Helveticat!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Now for something silly and adorable, and in the vein of my previous post about typography...

HELVETICAT!

http://www.swiss-miss.com/2013/04/helveticat.html

It's possibly the cutest typeface I've ever encountered. (I mean, cats!) It doesn't appear to be available for download, unfortunately. (I would be willing to pay for that. I would! My friends would get annoyed with me pretty quickly, but it would be worth it for the sheer joy of sending entire e-mails full of cat cartoons.)

A Day in the Life of a Squirrel: a Photoshoot

Another interesting piece on animals! This time, it's squirrels:

http://www.incrediblethings.com/pets/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-squirrel/

I'm amazed that the photographer managed to get the squirrels into human-like positions, especially since none of the squirrels appear to be specially trained. It's all a matter of clever set and nut placement, apparently! I never would have guessed that squirrels' faces, with their limited range of motion, could be so oddly expressive.

I'm reminded of the Redwall series, which I read religiously as a kid. (I still own every book in that series.) There were essentially two or three plotlines in the entire series, rehashed over and over with different lovable woodland critters, different riddles, and slight changes in scenery -- but as a child, I didn't really notice, and I devoured them all the same. The photo series calls to mind the cover art on those books, which all featured rodents and other small mammals in human-like poses, wearing clothes and brandishing weapons. One wonders if the art department ever considered using photographed rather than illustrated covers -- would they have looked too silly?

'Tis the Season... for Jack-o-Lanterns!

Earlier this month, a couple of my childhood friends and I made jack-o-lanterns! I hadn't carved a pumpkin in years and years, so I was a bit out of practice. Here are the finished products:

The first and second ones on the left are mine. I'm especially pleased with this one:

If you can't tell, it's a mini-Totoro! He's starting to wilt by now, but as you can see, he was cute when I first made him. :-)

Any Hallowe'en crafts in your homes?

Confused Cats Against Feminism, a Tumblr

I found this gem of a Tumblr some weeks ago, and am compelled to share it here:

http://confusedcatsagainstfeminism.tumblr.com/

I love adorable kitten pictures as much as the next person, but it's always more satisfying when the cuteness packs a more substantial message. And substantial messages can come in small, witty, and terrifyingly adorable packages!

Satire can be one of the most potent forms of protest and political speech. It calls attention to the absurdities of the opposing side in a manner that, unlike serious and straightforward activism, doesn't trigger immediate backlash. Rather, by provoking laughter, satire disarms.

So enjoy these cats, and while you're laughing at their grammatical and logical inadequacies, consider that an alarming number of people really do hold similarly illogical beliefs about women and feminism. Perhaps, with time, persistence, and a large enough army of kittens, we can persuade them that women deserve the same rights and protections as men currently enjoy.

A Mop Dog Bouncing Gloriously on the Beach

Summer is almost upon us, and I can't wait to head to the beach. But meanwhile, here is a creature who is even more excited about the beach than I am:

It's technically called a Komondor, but "mop dog" is much more descriptive...

That is all.

Written Kitten!

This one's for the intersection of "people doing NaNoWriMo" and "people who like kitten pictures." (Then again, who doesn't like kitten pictures?)

There's a website that I've started using this month which rewards you for meeting your writing quotas with pictures of kittens:

http://writtenkitten.net

I've started thinking of my daily wordcount numbers in terms of kittens -- i.e. if I set it for one kitten picture every 200 words, then 1600 words translates to eight kittens. It's actually quite helpful!

You can also set it to show you pictures of things other than kittens. For example, puppies:

http://writtenkitten.net/?search=puppy

That is all. Happy writing!

My Totoros Have Multiplied!

I now have two Totoros!

I acquired the blue one in Japan five years ago; my sister got me the grey one for my birthday just a few days ago. (I promise I haven't put the latter through the wash; it's just the texture of its fur making it look particularly disheveled.)

