Mas Shopping!

Bad shopping has been the news lately! First it was Citigroup’s $50m private jet, now it looks like the former NY state commissioner on health is in trouble for shopping. Alan Feaur raises the question to whether shopoholism is a disease akin to OCD. In Germany it is actually considered a subset psychiatric disorder of OCD, but not here in the United States of Shopping. I drive by Northpark everyday and I am continually amazed at how many cars are there. On the weekends if you want to catch a movie there, it’s nearly impossible to find a parking spot, and they added two more garages within the last few years! Shopping is practically a sport here in Dallas, and people come from all over Texas and Oklahoma, and even Latin America, just to go to our malls.

Charley Harper

Every year around December I go on the hunt for a new planner for the coming year. I am quite particular about the qualities it must possess: it has to show a week at a time; it cannot be spiral bound-these get all bent up and wonky; it has to have a ribbon bookmark; it has to be small enough to fit in my purse, but large enough for me to put travel documents in and other important papers as necessary; it has to meet my design standards of cool graphics, at least on the cover; animal or nature themes preferred; and graphics inside are desirable, but not required. Imagine my delight when purusing Barnes and Noble two weeks before Christmas and finding this:


I am not sure if a more perfect planner exists for me. At first because I saw the planner was by TeNeus, I thought this must be some sort of English artist and happened to be on a jaunt in America when he painted this Baltimore Oriole. But no, Charley Harper is American and lived worked for many years in Cincinnati. If his style looks vaguely familiar, he illustrated the Golden Book of Biology from the 1960s. I just love how he captures the essence of birds in his bright, bold, geometric style. Using just minimal shapes and colors, you can immediately recognize what type of bird it is. He liked to say that Audubon counted the feathers on a bird while he counted the wings. Sadly, he recently passed away, but the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati has a whole page devoted to him. You can buy his giclee prints or originals (someday!) at his personal site. And I found this store Heliotrope in Decatur, GA that even has dishes with his designs. Maybe this is a cheapening of art, but his art is so cheerful and inspiring, wouldn't you want to surround yourself with it?

new beads

I just got some delicious lampwork beads in the mail made by daisydog7 aka Pamela Troutman on Etsy. She's based in Galveston, TX. Check these babies out! Do these green raku ones make you want a frozen with salt or what?

you touch, you buy

The psychology of shopping has always fascinated me. I sometimes wish I had gone more into that in my business studies. But here is new some data backing up what I have long thought: if you can touch the item, the more likely you are to buy it. Another hurdle for Etsians. And another reason why it's critical to have good photos. I'm working on it! I feel that I have improved leaps and bounds in just one month (thanks, mom!), but perhaps I don't have that special stylist eye that some do for photos. But I think it can be developed. It does work the other way though: I was just at Target and looked at some of the cheap made in China jewelry. I could just see how cheaply it was made and walked away, even though I liked a lot of the stuff, especially the big fun earrings with peacock feathers.