Compadres

Swapping business cards with other talented individuals is one of my favorite things EVER, especially when the glorious exchange occurs with other designers.

However, forgetting to print more cards when I run out of my tiny, little, record sleeves is one of my least favorite. Fortunately, I made it through the weekend in Asheville by the skin of my teeth. As the conference came to a close I decided to kidnap some fun looking characters and go out for gourmet potato chips.

This little "bistro" ONLY sold potato chips. That's it. Any kind of potato chip you can think of, they'll cook it up fresh for you.

I got the cajun, sweet potato chips.

The owner of this delectable shop actually studied the culinary arts in Idaho. Small world.

The owner also gave us a sample of some raspberry, chocolate covered chips to sample for dessert.

It was awesome to meet and get aquatinted with Jo and Daniel Miller. Check out their amazing letterpress shop here!

After one last night in the mangy hotel I cruised up to Fairfax, VA from Asheville, NC to say a quick hi and goodbye to my Aunt Sarah, Uncle Bob, and my cousins Cathy and Phil. I had a ceremonial cousin reunion, complete with dunkin' donuts. As Cathy would say "America Runs on Dunkin'... guess that's why America can't run."

Vilhelm also made a quick appearance while I made a quick stop in DC.

Stay tuned for an adventure of waffle proportions, coming next week.

Lip Smackin' BBQ

Some of you may remember the smart car ordeal that went down when I attempted to retrieve my "compact" rental car, well after a couple days with the little fella I decided to name him "Groob" and let's just say I was glad that he faithfully got me from point "A" to point "B-B-Q".

Speaking of barbecue, my next southern food adventure commenced at Luella's with some serious smoked meats.

Here are a few shots of the glorious meal that ensued.

Sweet potato chips with cheddar and scallions.

Real, creamy mac 'n' cheese.

Hush puppies, cole slaw, spicy smoked andouille sausage and the mac.

Fried okra.

Hush puppies, potato salad, beef brisket, and the okra.

Le sauce.

The glorious pulled pork!

After dinner I grabbed some trendy yet delicious frozen yogurt.

I loved the tile in this place.

Next, gourmet potato chips and FINALLY some prints and designs I've been working on!

Eye Steak (It's like eye candy but, better)

After getting back from the pop down to So. Cal last July it was back to the Dr.'s office for a couple weeks and then off to North Carolina for the first ever Ladies of Letterpress Conference.

Flying out of the Seattle/Tacoma airport is always a breath of fresh air compared to the Spokane airport (which pretty much feels like cruising straight out of someone's backyard... if said person charged $18 for a tuna fish sandwich).

The suspended metallic animals above are hanging out in the SEA/TAC airport. Quite the spectacle.

When I'm in Seattle it's quite customary and almost obligatory for me to consume fish in some way shape or form because (where I live) salt water fish is rather hard to come by (and when you do come by it you probably don't want to risk eating it. Typically, I go for sushi but whilst at the airport my best option seemed to be the Salmon Fish and Chips from "Anthony's". I was memorized by the deep fryer... oh the possibilities that could be created by throwing ANYTHING in there to be christened in oil and bread crumbs. I mean, it's called a VULCAN... come on!

If you don't already know... Coca-Cola is my favorite. Especially when it's vanilla coke with a splash of rum..

The deep fried salmon was good.

The fries on the other hand...

But, like I said, the deep fried salmon was good.

I had a layover in New York where I got to sit next to a Chinese man wearing a tourist shirt that said : "My wife said I had to choose between her and fishing. I'll miss her"... after take off he managed to fall asleep with his leg draped over my lap at which point his hearing magically became impaired and my attempts to remove said leg from my lap were in vein.

This incident however, would be trumped on my return flight home by the man sitting next to me legitimately using the barf bag. Thank you delta.

Upon arrival in North Carolina I was taxied to the rental car establishment with whom I had secured a compact car. Apparently they were fresh out of compact cars despite my reservation (Seinfeld moment anyone?) so I was given two options:

1. I could pay an additional $40/day for an upgrade to mid size or

2. I could take the Smart car

I opted for number 2 figuring that "at least I could get decent MPG's... who cares that I can't even fit my two carryons in the back."

Was this a smart move?

Note: the tiny dash couldn't even fit all of the meters above the steering wheel and thus was forced to suspend two meters above the radio.

I saw Cowboys and Aliens and at 4 bucks a pop I managed to thoroughly enjoy the ridiculous genre combo. The day was concluded with a quick, juicy, meaty bite from Carrabba's (not too impressive) and a venture to the dingiest, scariest, stickiest hotel I've ever stayed at.

I slept in my clothes standing up on top of the mini fridge all weekend. The farther I could get away from the moist sticky floor the better.

Check back in a couple days to see how paper is made and to further your knowledge of my Series of Unfortunate Events.

Through the Looking Glass... of my camera

I continue to tumble down the rabbit hole of the blogosphere.

I seem to have arrived back in Wonderland unscathed and late for a very important date (seeing as the following events occurred back in July). I guess I've been celebrating too many very merry un-birthdays.

And now, for something completely different.

Have you ever been around a seemingly friendly dog that wags his tail when you pay him notice but, as soon as you reach down to pet him your arm becomes a threat to the dog and he thus proceeds to devour your hand along with your good intentions? ("Dahs youh dahg baht?")

The employees of the store-not-to-be-named (pictured above) are the dog in this scenario.

Some of the decor in this store was awesome. They had huge mod vogue-esque paintings, gigantic 1960's James Bond posters, and even some art installations. I was excited to give them some publicity here on my blog (even if I only have 2 consistent readers) so I asked the suave looking gent at the front entrance if I could take some shots of the shop, he replied: "Sure, no prob."

I guess I got a little trigger happy because, while taking some stumpy shots of my reflection in the store's large mirror a woman of comparable size came over and informed me that I absolutely could not take photos in their store and needed to leave right away. (I felt kinda like this.)

This was ironically, the last photo I took in the store. I contend that they don't do as the photo says.

After "the confrontation" I dropped by Thai Dishes for a lunchy snack.

The coconut soup was a little too sweet for my taste.

Crispity wontons,

Spicy Beef,

And creamy curry.

Thanks to my OM-10 I got a decent number of black and white film shots of the day.

After a few hours of window shopping and returning some items to the Santa Monica goodwill (mentioned in my last post) I sought some din din, and resolved to dine at Wolfgang Puck Express.

I had the Chinois Chicken Salad with crispy wontons, cashews, ginger and sesame.

It was delicious.

The bro had the Meatloaf sandwich with melted provolone, bacon, tomato chutney, horseradish cream and crispy onions.

It was unbelievable.

To top it off we split the Fennel Sausage Pizza with mozzarella, pesto and sweet peppers.

And I managed to be groped by a plastic train conductor.

I got over it.

If you've never been to the Sweet Rose Creamery in Santa Monica you seriously need to scoot your butte on over there because, they're amazing.

They Have fresh ice cream made daily and it reminds me of this awesome ice cream shop that I used to  frequent in Seattle.

I got the salted caramel flavor, a perfect blend of smooth, sweet, and savory.

To end the day right I drove up to Malibu and took a stroll by the water.

I finished the day by cranking out the rest of my roll of film and setting it aside to process later, which reminds me I still have yet to do that.

Until we meet again... assuming the Queen of Hearts doesn't behead me before then.