"My Neighbor Totoro," despite having a rather thin plot, is one of my all-time favourite films (this is mostly due to its sheer cuteness). Miyazaki and his co-conspirators at Studio Ghibli are geniuses (genii?).

Curiosity Rover Sings Happy Birthday to Itself

Two days late (the rover Curiosity landed on Mars on August 5, 2012), but just as awesome:


http://youtu.be/uxVVgBAosqg

I am reminded of WALL-E. (I trust I'm not the only one?)

More Cute Pandas!

You thought you had already seen the cutest pandas ever, don't you? But you haven't seen this:

http://boingboing.net/2011/09/28/baby-pandas-need-a-nap-photo.html

Considering they're a severely endangered species, I certainly didn't expect to see so many in one place. As the comments suggest, there's a near-universal desire to climb in there with them and cuddle them.

From China (or Just Home), With Love

This is what my bed looks like this week:

You wouldn't be able to tell from the picture, but the bears, chicks, and leaves are actually embroidered felt patches. It's like I'm sleeping in a cocoon made of children's television shows and Sanrio-filled dreams. (I'm guessing that my mother bought the bedcovers/pillowcase in China.) Adorable, but makes me feel like I'm five again.

Escaping Baby Pandas!

Something cute and fluffy (literally!) to cheer you up after the hurricane:

Aren't they adorable?

Candy Heart

This is wonderful:

http://scienceroll.com/2007/11/26/anatomical-heart-made-from-candy-hearts/

It's a model heart made from (if you can't tell from the picture) those candy hearts with the pink messages on them.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that this would make a really cute St. Valentine's Day present (especially in the case of broke college students)? (Of course, there's the question of what to do with such an object. If it were made of entirely edible materials, I suppose one could eat it.)

Edit: And here's how to actually make something along these lines (especially with regard to preservation of the specimen) -- http://makeprojects.com/Project/How-to-Preserve-a-Candy-Portrait/395/1#.T9cQ6uLMAys

NYTimes: High Fashion in Silicon Valley

I'm a huge fan of brightly coloured, patterned, mismatching, or otherwise unusual socks. I wear them not only with sneakers, but also with sandals. Seems like I'd fit right in -- maybe there's a reason I go to Stanford. :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/fashion/in-silicon-valley-socks-make-the-tech-entrepreneur.html?hpw

To all of my techie friends -- I know what I'm getting you for Christmas next year!

Baby Animals!

Because a lot of people are probably in need of a distraction from finals week: 
http://www.livescience.com/12902-world-cutest-baby-wild-animals.html

Aren't they wonderful?

Meowing Choirboys

Courtesy of Brett:


I love the dynamic between them. I wonder how old they are, to have such control (especially in the area of comic timing)?

xkcd: Sail

Today's xkcd, which I thought was really cute and quite clever:

That is all.

Beluga Shenanigans

I thought this was really cute. That is all.

Blog Hiatus

I'm flying to China tomorrow, and won't be back until early September. Given the blog censorship situation there, I likely won't be posting at all until my return. (There is a workaround. We'll see.) Meanwhile, I leave you with this:

I thought it was adorable, if slightly odd.

Dog Tries to Play Fetch with Statue

Just a funny video that I happened upon:



We have a few statues like this on benches at school. I imagine that similar things must have happened with them at some point.

Owl Hunts Invisible Prey

Speaking of birds, here's a cute video my sister showed me a few days ago:



I want one! I think a large component of my early enthusiasm for Harry Potter formed around the arresting idea of keeping a pet owl to carry my mail. It's a literal amalgamation of two things I love: owls and handwritten letters.

I have no idea what it thinks is on/behind that door, but I'm sure it makes perfect sense in its own little head. Its expression is wonderful -- but then again, I suppose that's not really its doing. It reminds me of kittens with ping pong balls. (My father likes telling stories about how kittens are adorably stupid -- they can keep on chasing a ping pong ball for ages not realizing that they're never going to catch it.)