Leroy doesn't want every toy in the store. He simply want's to be pet by everyone in the store. But me being his mama, made his try on halloween costumes first!

Tomboy Tuesday: Women Street Artists

The Huffington Post recently posted about ten female street artists that are better than Bansky. For me it's not so much about these women being better than Bansky, as much as it being about look at these fucking bad ass female street artists.

Street art, graffiti, or large muralistic paintings in general aren't a place you think of many women being, though there are a lot of them. I love the thought of introducing them to the world.

Check out the article for more, though these are my favorites of the bunch.

1. KASHINK

2. Maya Hayuk

3. Faith47

The Tomboy Project: Flannel Shirts

I found an article this weekend called 13 Ways to Wear a Flannel Shirt. I love it. The flannel shirt, or just a plaid shirt is a simple piece that can be dressed or completely dressed down. Here are a couple of my favorite ways to wear the flannel.

1. Around the Waist

Oufit of the day: Knit dress and a plaid shirt make for a gorgeous grunge look. #ootd #style pic.twitter.com/HxID3uX9wp
— WeLoveWool (@WeLoveWool) August 27, 2014

2. Flannel with Beanie

Plaid Shirt days. With a beanie #ShesTheOne #TaylorSwift @radiodisney pic.twitter.com/PHE9EgWN0n
— T.S. 1989 (@EllovaticSwift) March 31, 2014

3. Casual and Unbuttoned

Love @katebosworth's look here. Buffalo plaid is on trend. My faves: @Forever21 & @madewell1937 #Style #fashion pic.twitter.com/kjFxHt49HV
— Suzi Grgurich (@SuziGStyles) December 26, 2013

Happy 59th Dad!

Sunday was my pop's birthday and this is the last year of his fifties. I am really proud to have him as my dad. He was really hard on me as a kid . . . who am I kidding, he's still really hard on me. Though that comes from his desire for me to be happy, healthy and successful. 

Some of my favorite memories of my dad include a third grade project where he helped me build the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car out of a cereal box. This cereal box had custom cut wheels out of wood and dimensional wings. It was so cool to be out in the garage with my dad using power tools. 

One Christmas my dad took me to Toys'R'Us and said, "You can have any one thing in the store." This was a big deal to me. One thing only, I had to be strategic and get the most bang for my buck. My father instilled this into me early. I don't think my dad understood how serious I was going to take this. We walked through that store from one side to the other, down every aisle, looking at every toy. Finally on the fourth pass, I decided to get this 4ft. tall teddy bear that cost $60. I think my dad was relieved I finally had chosen something, though he asked me three times if this is what I wanted.

Another memory I have of my dad is driving to pick up a our first Mastiff. I'm sitting shotgun and trying to navigate, keep in mind I was 14. I definitely got us lost and we ended up at the Salton Sea. This was about an hour out of the way. Whoops! When we got to the breeder's home, there was this giant dog that came to greet us. When I say giant I mean his head was about 4.5 feet high and he weighed about 300 pounds. My dad looked at me and said, "Are you sure you want to do this?" Of course, if you know me I got a big grin on my face and just shook my head yes. We took home one of the best dogs we've ever had that day. 

Happy birthday Dad! I love you and appreciate everything you've done for me in my 30 years.