The Apple T-Shirt

I love Apple, love everything they do because they put so much thought into every touch. Even when they give away a t-shirt for a store opening, they do it right, with good design.

Their newest store opened in my back yard this past weekend and I went because they were giving away a free t-shirt to the first 1,000 people and it was so close!

I ended up getting two shirts, they gave me one and my son also got one, which I really didn't expect since he is all of two years old. I opened mine when I got home to see what design was printed on it and was so impressed, I took pictures as I opened the other one to show how much they really embrace design in every facet of the user experience.

Its a commitment to carry that through every aspect of the users experience, from turning on the computer to getting a free t-shirt. I mean, really, how many people would line up if Microsoft decided to open a store? Its not like the cost is prohibitive, Microsoft could do it if they wanted, they just don't think that much about the users experience and carry that all the way through.

Anyway, enough about that, here are the pictures of the Apple t-shirt;












and on a final note, the t-shirt was a "Beefy-T", not some cheap, no-name brand that is going to fall apart in the washing machine. User experience.

The Apple Store Opening (Fair Oaks)

Saturday morning Apple opened a store in Fair Oaks mall. One of my friends said that they were giving away t-shirts to the first thousand people. I took Jack along and we stood in line for about fifteen minutes - the line moved fast on account of most people were there to get a free t-shirt much like myself. They gave me and Jack a t-shirt.

We went through the store and found a small table in the back for kids games, so Jack sat down and just started to play the game. He went right for the mouse and started clicking the keyboard while watching the screen. Talk about intuitive.

Afterwards, Kate, Reet and Theresa met us at the Starbuck's just outside the store and we sat and talked while the ladies had their lattes.

After that we went and got some lunch so I could get to my Drawing program over at the library I was giving later that day. I got 30+ kids at my program - it was packed!

No, I Love You

The Penny

So we went down to the "Sev", or as its more commonly known as 7-11. We went after the storm passed and got a diet coke. It was nice to not be knocked on my butt by all the pollen in the air. I got Kate a scratch-off lottery ticket too.

Anyway, I get the change back and its three pennies, one of which looked suspicious because I immediately thought it was one of them Canadian pennies that just never seems to fit in, but it was because the back was a "wheat penny" and not the familiar Lincoln memorial.

Turned it over and it was made in 1927.

It isn't worth a dime, haha, but it got me thinking how this penny has been making its way around the US for the last 81 years and now its here.

Tootsie Pop art (The Flag)

I completed this one and cut out each star separately, but they were too small, so I cut out another 50 that were bigger. I learned from the Jim Morrison piece that using the back of the wrapper made a nice white, so the white stripes are also tootsie pop wrappers, too.


A close-up:

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Thai Phi and Adam emailed Kate earlier in the week to see about getting together to do something together over the weekend. The girls decided on going to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens just outside Vienna. It cost $5 to get in, but its worth the money because there were so many things to see and they take care of the place so well.

I took a few pics while we were there while walking around. I wish I had taken a few pictures of the front, which is all brick. Apparently they host weddings at a second facility on the property because we look up from the path we were walking on and see a bunch of people dressed real nice and standing in a line of sorts.

We will definitely be going back to see everything in full bloom, right now the dogwoods were coming out, but the cherry's were all just past blooming. Most of the tulips were out in full bloom as well, so I got a few pics of those.


The Stones











In the Welcoming Center, there was an aquarium that had some Koi in it, Jack spotted it and locked on to it, he kept saying "Goldfish, Goldfish!".

Tootsie Pop Art (Jim Morrison)

Here is the latest, Jim Morrison done in chocolate Tootsie Pop wrappers. This time I used the back of the wrapper as a color since I am so limited by the number of colors (flavors) available in the selection.

Tim's Birthday

We went up to G'Burg Sunday to celebrate Tim's birthday. Had dinner at Bucca Di Beppo, which has the best Italian food, a lot like Maggiano's, but the decor is done in "Early Satanic Ruby Tuesdays". The walls are red and lots of pictures of Sophia Loren, Frank Sinatra and every Pope since, well, there has been a Pope. Speaking of, they have a "Pope Room", its round and has a round table in it that seats about a dozen. The ceiling has a dome in it with clouds painted on it too.
Its amazing the amount of food they served, we had plenty left over.

