A Most Curious Event

Poster design I did for Curious Oyster Catering Company for their upcoming event, A Most Curious Event at Olla Flowers. It sounds like it's going to be a really nice night, flowers everywhere, and oysters! Gawd, since becoming a vegetarian, I have really singled out the meats that I miss, and oysters is definitely one of them. I could eat dozens in one sitting and not feel disgusting. I'll probably cave at this event and eat a bunch - JOIN ME!

Ahem, the invites:


If you want to go, RSVP at curiousoystercatering@gmail.com!

Speaking of curious things, get a load of this punch that I bought to cut out the circles for the invites:

Whooaaaaa, isn't this thing the funniest/craziest? So massive for doing one task. But I gotta say, this thing, it has a LIFETIME WARRANTY and has the "Ease-of-use Commendation" by the Arthritis Foundation. This thing punches like a dream, I have never had so much satisfaction/fun from making circles out of paper.

!!

Someone give me a project that needs 2 inch circles, I've got just the thing.

harry, you're all right.

What oh what have I been doing?
Humming away at Adbusters, the latest issue, the January/February 2011 Big Ideas issue just came out.

A few spreads I designed:




This issue was the 3rd and final issue in the Adbuster's Revolution issues (Issues about Revolution, giving a history of it, and what kinds of revolutions are happening now and could happen in the future). The visual themes tying this issue together was light and colors (yes, I know, really broad metaphors, but it did help narrow down how to approach designing these spreads). So the issue goes from dark colors (Indigo, Violet) and transitions on through to angrier colors (Red) and into calmer more poetic ones (Green, Yellow). With each corresponding colors, the stories of the magazine follow the same sort of feeling, so dark stories at the beginning, and revolutionary, activist stuff in the middle, and ending on more thoughtful and quiet ideas.

I used so many bitmaps and what seemed like the first time ever, gradients. Have never used so many gradients in all of my time designing, always kind of thought they were slightly ugly and cheesy looking, but erm, I've changed my mind. GRADIENTS!

So yes, go look at the issue, and...buy a copy. It's a good issue.

Other things I've been doing, and this is kind of Adbusters related:

Being number 1 in the office Fantasy Football. :) :) :) :) . Although I did lose last week, a pretty brutal loss, 200 points to my 140 something points. That team was insane though. Let's hope that none of the other teams are as insane in the next 4 weeks, cause then...I'LL WIN!

Just started watching Twin Peaks. Man I really like it. Endearing townspeople with dark secrets. SPECIAL AGENT COOPER! Holy crap Kyle Machlachlan. Did you know he has a vineyard? And keeps a blog for his dogs? And takes on the strangest and most varied roles? Like really good ones like Special Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks and then stuff like the villain in the live action movie The Flinstones (I know this because for some reason I watched this movie over and over when I was a kid) and as Charlotte's first husband in Sex and the City? He didn't want to be type-casted I read somewhere. Yep, I think you've got that covered Kyle. Also I really love the theme song of Twin Peaks. It has the most cheesiest bass line, and it is slightly creepy, but man it is good.

I was walking home with Will (the art director at Adbusters) and I told him I've started watching Twin Peaks and he said that a lot of people when they're at my age watch Twin Peaks. I asked why. And he said he didn't know, just that they do. And I can see that being true. All 23 year olds, watch if you haven't, you can appreciate this donut image more.

I leave for Calgary in a couple of weeks. I was passing by an apartment and I could see their Christmas tree, and I don't know! It instantly made me fall in love with Christmas! Or at least start to get really excited and into it, and now all these Christmas related things are popping up that are making me fall in love with it even more, like, CHEESE BALLS! I haven't had a cheese ball in so long! I LOVE CHEESE BALLS! Here is a place that has a couple of interesting recipes for them: http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2008/12/cheese-logs-cheese-balls-and-aunt-betty.html

Anyways, that's the long and short of what I've been doing, working at Adbusters, killing the football pool, watching things, and eating and dreaming about cheeseballs.

away, away, away.

