Draft 3 Web Designer Miami Blog

About the draft3blog:
Although, as a web designer, I should know better, this blog covers random topics: food, design, what's on tv, florida, things I like, things that irk me. You know, miscellany.

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Arts-and-Entertainment

Food

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The Evolution of Style 92	Tuesday, March 09, 2010

When I was a kid, I remember being completely fascinated by Shaker style. Or maybe it was Quaker style. I probably thought it was more 'Colonial', which in a way it was, but it was really just something spartan, obliquely passed along by the grandparents on the father's side.

It's kind of funny really; what eight-year-old wants a Shaker dining room? No stuffed animals, flowered wallpaper or beanbag chairs ... all I saw in my mind's eye was finely turned spindles and wooden floors.

Unfortunately, this early burst of sophistication in decorating taste was followed by a hippy-dippy phase (college, etc.: blond wood, wall hangings, ethnic rugs) and then by a, what could only be called, 'casual contemporary' period. Dark wood, cushy upholstery, jewel tones, a bit of this, a bit of that. To be fair, it worked with my sort-of traditional townhouse. And, no argument, it was comfortable.

And now, curiously, I find myself returning to those very spare Shaker-ish roots, in a way. I'm becoming a modernist. Which I never thought I would be. No clutter, just chair rails and wood floors. In my pursuit of clean lines I am only restrained by my finances -- and of course my knowledge. Off to learn more, all apologies to the Shakers and Quakers.

Categories: Design
Num of Responses: 0

Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad Men Xmas 91

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

You know I'm a big fan of AMC's Mad Men. The style, the writing, the fearlessness, the art direction, the fashion ... oh and have I mentioned the style? Now, some of the plot lines are a little contrived (How many Tom Joad's grow up to be Cary Grant? And could Betty Draper seriously think THAT is going to work out?). Notwithstanding, I think the show is an honest and creepy look at suburban/urban domestic and working life. Don and Betty Draper. As miserable as they are, they're still more real than most tv couples. And I wonder --as the writers work their way through the seasonal elements of a drama series-- how could the holidays with the Drapers best be addressed? For sure they won't be jolly. Perhaps they would be best underscored by traditional Chistmas carols, with a Draperesque spin. And so I submit:

The Draper Family Christmas Carol Songbook
O Smokey Night
Rudolph the Red Nosed Copywriter
Stumbling in a Winter Wonderland
Oh Come All Ye Unfaithful
Hark! Hear the Herald Angels Argue
I Won't be Home for Christmas
My Husband's Pants Roasting on an Open Fire - (The Counseling Song)
I Saw Mommy Kissing the Westchester County Councilman
Drinkle Bells

Anyway, I'll keep working on it. ("O I'll Be Bombed", "Frosty, the Snowman's Wife", "The Little Liar Boy"?)

Categories: Humor
Num of Responses: 1

And said:

"Who's Kids Are These I Laid to Rest?"

Japanese Gardens in So Fla 88

Monday, November 02, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Morikami Gardens in Delray, Florida. A bit of a hike for me, but worth it. If you like nature (and who doesn't?) or disciplined garden design, or quietness, or meditation or teensy tinsy trees (bansai), then go. Instead of explaining, it's probably better to show, so either click here or on the image below to browse through a few photos. Enjoy!

Categories: Nature
Num of Responses: 0

Free Mint Now! 87

Thursday, October 22, 2009

I really don't know how the grocery store has the nerve to charge $1.50 for six sprigs of mint. I could drop a leaf of mint in my backyard (if I had one) and in one week I would have so much mint growing all over that I would gladly pay someone to come and take it away.

What's more, I would never be able to get rid of it. Pull up every last mint plant, turn your back, and voila! Another minty runner has minted up on you.

I'm just saying, c'mon now Publix. I'll give you 50 cents for the transpo and plastic clamshell packaging —which, frankly, you should also reconsider— or maybe I'll just try a pot of mint on my tiny balcony. Resignation, you feel so good.

Categories: Rants
Num of Responses: 1

Any excuse for sticky buns 86

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Ok, so it's Rosh Hoshana, Jewish New Year, one of those major holidays you're not supposed to ignore if you're even at all, even the least teensiest bit observant of anything having to do with anything tribe-related. Frankly, to say that I am a lapsed Jew is a gross overstatement. You have to have been something at one time to have lapsed from it. No hebrew school, no regular services (I've been to church vastly more times than to temple, but that's another story entirely.) Really all I have left is the food. And that is not saying much.

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hoshana is not a big food holiday — as I recall. But there is a celebratory meal, and challah bread may figure prominently therein. So I said to myself, maybe I could make some delicious eggy challah bread — in honor of my grandparents and their kin. And to make it even better, perhaps I could turn it into a delicious plate of cinnamony sticky buns, loosely based around the concept of challah bread.

So that's what I did. Now I can say that making sticky buns — while not technically difficult — is time consuming, and in my case it would actually have been smarter to go to the local bakery and pick up a couple factory-made of pecan-encrusted sticky bombs. Not that my sticky buns were bad, just that if you're going to go to all that trouble, they better be darn good. Better than the local bakery's. So I'm thinking: more butter, more cinnamon, more melted caramelly deliciousness. That's right folks, I'm goin' in again. They may look good, but they could taste better.

sticky goodness

Categories: Food
Num of Responses: 0

Redesigning My Home HQ 85

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I recently moved into a new place, with a separate room for a home office. This is the first time in a while that the 'office' hasn't been in the living room or the hall closet and I'm pretty excited about it.

So I'm browsing around shelter magazines and home decorating sites, and, frankly, all I'm seeing are a lot of pictures that could be the home office for no-one-works-here.com.

Come on now, a glass and metal desk with a lucite chair, a teensy tinsy white laptop and a picture of a flower on the wall? No cables ... no trash can, no brutally ugly printer/scanner/faxer? No XML for Dummies or file folder crammed with old tax returns? As Elaine Benis in Seinfeld would say, "Give me something I can work with, people!"

So if anyone has any suggestions on home office design inspiration, I'm ready to hear them!

Categories: Design
Num of Responses: 0

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