We had a great dinner there, at least most of us did, Karen wasn't feeling great but she was a trooper and hung in there. She felt better later, so that was good.

And that's not all, because when we got back to Tim and Karen's, we had cake in honor of Tim's birthday.

But by far, the biggest surpise was when they gave me my belated-birthday present. They got me a Wii!!! Zach works at a video game place, so he was able to get a hold of one and Karen, Tim, Zach, Andy and Kate actually paid for it. What a surprise that was!!

I hooked it up and have been playing it every night. Bowling, Golfing, crossbow shooting, pool, ping-pong and other games. The Wii is coooooooool.

Thank you for a great belated-birthday, Fritz's!!

The Fauxhawk

Went to the park last friday evening and played around, he liked it and it tuckers him out, which helps when you want to put him down later. Gave him a bath later and made him a fauxhawk with soap.



I reserve the right to show this to your prom date one day, so mind me.

New Pop Art

Here is the latest artwork in my Tootsie Pop art series:


Its James Dean, if you can't tell. I hope you can cause it worried me that Kate didn't know who it was, but then she admitted she didn't know who James Dean was.

BTW- Some asshole has decided to begin commenting on some of my posts, but the comment is a link that takes you to some seemingly random site that probably installs spyware or something, so DO NOT CLICK ON THE POSTERS LINK.

General Update

Jack and I were home today because he and I are fighting a cold. Child care called yesterday and said that he missed his nap (wouldn't go down) and didn't eat his lunch, so they took his temp and he was running a slight temperature. His nose was running this weekend but nothing big. I awoke with a sore throat yesterday, but it went away, but this morning, it was back and I felt like someone had poured cement into my head.

I have been slamming the OJ and eating stuff like yogurt and bananas. In general, I have been doing what I should have been doing in order not to get sick, like Kate does.

We did a deep-cleaning of the house this weekend and discovered that the ants are back. These little suckers are tenacious. I have some stuff that takes care of them, but it takes awhile before they take it back to the nest and kill the rest. Until then, I crush them with my thumb when I see them on the counter or on the floor. Ricochet used to be a good ant-catcher, but he is gone and we now have to rely on Alexander the Great(est blob of cat you have ever seen). If a stray insect gets in the house and happens to cross his path, he will get up and move rather than take care of the offender. I have actually witnessed this disgusting display of sloth when one of those spider-cricket things jumped on his paw and he just stared at it. Three words: No Killer Instinct.

I got a chance to work on my artwork again and completed another "Pop" piece, so that was very fulfilling. I am working on the next already.

With my new camera, I have been snapping a lot of pics of Jack being cute, nothing really new, just cute stuff that I observe, like when we were sitting at the table and he just sits back and relaxes, arms up. Very chillax. He likes to say "cheeeeese" when I take a picture now, so you can see how "cheesy" his smile is in a few of the pics.

Along with the new camera is new kinds of pictures. For instance, there is a little orangish light that goes on just before the camera takes an image, so that your eyes are dialated and you don't get red-eye. Well, this orange light is fascinating to Jack, so I have about 30 images of him pointing at the camera and mouthing the word "lights", which doesn't make a good picture.

I will post a short movie of the boy at the park from this weekend. He loves the park and likes the slides and rocking ride.

Thats about all for now.

New Glasses

I got two new pairs of glasses this past week, one is a funky pair that I call, "Artsy-Fartsy" glasses and the other pair is frameless with really thin lenses. I got them at Costco and Kate helped me pick them out. We made a mistake when we went to get her pair a year ago and paid through the nose for them. Costco is much more affordable and they offered a lot of styles.

I got them back in just over two weeks and they fit pretty good.

Here's a little look at the funky pair:

Spring has Sprung

I did a look-see around the yard this weekend and took a few snaps of the latest that is springing up. We got daffodils in the front along with tulips, too. The red ones are out, but the purple ones aren't up yet.

In the back yard, the tulip tree has busted out and is in full bloom. The great thing about that tree is that it blooms at the beginning of spring and at the end of summer. Its my favorite tree in the yard.

Next up is the dogwoods and crepe (sp?) myrtles.