A new project where I take 5 different shots of one person, place or thing.  This weeks "One in Five" is my subway stop after a snowstorm.

The last few weeks I have been searching for other blogs like A&D to find some online comrades.  Blogs that love the arts, crafts, photography, whatever.  Anywhere within the realm of creativity.  Now I find myself overwhelmed with fantastic reading material so I figured I'd better start sharing the wealth.

This has got to be one of the coolest Superbowl bets in the history of Superbowl bets.

Two art museum directors, Maxwell L. Anderson of Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) and E. John Bullard of New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), started a betting war online as a response to art blogger (Modern Art Notes) Tyler Green's tweet:

@tylergreendc: Would love to see @IMAmuseum and @NOMA1910 make a Super Bowl bet. Like a painting-loan-to-the-winning city,"

The directors bit, the stakes grew and the trash talking commenced over the next day or so. Anderson offered up a Calame to NOMA and added, "We're already spackling the wall where the NOMA loan will hang."

Bullard countered with a Renoir saying: "Max Anderson must not really believe the Colts can beat the Saints in the Super Bowl. Let's up the ante. The New Orleans Museum of Art will bet the three-month loan of its Renoir painting, Seamstress at Window, circa 1908, which is currently in the big Renoir exhibition in Paris. What will Max wager of equal importance? Go Saints!"

It goes on an on.  You can catch a full run down on Modern Art Notes.

In the end the bet was sealed with "The Fifth Plague of Egypt" by J.M.W. Turner from IMA (pictured above) and "Ideal View of Tivoli" by Claude Lorrain from NOMA (pictured below).

Best of luck to both museums and congratulations on getting the arts involved in the Superbowl.  In my eyes, it's a win/win!

You've only got 11 days left to shop for Valentine's day!  Of course, if you're shopping on the internet,  you really only have about five left if you want to make sure your gifts get here on time.  So hop to it already!

What: Customized Birch Bark Slip Vase
Who: Little Retreats
Cost: $55
So smart, so sweet, just perfect.  Have your initials and that special date carved into this truly unique gift. I want one!


What: Red Silhouette First Kiss Card
Who: Eden Creative Studio
Cost: $15 for 10
This set of cards comes with red envelopes.  Head to the shop for more gorgeous cards!



What: Button Down Heart Pillow
Who: Rustic Patriot Girl
Cost: $11
Tiny (6.5"x7") hand stitched pillow.  A perfect little gift for anyone special in  your life.  Make a friend feel great on V-day!


What: Smitten Mitten
Who: Love Driven
Cost: $16
A glove for two?! How could I not share this adorable creation.  You can even have one personalized for $20.


What: TweetHeart Pendant
Who: Zephyr Woods
Cost: $10
This shop is filled with adorable little pendants.  This Tweetheart piece is perfect for anyone, but especially us twitter geeks.

This week's Kick Starter is a woman after my own heart. It's always been a dream of mine to travel the U.S. and Janeen McCrae (aka thenoodleator) is doing just that.

Janeen is an Australian living in New York City who's about to go on a very long bike ride (with her bike "Precious)" on the TransAmerica trail.   That's 4,262 miles.

Four thousand two hundred sixty-two miles!

I know, I'm out of breath just thinking about it too.

So where do you come in?  She wants to share her adventures with us by writing a book "My Best Khaki Pants" (of course!).  The money you give will be put towards printing and shipping costs.  A small portion will go towards a special "Feed Station Reward" where she'll document food she eats along the way.

Janeen will actually be paying for the trip itself out of her own pocket.

By the way, in case you're curious what the title of the book means: "In the U.S., it's pronounced 'cacky'. And where I'm from, cacky means sh*tty, and pants means underwear. Thus rendering the sentence "I'm going to wear my best khaki pants" fantastically awesome."

Pledges start at $3 bucks so why not give that coffee money you were going to spend today?

That's right, I'm a LOST fanatic and as you probably know, the show premiere's it's final season tonight! I'm jumping out of my seat! 

Thanks to a friend for passing along the link to these beauties, the Lost Showdowns by Scott Campbell. (Here's another one) I particularly love Eko vs. the Smoke Monster in the piece you see above. 

Sadly I didn't know about this sooner and they, along with some other amazing LOST artwork, were sold in the Lost Underground Art Show. However, thanks to the internet, you can still view all the pieces.  So go get your fix before tonight's premiere!

Oh, and check out the rest of the work by Scott.  He's got some incredible stuff.