I say San Remo, they say Sanremo

Magnet #758 - Sanremo

A friend brought this magnet back for me from Sanremo, Italy. Superdupercute!

I love these flipflop magnets, because they can be found everywhere. I know I've seen them from Florida to the Philippines, and a couple of South America ones as well. It's just darn ingenuity, is what I say, trying to design a 2-D magnet to fit this format.

I was gonna do this long write-up on how some people go with Sanremo as one word, and how I could swear it's two. And how it's located on the Med, just east of France, and how I think that's the Sanremo municipal casino on this magnet. And how I'm wondering if the flowers have anything to do with one of their big roads being called, Autostrada dei Fiori, or "Freeway of Flowers." Scintillating blogging, I'm sure.

But I found out that I should have used this magnet a couple of weeks ago, because they just did the Milan-San Remo cycling race! Click on those pics. Cuteboys in kitted out in cutesuits, in pretty locales. Yeah, I don't mind it.

That's our new big thing, after the tiny, tiny, tiny decomp bubble from the Transitions Championship has burst, we've found ourselves gearing up (pun intended) for helping out Team Garmin-Transitions pro cycling team here in the U.S.

It's gonna be awesome fun.

Of course, I'm kinda wishing that one of my clients would sponsor Television Watching or Film Viewing, because at least then, I wouldn't need a Dummies book or dictionary at the ready.

What's bugging joy?

Magnet #757 - Derian Bug 33

Numbers.

If someone, and I'm looking at possibly the Doctor here, could go back and make the world exist without numbers (in all forms, all iterations, all equations, all situations) I would truly be forevermoregrateful.

Please and thank you.

The glass of fashion*

Magnet #756 - John Everett Millais' Ophelia

I know. I can't help it. She kinda looks how I feel right now, a little bedraggled and run over.

Part has to do with this crazy rain today. The other part, well, whatever, it's a magnetblog, dudes.

So, I bought this magnet at the Yale Center for British Art - such a great museum, for the art, for the architecture. Still, I squealed a little dance of joy because this was my best find of the day. I was so happy to find this as a magnet, because I saw this painting at the Tate in London, and they didn't have the magnet for it!

I absolutely love this painting of poor drowned Ophelia, Hamlet's sister. I'll concede it's a more than a little dark, and I know when I saw it in person, it irked crap out of me, because I was in London and not able to see David Tennant's Hamlet and I was still ticked over that and will likely not get over it for a while, but whatever, because you know he's totally coming to Broadway at some point in his life, and it'll probably be in a play that I'll never want to go see, but will go see more than a couple times, and probably stalk the theatre door, just because he'll finally be on my home turf. Anyway, moving on.

I'll leave the background learning up to you and the Tate description, mostly because I'm refusing to use the word Pre-Raphaelite in a magnetpost and not really know (or honestly care) what it means. Of course, now I know having read that description what it means, but I'm still not using it.

The very word just seems too, too lofty here on joy magnetism. So, lay on, Macjoy.

What? Oh, like I wasn't going to pun it. Or include David Tennant in reference to this particular magnet. Hahaha. Nope. I'm not bitter at all.


*Hamlet, Act 3, scene 1, 150–154

eta:
Why? Why do I always think that Ophelia is Hamlet's sister? Kudos to Jenny for pointing it out. But I shan't fix it above. Because I'm kinda wondering what my mental block is about it!

eta2:
She's Laertes' sister. And yet, in my head, Ophelia/Hamlet, sibyay. You'd think I didn't go see Hamlet.

I did, though. I have the notice about David Tennant's absence to prove it. Grrr.

Ribbon me this

Magnet #755 - Snoopy and Woodstock, BFFs forever

Hee. Target $1 aisle. C'mon. Need I say more. Pretty colors, pretty stickers, pretty magnets, pretty ribbons.

What?

A while ago, I was at my sister's place in DC, and I noticed that she put stickers on everything she owns. Mainly to tell the difference between her phone and others, her remote and others, her iPod and others, her basically anything and others.

I mocked her for that.

I should have known better, because I noticed something about myself over the last couple of weeks.

First, I stickered my chargers - for my Mac and my Blackberry. I stickered my clipboard, my notebooks, my folders and even my all-access pass.

Second, I beribboned everything. No. Seriously.

