DAY OF THE SAD

Well here I am in all my glory with my brother when we lived at Port-O-Call apartments in Indianapolis, Indiana circa 1970. As you can tell we have been brought to tears at the thought of throwing our Halloween pumpkin in the trash. Now come to think of it, were we sad because we were throwing the pumpkin away or because we had to have our STUPID PICTURE TAKEN WITH A PUMPKIN? Whatever the reason, I really love this photo. Oh yeah... what's with the cap guns?

BRILLIANT, BEGUILING, BONAURO

As I was cleaning the apartment yesterday and dusting of my Tom Bonauro collectibles, I felt the need to tout his work. Tom is a wonderful and inspiring graphic artist living in San Fransico.
His work is wonderfully simple, brilliant, beguiling and friendly.

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Here are a few more images from Upstate New York last weekend. As you can see it was peak week and the color range was amazing. Next stop...winter.

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We took a trip this past weekend to visit the old homestead of design guru Russell Wright. He bought 75 acres in upstate New York back in the 40s, part of which, is an old rock quarry that had become a pond and stream complete with waterfalls. The house is perfectly sited on the edge of the quarry. In addition to his interest in design, he was also an avid naturalist who created scenic trails on the property to take advantage of it's proximity to the Hudson. Visit the website for more info.

WHO? WHAT? WHERE?

Amy selling her "magic wands" at the book signing.

Showing off the meal that she presented earlier that morning on the TODAY show. Pork chops, baked sweet potato and green beans.

Conn with Amy.

Conn with Artist Hillary Moore.

Book designers Lenny Naar and Jessica Rosenberg.

Amy, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.

I LIKE YOU: HOSPITALITY UNDER THE INFLUENCE by Amy Sedaris hit bookstores this week and is flying off the shelves.
It is currently #19 in ALL of Amazon's top book sales! Congratulations Amy!

Monday night , Amy had a book signing at Barnes and Noble here in New York... I later found out over 575 people turned out to see her. It was so crowded but the lovely and talented Hillary Moore maneuvered us into the front row of reserved seats. She asked where the seats for "AMY'S PEOPLE" were and tadah!!! We were sitting pretty.
As you know, I did a handful of paintings for the book and therefore scored an invite to the launch party on Tuesday night. In attendance were Amy, Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mathew Broderick and David Rakoff. Artists Hillary Moore, Robin Winters & Ellen Berkenblitt, Photographer Billy Erb and the Designers of the book Lenny Naar & Jessica Rosenberg.

ILLUSTRATOR BESOTTED BY LABELS

Peter Hamlin is a super talented artist and designer who always inspires me with his dedication are sheer volume of work. Here we are featuring one of his latest endeavors, wine labels for Hopkins Vineyard in Connecticut. The pic of him, courtesy of his sweetheart Nina, is from a wine tasting weekend at the vineyard where he signed bottles. So cool. Bravo chum! Visit his site.

SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP

CONGRATULATIONS to our friends Lauren and Derek on the launch of THE CURIOSITY SHOPPE.



John and I are honored to be included along with the other amazing vendors. Check out our goods - John's notebooks and keychains and my felt necklaces and acorn necklaces (shameless self promotion).


I'm really into the Owl and the Laquered River Rocks. Now is a good time to start stocking up on those holiday gifts, so start shopping- at The Curiosity Shoppe. They're open 24 hours to serve you!
BEST OF LUCK L&D!!!!

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Changing of the seasons at MINNEWASKA STATE PARK in upstate New York.

AMY SEDARIS TV APPEARANCES THIS WEEK

Amy Sedaris will be on the boobtube this week to promote her new book I LIKE YOU. I just got my copy Yesterday and it is OUTRAGEOUS! It really is full of helpful entertaining tips. Here are a few of the paintings I did for the book.

SCHEDULE:
TODAY SHOW - Monday October 16th.
JON STEWART - Tuesday October 17th
MARTHA - Monday October 23rd.

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John and I had the great honor of seeing the HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL up close and personal in it's natural habitat on the island of Kauai.
Most of the time we scame upon while walking along a beach. All of a sudden we would be within feet of one and not even know it. They come ashore and nap throughout the day and look like boulders on the beach.
Status: Monk seals, although totally protected, remain one of the most endangered of all seals. It is estimated that fewer than 1500 Hawaiian monk seals exist today. The Hawaiian monk seal was officially designated endangered November 23, 1976 and is protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It is illegal to kill, capture or harass monk seals. The law is that you are not allowed within 100 feet of one. state and federal laws. Harassment or disturbance of a Hawaiian Monk Seal can incur fines exceeding $25,000 and up to 5 years imprisonment.

AMY SEDARIS ON "MY NAME IS EARL"

Amy Sedaris is guest-starring on the October 12th episode of “My Name Is Earl”: Larceny of a Kitty Cat.

Randy pursues a romantic relationship with a cat lover named Judy (Amy Sedaris) even though he’s very allergic to kitties, and Earl prepares to pick up the pieces of his little brother’s broken heart once Judy learns how Randy really feels about felines.

*photo: conn brattain

BEAUTIFUL BACKGROUNDS

I've been a fan of Amid Amidi's Cartoon Modern for a while now. He has a great eye and is chock full of knowledge about old cartoons. He recently blogged about Walt Peregoy. Now I know, thanks to Mr. Amidi, that Walt did the backgrounds for Disney's Paul Bunyan animation that I caught once on the Disney Channel and instantly admired. It inspired me to fill my drawing pad full of trees! Of course, they didn't come close to these wonderful scenes.

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Nothing but pictures of orchids on today's nature post.