No, Freddy wasn’t a croc’s dinner - this was his Halloween costume, and he hated it. That’s right, his two rear legs were the croc’s front legs.

Haven’t heard from winners in a long time, so it was refreshing to get a note from Nate at designboom about the winners in the “Love Your Earth” design contest. 3871 designers from 98 different countries participated in this competition, and the win went to “Savio Alphonso + instructors for my mfa thesis: theron moore + john t. drew + sergio lizarraga from usa” for “sprout: symbols to cultivate change.” The image is rather genius in its simplicity. YAY for Savio!

This is my third week without cigarettes, compadres. I’ve gained two pounds, but I can’t help it - food tastes SO much better!

Freddy was on a visit from funnyphotos.net.au.

Need I say more? Other than the fact that I didn’t give them one piece of candy. Not one.

If you haven’t read Russell Ossendryver’s open letter to the Gnome Foundation, you might find it interesting.

Other than this, it’s been a fairly quiet week. Have a good time this weekend, and don’t forget to mess with your clocks on Saturday night for the end to Daylight Savings Time (DST) on Sunday. DST is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Arizona, with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona. Betcha didn’t know THAT.

I’ve been without cigarettes for five days now. That thought is just beginning to dawn on me. I’ve been so focused on NOT having a cigarette that I forgot to pat myself on the back for succeeding thus far. This task has been easier to accomplish since I’ve been working out and since I moved into a place where I established a “no smoking inside” rule.

Within three months I should be perfect.

When you all have a chance, head to print magazine to vote for one of three finalists for the 44th annual Student Cover Design Competition.

The image above was created by Pam Davol, and I’m quite taken with many of her images. If you visit her site you’ll need to be patient and scroll down to view the art, as the design is so broken that it’s pathetic (at least in Firefox). The site is begging for a trade-art-for-design opportunity.

Hey folks - The dog was hit by lightning this past week, and now he can see cats in the dark. As for myself, I haven’t been hit by anything, but my brain feels like jello. I think my problem all boils down to the fact that my parents are coming through town next week and I have to finally clean the place. Yeah, that’s it.

For those of you who keep up with this blog though Google, make note that I’m changing publishing days to Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. For those of you who get information from this site through email, you’ll receive the notices on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

This past February I introduced you all to my sis-in-law’s new Labradoodle, My Guy. Well, My Guy and my brother’s retriever, Gypsy, had pups this past week. Eight of them. That’s my brother’s hand in the photo at right. They’re so cute you could just spit. But, I need to say “congrats” to my brother and his partner…and to the dogs, of course.

On to other news…Ema Design has announced the completion and installation of an interpretive display for the Denver Art Museum. The four-panel display highlights the restoration, conservation and preservation of Bernardo Zenale’s Renaissance painting, “Madonna and Child with Saints,” which is part of the museum’s permanent collection. Ema’s panels incorporate step-by-step photos detailing the restoration process, as well as a cutaway of the painting’s climate-controlling frame showing how the painting is preserved while on display. The panels, which took approximately five weeks to complete, are now hanging with “Madonna and Child with Saints” in the European painting department on the sixth floor of the museum.

I’ll have to send you all to Fanatic Attack to read about my recent trip to Natchez, Mississippi. While there, I met Marbeth Schon, owner of M. Schon Gallery and author of Modernist Jewelry 1930-1960: The Wearable Art Movement (Schiffer Book for Collectors). I didn’t purchase her book at the gallery, as I didn’t want to fly back with it - it was darn heavy. But, I ordered it when I arrived home, and it’s a fabulous book that’s filled with great images and important information about the top jewelers of the twentieth century. Marbeth knows her ’stuff’ - and I intend to visit her again this spring (and probably purchase another piece of jewelry!).