I beribboned the key to one of the conference rooms we were in.

I beribboned the key to the other conference room we were in.

I beribboned the car keys.

I beribboned the key to the CHIPsmobile.

I beribboned jump drives.

I even tried to double-ribbon the brand ambassador gifts.

Hmmm. I think in addition to just liking ribbon, I might like the word beribboned too much. Especially given that I'm pretty much using that word incorrectly. Eh.

Beribboned!

Doing the Dew

Magnet #754 - Soda

Another Kristina Myers Crafts magnet, one that I specifically took a picture of, to post about down in Tampa.

Mainly because I kinda figured that I'd be living on caffeine down there. Hah.

I kinda figured right.

At the risk of sounding like a commercial for Mountain Dew, during my 20 days on-site, I made sure that I had a steady stock of the stuff (in bottle and Throwback form) in the Playpen (our team HQ), the office fridge (in our conference room office), the Tahoe (big enough to lug around boxes), the Camry (yes, we had a note from Hertz saying it was safe), and my room fridge (not that I spent all that much time there).

The only place I never thought to stock it was the pavilion (because I totally didn't even think of it until just now. Huh?) or the CHIPsmobile (because I totally stocked that with waters for Erik and me).

Even so, no matter where I went, I was within easy reach of a Dew.

You know, they say that if you give up one sugary drink a day, you give up something like 50,000 calories in a year.

I believe it.

I sure as hell won't do it, but I certainly believe it.

Fish heads

Magnet #753 - Fish

Another magnet from the NC Aquarium.

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before - or, maybe I have and I've totally run out of silly stories and should stop blogging.

Hah. Even if I have, it's worth a re-mention....ya'll remember that Dr. Demento's video block they aired on MTV, back when they used to show actual music videos?

Here's the one song and music video that I will always remember - Fish Heads.

Freaky, because I can never forget the song itself, or the chorus of Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads. Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up. Yum!

But, I can also never forget the actual fish heads in the video. Freaky, is what that ish is. Freaky.

I mean, when you're a kid, you just don't forget fish heads dancing in a cooler full of ice.

Ew.

I got kids! Here!

Magnet #752 - Columbus, Indiana

This is one of the many parks in Columbus, Indiana, still one of my favorite finds in America. I kinda just liked the healthy, active bikers at the park, and was saving it for one of the two Youth Days we did for the local schoolkids.

Last year, we did one Youth Wellness Day, and had something like 1251 kids. In one day. 1251.

At one point, I was awash in kids. It was the only time I seriously thought, OMG, we're not going to make it. All I saw in every direction possible for as far as I could see, were kids.

Hundreds of them. Ya'll, anything en masse scares me. But hundreds of kids? Whoa.

But that was last year. This year, we learned our lesson, and had two days. Never mind that we still had 1050 on one day and 700 something on the second day.

Totally manageable. Totally.

No. Really.

Take cover!

Magnet #751 - Woman with a Parasol, facing right

There goes Monet again, painting a million studies of one subject in a million different lights. This one is a pretty famous subject, it's Monet's wife Camille, whom he's painted several times as the woman with a parasol, in the late 1800s.

I picked this one, because today was a rainy day, and the last rainy day I had was the Sunday of the Transitions Championship, where we were inundated with hours and hours of rain, lightning and thunderstorms.

As my friend posted on my Facebook status, they do not play with lightning down in Florida. No freakin' kidding.

They had horns! Blowing! They cleared off the course in seven minutes flat!

We had to shoo people into pavilions!

Seriously. And, there I was, standing outside our tent, yelling at the passing crowds, "If you are seeking shelter, please! Come! Inside! But remember! Do NOT touch any of the metal parts of the tent!"

The crowds giggled as they passed me, and then I found a slew of frat boys in front of the tent...leaning up against the metal braces.

Mind you, who knows if those boys were any better off than the guys walking with their own little golf parasols ignoring the inclement weather warnings altogether.

Silly boys.

Won't you come blog, joy magnetism?

Magnet #750 - Mile 0, Key West

WHEW. This is what I feel like I've hit. Mile ZERO.

I know, I know, the last time I blogged was March 13, the day before we went into overdrive for Transitions Championship week. I mean, I was able to blog from a hotel lobby in the middle of Florence, Italy, more easily than I could have done from Tampa in the last couple of weeks!

