Daily Candy Has Great Taste

Daily Candy does an amazing job in finding the coolest stuff on the interwebs and then spreading that information. Today they took on the subject of school supplies. Check out their advice!

Powell's Books Field Trip

I went to Portland for the first time a few weeks ago and, of course, I had to make the pilgrimmage to Powell's. It is truly a wondrous place! Despite my best intentions to just breeze through the place in an hour, I somehow lost 5 hours there. I don't even know how that's possible, because all I did was check to see if they had any books on or by Sri Aurobindo in anticipation of next month's trip to Auroville, India.

Anyway, I discovered that in addition to many, many books, Powell's has some pretty awesome office supplies. Below, please find some of my favorites, presented for your pleasure:



They had a variety of really beautiful legal pads.
















These are sets of beautiful post-it notes, designed by graphic artists.











OK--enough with the beautiful and on to the goofy!

















This is a HUGE post-it note pad in classic yellow. It was at least 18" square--big enough to be kitschy and small enough to be not super-useful....

Cool Technology

Sorry for the long absence. I've been saving up some stuff to post, but I haven't been able to get to it. That said, I saw this article in Time Magazine and I had to share it--25 Best Back-to-School Gadgets. I really want the Livescribe "Pulse" smartpen and Kensington ComboSaver notebook lock!

I'm a Mac Girl

I'm torn between believing this is cool and that this is excessive--Deskology has produced a set of desk accessories to match your mac! They do look appealing together, but they're a little pricey ($189 for the set) for me. Unfortunately, that's a problem with most things mac--you do pay more for good design. I'm willing to do that for my computer, but I'm not sure I want to do that for my paper tray, too...

This made me giggle

My friend Jeanette supports my office supply habit by picking up interesting products for me in her travels around the world. This is a pad of paper she brought back from New Zealand for me. Hee hee hee!

Creative Recycling

Sorry I've been gone for a while--the end of the school year hits hard! I've actually been saving up stuff to post, so there should be a lot of stuff appearing here soon.

These origami sticky notes, however, were too good to hold off on sharing. I'm a little unclear as to how this works, but I think the sticky note container has instructions for creating 10 different shapes out of the used notes. So awesome!

The Perfect Thank You Gift: Poopy Clips!

One of the wonderful students with whom I work bought these for me--so awesome! The binder clips (in case you can't seen them clearly enough) are in lovely pastel colors and are labeled either merde, shit, caca, or crap. Genius! They're from Knock Knock , but I can't tell you how much they cost because they were a gift.

The hard part is going to be remembering to not use them on someone's thesis or to not give into the temptation to use it on mine...

We go together like rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong

I love the idea of a built-in niche for my pen/pencil in my notebook. I drag notebooks all over campus, trailing pens behind me like breadcrumbs marking my path. Maybe this would help reduce the number of pens I buy... Well, okay, that's probably an unrelated issue, but it might reduce the number of pens I lose.

Sassy in a Green Way

I just discovered something pretty cool: soy-based laser toner cartridges. I wonder how well they work? At any rate, here are the benefits, as explained by idealbite.com:

• Minding the environment. Using one soy-based cartridge conserves up to a pound of oil.
• Philosophizing more clearly. Soy-based inks emit fewer headache-inducing VOCs (air pollutants) than run-of-the-mill, oil-based inks.
• Knowing the difference. Soy ink tends to offer brighter colors, and although your office will shell out a little more (depending on its printer), it goes farther than its petroleum counterparts.

Happy Derby Day!!!

It's the first Saturday in May and as all Louisvillians (even those of us stuck out here in Seattle) know, that means Derby. Time to bake a derby pie, make some benedictine dip, and pick some fresh mint for a genteel, yet somehow ass-kicking mint julep!

Here are some horse-themes supplies for you in celebration of the big day:

• Horse-shaped paper clips
• Tape decorated with horses
• Horse-shaped hole-punch
• Mini-sticky note cube with horses
  

Nature + Office Supplies

I visited my friend Ellen at her farmhouse in Vermont this past fall (so beautiful!) and experienced a very not important revelation: I want to decorate my world with tree-related images. I love tree silhouettes, leaves, acorns, pine cones, and whatever other kind of tree-related ephemera you can come up with. (Well, except the raccoon that was in my tree in the front yard two nights ago that scared the bejeezus out of me and the dog. Actually, I might just exclude that tree completely from this ode to trees and tree-related products.)

Anyway, Elle on Guard pointed me to a new site filled with fabulous things, and some of those fabulous things were these fantastic paper clips--love them! Thanks, Elle!

Sale!

Daily Candy's Daily Deal says that you can get 30% orders from Sorting with Style if you use the code DCDEAL when you check out. I'm not sure how long this deal will last (it was on today's email, but was dated 4/28), so check it out soon!

Monograms Make Everything More Functional

When I was in high school, we spent our entire junior year learning how to write a research paper based on using note cards. We had to write an outline and take notes on 4x6 cards, marking the part of the outline to which the notes corresponded on the upper right hand corner.

Now that I've been writing my dissertation for six years or so, I keep thinking if I only had the right system, I could finish the thing this weekend. I have occasionally entertained the thought of transcribing all of my notes on little note cards, spreading them out in front of me, and imposing order on all of the information I have collected over the years. The idea of the note cards having my name printed along the top makes that an even more appealing waste of time. Hmmmm....

You're gonna shuffle when you walk at the depot

So I made it to Office Depot this week to use my coupon and stock up on some pretty paper clips and other essentials. (Why do metal paper clips make me feel like Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest?) I found some wondrous new things to share with you all.

