I think I have some talented friends who aren't looking to spend a lot of cash at this moment in time.

Look for our gorgeous and practical lunchboxes made from bamboo and stainless steel. We will be featuring lunch boxes from LunchinaBox.net and HappyTiffin.com, as well as unique finds from our travels in Tokyo and Singapore.

Be sure to clue your favorite take-out spot or event planner. Say goodbye to squeaky styrofoam and piles of event garbage.

Saltaire Construction did our remodel(s) several years ago. They are awesome to work with. Visit their site at Saltaire.com. They do both residential and commercial buildings, but their projects tend to be bigger.

image from bosworthhoedemaker.com
The architecture firm of Bosworth Hoedemaker is great for those looking for classic Pacific Northwest style and first-class detailing. We worked with them and loved Tom Bosworth's emphasis on symmetry and proportion. We couldn't afford all the custom windows, but we still loved his design philosophy.

John Apolis. Image from personal site

John Apolis is a licensed structural engineer in the Seattle area who is great for smaller projects, including residential remodels and landscaping projects with substructure elements.

image from tim.girvin.com
I came across this amazing picture while browsing my favorite blogs. It's from Tim Girvin's blog. Tim is a branding artist whose design firm, see girvin.com, has created the logos associated with movies such as The Matrix and Beowolf, as well as such brands as Bloomingdales. I think he's a design genius.

There is some really awesome music on Myspace. Mostly from undiscovered artists who don't get any air-time on radios and wouldn't not see the light of day, very quickly, were it not for this amazing age of the internet. Even with Rupert Murdoch and NewsCorp, parent company of Myspace, angling for mind control and profits, Myspace still accomplishes something.

My current favorite is David Turpin, an artist who reminds me of the Pet Shop Boys or the Cure with a subdued new agey feel. I'm a long-time fan of British art rock: Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Crowded House, though they are Australian. David Turpin's music is free to listen to at myspace.com/davidturpin.

image from lockhouse.com
Lockhouse.com is great place to shop for the perfect cabinet hardware or door knob. But count carefully; it's amazing how many of those little knobs you need. Also styles come and go; be sure to get as many as you'll need.

image from blog.glassybaby.com
In a world filled with stuff and nonsense, things that convey individuality and personality become increasingly special.

from tim.girvin.com.
For someone who loves words, it is always delightful to stumble upon a new word, such as:

Palaeography (British) or paleography (American)

Meaning, excerpted from wikipedia: (from the Greek παλαιός palaiós, "old" and γράφειν graphein, "to write") is the study of ancient handwriting, independent of the language (Koine Greek, Classical Latin, Medieval Latin, Old English, etc.)...Palaeography is in many ways a prerequisite for philology, and it tackles two main difficulties: first, since the style of a single alphabet has evolved constantly (Carolingian minuscule, Gothic, etc.), it is necessary to know how to decipher the individual characters.

Tolkien was a philologist, meaning he studied the cultural background of language. We all love Tolkien. Especially his runic Elven, which was not entirely plucked from the imagination.