No worries, I'll quickly catch up (to the real magnet tally), I just needed to catch my breath.

The funny part is how everyone left behind thinks that Tampa was some sort of a picnic, that we weren't really doing anything but watching some golf, and throwing up a couple of Transitions swirls here and there.

Actually, it's not really all that funny. Even with a dozen people on site (a dozen, FFS), we still had one chick log in about 97 hours on one week's timesheet. And she's one we took it easy on.

So yeah, I get pretty het up when I hear folks wondering out loud just what we were doing down there, when I know for a fact that Tampa was not just a walk in the sun.

Anyway, moving on...I think my sister brought back this magnet for me, because no, I haven't been to Key West. In fact, all I know about it, is that there are lots of cats at Hemingway's house there, and that Joey Potter stole a brick from the house for Dawson. As a symbol of their friendship. Or some such. (Honestly, I dunno why she even bothered to get him a darn thing, when she should have just sailed away on the True Love with Pacey, and never came home or given Dawson a second thought.)

What? I've just been away, is all. joy magnetism hasn't magically turned into a different blog in my absence. Of course, I'm yammering away about work. And Dawson's Creek.

You're just lucky I didn't mention anything about David Tennant and Doctor Who.

Yet.

Rain, rain, go away

Magnet #749 - Woodstock flowers

Just please don't come back another day. Like say, any time between the 15th and the 21st.

Anyway, another magnet from my Snoopy set from Target!

Using it today, because I found out that you can paint grass green.

And that in a deluge?

It goes away.

Bear food

Magnet #748 - Mt. Mitchell, NC, Black Bear

Ok. Here's weird, I can't remember if I've been to Mt. Mitchell or not.

I do remember that my friends and I wanted to do a cross-country trip across Australia and the Pacific Rim, which then became a possible cross-Canada train trip, which then became a possible cross-US RV trip, that then ended up as a cross-theUSSoutheast roadtrip.

But, I want to say it was on that trip that we went up Mt. Mitchell. Or at least, I think it was Mt. Mitchell.

I remember lots of National Park elevation signs, and taking pictures of the lot of us in front of those signs. I remember numbers, but for the life of me, I can't remember if the name above the elevation was Mt. Mitchell. Hmmm.

Anyway, using this for today's magnet, because I'm quoting one of my colleagues, who for some reason always has the best bear quotes. Yesterday's quote, after a particularly challenging day was, "Sometimes you're the bear. And sometimes you're bear food."

Love that. Mind you, jury's out on which one I'll be before these couple of weeks are through.

Reaching for the skies

Magnet #747 - Icarus, high up on Empire State (1931)

Social photographer Lewis Wickes Hine made this image during the construction of the Empire State Building in 1931. An amazing photo, and the title is certainly indicative of how society felt about the early days of skyscraper construction.

I thought it fitting for a couple of reasons. The first is that one of the giants in skyscraper developments, Frank Williams passed away recently. He's responsible, or co-responsible for many Manhattan towers. In fact, he was brought in on an international basis whenever companies would want "American corporate architecture." I've never really thought about our corporate architecture having a personality before, so that's pretty interesting.

The other reason that I selected this image today, is because it's Wednesday, Day 9 of 20. And if I'm hanging by a rope already, I can't wait to see us next Wednesday night after we've had 2,100 kids run through this course. Oiy. Should be interesting.

Sweet dreams are made of these

Magnet #746 - David Tennant...again

So yesterday, after I said that I prefer macho men (goodness, that sounds ridic) men, I went to bed and promptly dreamed of David Tennant. Clearly, the opposite of macho, and way the more metro and surely off the real life list, but definitely on the onscreen list.

In my dream, for whatever reason, I was apartment shopping with a coworker, and we were running through this absolutely gorgeous apartment - and get this, it was small from the outside, and bigger on the inside...we just kept opening doors and finding new rooms. Such a great TARDIS apartment.

Then David showed up, wearing this ultrasoft brown leather jacket - I actually think it's the one from his "Who do you think you are?" episode, and he was all nervous about the next Doctor.

Seriously.

He said that he was nervous for Matt Smith, and how his (David's) last appearance was going to be Matt's first. And we were all duh, yeah, and p.s., btw, you know that already happened, right?