I need to remember to bring my camera around with me more.

And FYI:

Thanks Jane.

Team MeatHeist

Okay.

So something that has been holding a lot of my interest lately, is my first ever, fantasy football team at work.

Ha.
Haha.
Hahahahah.

Yes. I don't know anything about football, when it came to drafting, Tom just told me who to pick for my first two players and then I just picked what Yahoo told me to pick after that. Admittedly I haven't watched any of the games of this season on TV, so yes, I have jumped onto the football bandwagon. How come no one ever told me how much fun it was?! But hey, Frank Chimero (aka a great designer, and wait for this,) has a fantasy football team (never would have guessed it), and his is apparently doing pretty bad (which means, ha I would slaughter his team, because I am oddly, doing pretty well right now, but yah yah, it's the second week only). But holy crap, if winning isn't fun enough (won both of my match ups and possibly will win the rest, HA!) the NFL has the most hilarious players in the world. And so many of them have twitter accounts, and all of them have hilarious tweets. Specifically, Chad Ochocinco (#85, Wide Receiver for the Cinncinnati Bengals):


What is Chad Ochocinco doing with a pigeon? Gawd I love this guy. I don't know how to explain why I find these players to endearing, but they really are. I guess it's partly has to do with that I like watching people who really love what they are doing and are really committed to it. I also like when I can see aspects of their personalities, and a lot of these football players, they put their personalities completely out there (although I am sure this is the same with like basketball and hockey) and most of the time it's pretty funny.

I am really glad I did this. I was super hesitant at first, I don't really care about sports and to commit to something like fantasy football (you have to keep pretty up to date with it, who's injured, who's been suspended for a DUI or killing dogs or raping women, who's sucking, and who's not sucking) seemed really unappealing. But the prospect of smack talking and how fun it could be drew me in. And also everyone in my office was doing it and...to not have done it, I would have looked really anti-social and yah yah.

So watch out, Team Meatheist is going to...win. And steal your meat.

PS, isn't my kicker (the last picture and the only white guy on my team) cute?! I and apparently also the Chiefs picked him last. I wonder if they picked him for the same reason I did? Because he had a good looking face? And can get me 7 points a week?

night market and chute project:

Went to the Richmond Night Market and ate a lot of food:

A woman accidentally knocked over her drink:

The woman running this stand was not impressed.

I lost this game within 5 seconds. I could have easily blown 20 dollars just to catch one tiny fish. The game was that intense for me.

A poster that I did for an upcoming show at Straw Gallery in Calgary.

Here is an example of what you may see at the show: http://thestrawnews.blogspot.com/2010/06/mom-brainstorm.html

Go!

New American Felines

So this show was the bane of my existence on and off this whole week:

It's being put on by the boys at Straw, and the show is drawings of felines. New ones. American ones. It was pretty open-ended for what the drawings should be and all that, and it was exciting and seemed like fun, but when it came time to actually draw something, I was completely stuck.

Andy drew one of the best cats known to man, Maru. Maru rules. And this drawing rules. Has that manga feeling to it which is totally fitting since Maru is the cutest Japanese cat alive.

I drew a cat that night that Andy drew Maru and it was met with some pretty subpar looks. I knew my drawing was pretty whatever too and that I should do something else. I had no idea what to do, but I remember having one kind of silly idea where a bunny has cat ears, and having no other interesting thing to do, I did it.

And jeeze, it's so cute. A BUNNY WITH CAT EARS! I am dying.

I used to have a loped ear bunny, it went through a variety of names, BB (people asked me if I named it after a competitor on Survivor, hrm no, it's a cute name), Lucky, Obi Wan Kenobi (I was in love with him at the time), and then finally just...Bunny. When the bunny was younger it would hump the large beanie baby frog that my brother owned. I don't know why it was so attracted to it, but he would always go to it.

