I'm Officially A Geek And On The Cover Of Wired

So, I open my mailbox yesterday to retrieve my mail and what do I find, but a picture of myself and my late doggy, Abbey, staring back at me from the cover of Wired Magazine!

No, I'm not on newsstands everywhere but I had almost forgotten that this 'custom' July cover was coming to me.

Last January, Wired allowed the first 500 subscribers to upload a photo of themselves and if approved, would be put on their own cover. At that time, Abbey was still alive, but sick with cancer so I thought this would be a fun way to memorialize her.

I was right. The cover is thick stock and seamless, you'd never know it was only one of a kind.

I hope some of my readers were fortunate enough to be one of the 500!

This is the closest I'll ever be to being a Covergirl!

Great artist + Great Subject = Karin Jurick's Show, Opening Today.

above: Jurick's Patrons of the Avant-Garde (sold)

One of my absolute favorite artists, Karin Jurick, has a show of one of my most favorite subjects; Dogs, opening today in Asheville, NC. In addition to her increasingly popular 'museum watchers' paintings, her paintings of dogs are getting scooped up before you can say "woof".

Believe it or not, only ONE of the paintings from her Dogs Rule series is still available (see below) and the show hasn't even opened!


Above: 6" x 6" oil on masonite and framed in a black floater frame, A dog karin spotted in Decatur, Georgia.

The rest are already sold (all are oil on masonite measuring 6"x 6" and framed in a black float frame). But, if you aren't one of the lucky purchasers, nor are you able to attend her show in North Carolina, enjoy them here:


"Chip"


2 dogs she spotted at the Decatur Arts festival


A pair of basset hounds in Manhattan


The late and great Dewey, her friend's dog


A red Hound found in Piedmont Park, Atlanta


A Yorkie on Michigan Avenue, Chicago


Karin's own adorable Petey


...and her happy dog, Jack


Above: 16 Patton Gallery in Asheville, North Carolina

where: 16 Patton Gallery
what: “The People I See”
When: July 5th - August 1st.

Opening Reception will be Saturday, July 7th from 6-8 pm.

In addition to being a talented painter, Karin is obviously a dog-lover. When I asked her if I could do a post on her Dogs Rule series and show, she replied humbly and added "i think i could paint dogs every single day and be happy."

See her own 2 adorable pooches below:

Above: Karin's dogs; Petey and Jack

For those of you who don't read this blog regularly I was the fortunate recipient of one of Karin's dog paintings in honor of my late companion, Abbey (see below).


above: Karin's tribute painting of my late doggy, Abbey

I have been collecting Karin's work for years now and have a fondness for her heart as well as her art.

The show does not only have her dog paintings but also includes several other wonderful pieces. Go see it if you're anywhere near North Carolina this month. You won't be sorry.

Karin Jurick

Happy Fourth of July!

How about some Fireworks for your tongue?

Now that it's the 4th of July, time for fireworks and BBQs, I'd like to introduce you to d'Oni products; gourmet condiments that inspire great meals, great health, great conversation and laughter according to founder and owner, Janis Dalessandro.

Having received lots of great press, favorable reviews and is stocked by the most chic of specialty stores, now's the time to try them out..especially since this post includes a 20% off code!

Hungrygirl.com's newsletter featured d'oni sauces today (see below):

Grill Talk...

BBQ time is here! And we wanna help...



Get Saucy! OK -- get this. These special gourmet sauces (great for grilling) from d'Oni are good for you, all-natural, preservative-free, and taste FANTASTIC! All of them ROCK, but our fave is the Bold as Love Honey-Habanero-Mustard. And their Moondance Marinade is worth a mention too. Hmmm, so is their What's Goin' On Soy-Pear-Ginger Korean Teriyaki. Guess we like them all.

Here's the best part -- they each have less than 10 calories per teaspoon and are fat-free! And Janis (the very nice and generous gal behind 'em) is offering 20% off if you use discount code hungrygirl at checkout on her site.

Find these at select specialty stores or order online by clicking here.

Now, fire up those grills....

I'm The First "User Of The Week" on This Next!

I'm super flattered that the increasingly popular shopcasting site, This Next has named me as their first "User of The Week".

A new weekly component to their blog, I'm the first to get the honor.



If you don't know about This Next (www.thisnext.com) by now, you should.



As explained on their own site:-------------------------------------------------

ThisNext is a shopcasting network where people can discover, recommend and share products and services they love.

In the real world, we rely on the people around us to sort out what we should buy. Brand marketing hype is too loud, too confusing. Tech specs are too complicated, confounding and time consuming to sort through. Our site is a way to answer online a question we ask those around us every day, “What do you use?”

Buying things that are better suited to our individual lifestyles makes life better. We want to help people live the good life, whatever that means to them.

The ThisNext Blog is a place where we identify bloggers and trends whose work aligns with our goal of helping communities unite, express who they are and find products that will help them live more happily and easily.

Our blog will also cover shopcasting on ThisNext. Curious about what’s being picked, who’s picking it and why? Want to know why we’re doing something (or why we aren’t doing something)?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I actually found out about thisnext.com before it was up and running from a friend of mine who was in contact with one of the founders, Craig Ogg. I have since Craig as well as CEO Gordon Gould, the other founder. Terrific, personable visionaries. I have also had the great fortune to meet some other members of their team, including their fabu PR Diva, Nicole.

Their bloggers and staff are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.


Above: the hardworking team of This Next

They have received impressive press you can view by clicking here.

The name for my blog actually stemmed from my first list of products for This Next.
"If It's Hip, It's Here" was the first thing that came to mind once I started posting objects, art and services that I felt were worth sharing.

Since then, I have created many 'lists' of cool and hip products on This Next.
16 lists, to be exact.

Lists that range from things like "Shop or I'll Shoot: Gun Shaped Stuff" to "Put That Down, That's My Grandma; Modern Cremation Urns" and lists that are really useful like my "Fancy Friggen Flooring and Radical Rugs" list and my The Dish on Dishes list

Some of which have received press from other hot sites (like www.notcot.org) and many of which I've covered in my own blog.

above: My Gun Shaped stuff as seen on NOTCOT.org

I add to the lists almost daily, so if you need to know the latest and greatest things with skulls or aquariums that rock, links to all the lists can be found at the right in my side bar.

As of today, here are my personal stats on this next:


So, perhaps the above is actual 'proof' that I am a trendsetter, no? Okay, well then at least I'm someone who spends waaaay too much time on the web. At least I've done all the "searching for what's hip" legwork for you.....