And then, I got to watch the start of the next episode, and it was damned good. It started out with David's Ten getting stuck in a timewall (whatever that is) - so from his upper torso he was Ten, and from his lower half, he was Eleven. I mean, there was a whole Murray Gold score and everything.

Good grief. I can't even begin to understand why I'm dreaming of the next Doctor Who episode, I can't even remember when Easter is, for when it airs in the UK.

But I will tell you, sweet dreams sure do put you in a good mood. Well, at least until the workday begins, anyway.

Macho man

Magnet #745 - John Wayne

I catch a lot of flak over my tv and movie boyfriends. Especially because when you watch tv or movies with me, it's generally because there's a cuteboy involved, and I'm generally grinning like a Cheshire cat, with the cooing in a high-pitched tone, "Eeeeep, that's my boyfriend!!!"

The funny part is that on the whole, most of the boys I love on screen wouldn't be able to live up to every trait I've imbued them with in my head. Which is yet another reason I don't really want to ever meet George Clooney or David Tennant or John Taylor. I want to preserve the mystique.

Oddly, even though I love the metroboys on screen, my tastes in real life generally run to macho men (good grief, does anyone ever really say that nowadays? what am I, a refuge from Kotter's classroom?), but basically the guy's guy. The big and burly, rough and tough, get the job done, with just a touch of class and a little more (secret) sensitivity, and a whole lotta lovin' for his woman. Think John Wayne in McClintock! or Hatari!

I don't care how sexist and girly this sounds, but I swear I fell for a (gentle giant) guy once just because I overheard him ask my (Amazonian) roommate where "the little one" was...that's just how big and burly that guy's gotta be.

And, yeah, I just basically described any romance book in any time period. I know. I'm nuts, but I grew up on those romance books, so I have to believe that they exist somewhere. Never mind that I once had a romance author tell me, "Joy, you know we just make them up, right? They're not real?" Oiy.

Yes. They're real. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made magnets of them.

What? I'm just sayin.

Creativity takes courage

Magnet #744 - Creativity, Matisse

Indeed, it does.

Yesterday on our Tampa Museum of Art break, we dropped by the Gasparilla Festival of Arts Festival, where at least a hundred artists were exhibits and perhaps selling their wares. From blown glass to metal to paintings and jewelry. It was fun trying to fly through there to get to the museum, where I eventually bought this Pomegranate magnet.

But, Matisse was right. Being creative does take courage to execute. It's taking what's in your heart and soul and putting it out there in some sort of canvas for all the world to see.

Whether it's brainstorming ideas for a golf event, concepting advertising on TV to sell something to people who don't want it, a painting for a gallery or just drawing with crayons, it's art without a safety net.

My friend says sometimes the courage is in taking something you've created and calling it art.

I think it doesn't matter how good or bad it is. Share it. Get it out on the canvas, because if it stays in your heart and soul, what's the point?

With open galleries

Magnet #743 - Alexander Calder, National Gallery

We've established over and over that I love art, and art museums. That it's not even like I'm particularly well-versed in any genre or any artist, that I just love looking at the stuff in whatever museum I visit.

With as many as 15 grueling days ahead of us, we took a bit of a break and went to the new Tampa Museum of Art. A very cool building of pierced aluminum (900,000 holes!!!) nestled along the waterfront park, and designed by Stanley Saitowitz, an SF-based architect with several structures to his name.

So then we walk in - free, by the way, because of the Gasparilla Festival of Arts - and have lunch at the still getting its bearings in a big way Sono Cafe, and take a gander at some art.

The funny thing was that you walk into this giant open space, and you see this staircase that leads you up to the collections. Then, you turn around, and as you start to go up the stairs, you look up, and bam!, you see a giant multistory Calder mobile, much like the one in this magnet from DC's National Gallery. And while I'd seen the pictures of the Calder on their site, I was still awed by it as I looked up into the atrium of a zillion holes. Very cool.

The whole visit (save for Sono) was very cool. Very small. I think we may have missed a few collections, because we did only see one floor full of galleries that intentionally flow into each other to show the openness of art.

But that's the thing now...instead of having wings devoted to one particularly course of art, the rooms and exhibitions all just flow into each other. While on the one hand, this openness explores how art is interrelated, and pushes you to figure out how they are connected, it also doesn't visually define what you're looking at.