Anyways, go to the show if you're in Calgary, should be cute/nice/fun.

lol, for tom and whoever else wants to see this:

Tom's blue egg.

Easter & Such.

So on a Friday night, with nowhere to go out to, Andy, Tom and I made Easter eggs.

lol.

Different egg shapes.

In case you didn't know the difference between a normal egg and a mini egg, here is a picture to aid you in your learning.

Couldn't turn this into an omlette or something, too much spit and who knows what else.

lol @ Tom's drying setup.

The eggs!

Mine.

I liked Tom's postmodern colorful egg.

And also Andy's typographic egg.

So I got to design the latest issue of the One Cool Word Magazine. I am pretty happy with the result, and there are some pals showing their work in this issue, Nathan Grimson and Keith Weiss! So you can pick up a copy of this at the launch party (which is included in the door price-$10-flyer below, designed by co art director and designer Jaz Halloran) which is happening a couple of weeks from now. The launch seems like its going to be interesting, burlesque dancers (I've never seen them before!), artists featured in this magazine will be exhibiting work, bands, and I imagine beer. Wooo. SO COME! PLEASE!?!

last night she said:

Nothing Future from Ellen Lee on Vimeo.

Oh thank you everyone, last night was swell!

remembered songs.

I woke up this morning with this song in my head. It stayed there all afternoon and it was driving me nuts and I wanted to know what it was. I had heard it only in Maggie's car and I didn't want to bug her so I kept guessing what it was through internet searches and some serious memory searching and it was like finding a needle in a haystack. So I called her and she instantly knew what it was and told me and I have been listening to it non stop for an hour now and I feel so satisfied, I sing to it and everything. Maggie has been my low fi shazam. But god isn't it so satisfying when you have a song in your head and you don't know what it is and when you find out what it is?

In other Ellen news I got a hair trim today and during the hair cut I let out some sighs (they weren't rude I swear) because I was just tired and honestly, it was kind of hard to talk to the hairdresser because she was ESL and she was only half listening and understanding me. She told me that I shouldn't be sighing because I am so young and I shouldn't be so tired and then later asked me if I go to a temple or have a religion. I said no and she said, well maybe you should so that my soul would be at peace. I said that my soul was already at peace.

I always kind of dread going to a hairdresser because I have to make conversation. Somehow thought it kind of always ends up being a funny conversation (at least to me), one time this 17 year old high school girl was cutting my hair and we were just talking about the ins and outs of what it's like to be a hairdresser. And I asked her if people come in with greasy hair, and she's like yeah, and I honestly don't know what compelled me to say this, maybe it was because I felt like she was being pretty open and genuine with me (ha), but I said, "Do you secretly judge them?" and it was insanely awkward after that and she kind of let out this weird laugh and looked at her middle-aged coworker and was like, "Uh did you hear that?"

Anyways.

it could be home.

March:

Spaghetti and Manhattan:


A photoshoot:

photo either by Yvonne or Jason Edwards
That backdrop was the bane of Alex's existence.

A birthday:

Happy Birthday Jane, you looked pretty that night.

LEE

So I have done the inevitable for myself.
I have listed stuff on Etsy.
And by stuff, it's my vintage clothes that I never wear.

You can look it at here. It is the start to my Etsy empire (ah-ha-ha-ha).
But I just wanted to show you guys my etsy photographing setup, it's so wonderfully ghetto that it had to be seen.


Raymond Carver is probably crying in his grave.
The bathroom had a good white wall, and my camera needed something to stand on, and this was my solution. It worked out pretty well.

Yes!

Brief Summation

Calgary 2008/09:










dogs need to hug pillows too.






homemade baked doughnuts. Of which my mom did the most work. They taste more bread like than cake-y.




























I really like what this girl, Hannah, did: The Rulebook for my Unborn Daughter, which was inspired by 1001 Rules For my Unborn Son, which I also enjoyed. One I like: Rule #293-Don't shout out requests at rock shows.