The first is the Office Depot Brand Combo Pack, for first-time forays into the world of pretty office supplies. It has red, blue, yellow, green and purple staples--a veritable cornucopia of color!--as well as large and small binder clips and paper clips in the same colors. I think it should be renamed the Gateway Pack, but that's just me.


Next are these fun leopard-print binder clips. Not much to say there, except how can you go wrong with tacky AND functional?










These are my favorite: people-shaped dry-erase boards to hang on your door knob so that you can write a note about where you are, when you'll be back, secret codes, whatever.








And finally--success! My stash of pretty paper clips has been replenished. All is well in the world.

A Meditation on Paper Clips

I had to use couple of paper clips yesterday at work and I realized that somehow my stash of cheerful, brightly colored and/or interestingly shaped paper clips had morphed into a stash of depressingly functional metal paper clips. It made me sad. Part of this is because I receive clipped-together papers from folks who evidently don't care about the presentation of their work with alarming regularity. And part of it is that, as part of a larger effort to delegate some of my responsibilities, I don't order most of our office supplies anymore.

My favorite paperclips have been striped, vinyl-colored clips in the traditional shape--functional and funky in one package. But they're hard to find these days, although I did just find them online here today. I also appreciate the round gold and silver ones that Clipiola makes, although I find them a little awkward to use. And I will buy novelty ones for friends--dog bone shapes, daisy-shaped clips, and so on, although they're too pricey to buy for myself.

Anyway, I might have to make a trip to the store to stock up on more aesthetically pleasing products. While some of the stuff referenced above is ridiculously overpriced for day-to-day work, the vinyl clips are cheap enough to buy even on our meager operations budget.

What Day Is It Again?

I love days-of-the-week stuff, ever since I saw When Harry Met Sally and Sally told the story about her days-of-the-week underwear and the jealous boyfriend who thought she was cheating on him because she didn't have any Sunday panties. I have days-of-the-week dish towels and days-of-the-week panties (of course). I've already documented my love of planners with their days and hours so neatly laid out. And now (clearly!) I need days-of-the-week clothespins ($8.50 from SusyJack).

Brown paper packages tied up with string...

...are so last year. It's all about the tape these days!
Think how many things could be improved with attractive packing tape ($7)--moving day, trips to the post office, um, well that's all I got.
TapeSwell has some more tacky ideas for this stuff--they might be geniuses!

Stolen Sharpie Upgrade

All the cool kids want one! Oh yes, it's a stainless steel, refillable sharpie. Wow. Every once in a while I come across something I didn't know I needed until I found it.

Color-Coded Planning

I love to plan out my days by the hour. And I love bright colors. I am so totally susceptible to the siren song of day planners--the possibility of exerting control over my time is irresistable!

This may very well be one of the most appealing planning tools I have ever seen.

My Stapler Has Been Bedazzled

My friends Rachael and Tamara got this for me. They say pink rhinestones always make them think of me. I have no idea why.

Pens I Love, Part 1

I was doing some writing this morning, and my thoughts started to wander, as they tend to do, and I found myself thinking about how much I love the color of the ink in my pen. This is a really good pen (the uni-ball vision elite in blue)--it writes smoothly and, like I said, has a really satisfying blue ink. The strokes are a little thick, but the color more than makes up for it!

The Matrix Is Calling

This phone makes me wish I still had a land line!

Pain Management

I spend a lot of time on my computer--I work a 40-hour/week job, I am a graduate student, and I am a freelance graphic designer. All that typing and mousing leads to a lot of pain. To combat that pain, I go to physical therapy, massage therapy, and occasionally acupuncture. I wear wrist supports and do exercises. And now I am experimenting with a new style of mouse--it is like a regular mouse turned sideways. It seems to be helping...

I'm also interesting in trying out a left-handed keyboard--that's a keyboard that has the keypad on the left. My thinking is that it would create less strain on my shoulders if my mousing hand were more aligned with my body. Anyone else try this?

!!!

My friend Ellen gave me these. She's generally recognized as one of the greatest gift givers of all time. These punctuated post-its are more evidence of that fact.

Just to Be Clear

My friend Alka gave me these folders in which to carry my resume on job interviews.

My Documents Demand Bling

So I bought them a very fancy USB Drive. Triple C's Glamnoir sells jump drives that do a good job of making my documents feel special, although they don't seem to carry them in pink anymore. How sad.

Our USB Ports Are *SO* Underutilized, Part 1

I'm a mac girl, but I have to use a PC at work. Every time I login, a little part of me dies. But if my computer were decorated with Fairy Lights? I would probably skip to work with a song in my heart!

Plain Office Supplies Make Me Sad

Everyone needs red staples, they just don't know it yet.

My Favorite Office Supply Store: Paperhaus

I love this place--it's so graphic design-y. There is no reason to shop here unless you have decided that the presentation of your work is as important as your work. It's a little like office depot meets ikea, at five times the price. And while the prices are pretty spendy, I can still afford paperclips, pens, and paper. At Christmastime, they stock pretty cool cards, too.

Highlighters: A Necessary Evil?

I have to research. A lot. So marking useful passages is a must. Unfortunately, regular highlighter markers tend to bleed through pages easily. And they tend to be permanent.

That's why The True Writer Highlighter Drylighter is so cool--it's actually a pencil! That fact makes highlighting a much more controllable exercise.

Check them out at Levenger.