In other words, one minute, you're looking at a nude Matisse, you cross an entryway, and all of a sudden, you're looking at a Greek Black-Figure Amphora, circa 510 B.C., and then into a set of black and white Garry Winogrand Women are Beautiful photographs. And left to draw conclusions as to how they're brought together under one roof.

In the end, we did the Matisse side and the Winogrand side, and I'll give it to the TMA curator, that was a good job of tying the two exhibitions together. The sketches, drawings and paintings of various women by Matisse during the early 1900s was a great juxtaposition and comparison against the black and white photography of the women that Winogrand captured in the later 1900s.

It's kind of what the curator of the Accademia in Florence was going for, when he combo'd an exhibition of Mapplethorpe imagery of the human form and...Michelangelo sculptures. Mind you...that one blew my mind completely. Mostly because I couldn't believe it had been done.

Yeah, that's a whole nother magnet.

eta:
After being open a month, their little gallery was stocked full of the easily orderable Matisse magnets from Pomegranate (my faves, as you know), but low on the actual museum logo magnets themselves. Probably good because besides the Sono beef, my other issue with them is their logo. But, I can't wait to come back and see how that museum magnet collection grows. I'm hoping they do an atrium shot like this one here.

Hope floats

Magnet #742 - Seahorse

Day three. Done.

I'm thinking in the next day or so, I'll likely be regretting that I did this seahorse magnet from the NC Aquarium. Apparently, my boss while I'm here is trying to set up a kayaking experience for the three of us who've been working long into the night and day.

I fear it. Right now. I'm happy because it's the end of a rather long work week, and I'm just hoping to stay afloat from now to the end of the tournament.

We've got so much planned, it's going to be awesome. Now. We just have to execute against the workplan.

Today, we released 33 banners. For serious. Two designers, two PMs, two clients, one brand sponsor, just trying to get one tent going.

Two tents down. Six to go.

Woot.

Weights and Measures

Magnet #741 - Kitchen Collection Food Conversion Chart

Day two of twenty gone by. Tonight's dinner, homemade meatloaf, asparagus, potatoes, salad, and cookies. Seriously good.

We're trying to make good use of our gastronomic time here before the actual event starts, because once it does, we'll be living on whatever's on hand, whenever it's on hand.

Don't get me wrong - we're at a world-class resort, the food's aplenty here. But, last year, I pretty much decided that the best diet was working an event like this - where you go from early morning to late night eating where you can find time, and even then, you're too tired to eat. By the end of our two weeks, the girls and I noticed that the jeans that were snug one week were able to come off without unbuttoning at the end of the second week. See? Awesome.

Anyway, I have this magnet up on my fridge, because I can't convert measurements for crap. So on the very, very, oh so very rare occasion I try to follow a recipe, I generally need this little magnet to help me out.

I blame my dyscalculia.

What? Just because it hasn't been officially diagnosed, doesn't mean it doesn't exist!

Shake this

Magnet #740 - Hershey's Syrup

I learned something last night when ordering dinner for the team. Vanilla milkshakes. Apparently, they're way more popular than chocolate. Or my favorite (right now), strawberry.

Huh. That's what we forgot at the grocery store tonight. Ice cream!

Sigh. Ice cream or milk would have been good with Hershey's syrup...which I saw in the grocery - they've totally refreshed their bottle design. I almost didn't recognize my old friend!

What's bugging joy?

Magnet #739 - Derian Bug #25

As the bossy eldest daughter of a bossy eldest daughter...I tend to get annoyed at unsolicited advice, even offered with the best intentions.

No. I'm not talking about you.

Funnily enough, I have no qualms about doling it out.

You?

Kids do the darndest things

Magnet #738 - Hot Dogs

This magnet is one of the first I bought from @KristinaMyers' Etsy store, part of a set I picked cuz I liked the whimsy of the junk food magnets. Heh.

I wanted to start this week on a good note, so here's something that someone told me a couple weeks ago. His wife called him at work and all I heard was laughter. On his end.

For some inexplicable reason, their four-year-old daughter went into the fridge and took one bite of all the hot dog buns.

Then put them back.

Hahahaa. I know I'm still laughing about it.