Even Frisky has a little “make my day” kind of attitude about this issue…It seems that certain design competitions are ‘on spec.’ In other words, competitions sometimes try to get something for nothing as they appeal for competitors in hopes of finding ‘free’ artwork. Of course, I can’t filter through all the competitions here and you know this. But, some poor souls at Notes on Design had their butts handed to them on a platter after they posted the LicensArt.com logo design contest.

I posted the same contest, but I didn’t receive any comments - and I thank you for that, especially after I read the comments at Notes on Design. The comments seemed be be a mix of spam and protestors or ‘gang members’ for No!Spec.

So, I went to No!Spec to see what the site was about. Their philosophy seems logical and sane, but it also seems like common sense. Still, it’s up to you to decide which contests you want to enter and when. I also discovered that one of the policies of this organization has is to not “harass or torment people” about No!Spec values. I don’t know if the commenters at Notes on Design are involved with No!Spec, but I would consider some comments a tad belligerent, if not harrassment or torment.

Make my day, you brutes. In the meantime, thanks to all of my supporters (a little over 1,500 of you daily) who keep this site alive and kicking. Not all contests are worthless. And, neither are the contestants.

Frisky is visiting from Caption This. Have a great weekend!

Oh my gosh. Summer is over and Frank and I missed the Fall Equinox celebration in Santa Cruz. *sigh* Yet Frank persists in wearing his flower face in hopes that he will pass for a snowflake. He has more creativity in his little nose than I do at times in my whole body. I swear.

Which brings me to Microformats. I’m not sure what this is all about yet, but if anyone wants to sum it up for me I would be extremely grateful. All I know is that it’s not a new language and that it’s supposedly extremely accessible. Fill me in!

Frank is visiting from Webshots. Have a great weekend!

Poor little Pumpkin Head looks about as sad as I feel tonight, as I had a lovely day until I checked into a Hampton Inn in Mississippi. I had stayed at this hotel before, and I’ve never had any trouble with the wireless connection in the rooms here (or elsewhere at any Hampton - they’re usually perfect and their pillows are to die for). But, it appears that this particular inn has had numerous problems with their wireless dude and tech support. Frankly, I’m not accustomed to working in a lobby. Nope.

Well, after two perfect flights (Delta) that were on time and smooth as all get out, and after a pleasant rental car deal, I guess I can’t complain. I did better than that. I checked out and went across the street to the competitor. It was sad, though - I had come to rely on Hampton Inns for stellar performances.

With all that said, the pickings are kind of slim tonight. But, I promise some extra news next week to catch up on anything that might have fallen between the cracks today.

Have a great weekend! You know I will - I’m visiting my brilliant and beautiful daughter.

Alexander Zakharov has been posting a Soviet poster a day since July, and his samples are amazing. The commentary is also interesting. And he does it all for the love of graphical detail and history. Bravo Alexander!

I’d also like to invite you all to visit Fanatic Attack, a new site that Russell Ossendryver (WorldLabel.com) and I dreamed up this past month. Every day we post about something bizarre, interesting, or simply obsessive (sort of like Alexander’s site noted above). Russell never knows about what I’m posting about, and I never know what he’s going to do, so it’s all rather scattered and fun.

If you want to join in on Fanatic Attack, just send us a blog about your “positive” (not kinky or negative) obsessions, put it in the body of your email (with a URL reference to a site or an image), and send it to TIPS at FANATICATTACK dot COM. Don’t forget to let us know your Website so you can get a little public relations from it all.

May the force be with you, says Yoda (that poor pup). Have a great weekend!

Photo via: twango

Heads up on the How International Design Awards. The deadline for entries has been extended from 1 September to 17 September (changes noted in calendar at right).

Discovered another site with nonstop design competitions (Photoshop), and the competitions look like fun - there are many for beginners, so jump in there! PixelAddiction now is listed under “nonstop design competitions” in the middle column at bottom.

You gotta love this light switch that was posted at Inhabitat. It’s full of form, but the function is somewhat skewed…

Basil is tasting the new kitteh and says it needs to be doused with brandy. I’m not falling for that trick, trust me.

Have a great weekend!