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Don't know if you ever watch the West Wing but (last couple of seasons aside) it was possibly my favourite tv programme ever. If I could have any job in the world it would definitely be something that involved me being in lots of meetings, walking down corridors talking much too quickly, doing lots of very important work and having an assistant who not only would take my calls, do my photocopying and buy me coffee but would also organise my entire day so really I just had to be fabulous and dynamic at work without actually having to remember where I'm going next. Sadly my job isn't actually like that but I did just meet someone who may well be the real-life equivalent of Sam Seborne. Or maybe Joey Lucas. Mark Penn runs a PR agency and is a lifelong pollster and political advisor to the likes of both the Clintons and Tony Blair. He's been described as 'the most important man in Washington you've never heard of' and has just given me the idea for my next job. Upscale tattoo parlours! Did you know that whilst tattoos are massively on the increase every year, you still have to go to some slightly scary place full of huge tattoed men in order to get one? Why isn't there somewhere like an Elemis spa or The Sanctuary, full of smiley women in immaculate white coats to comfort you that you aren't going to catch something unpleasant (in a Pamela Anderson-type way) from their needles? Tattoo parlours for ladies who lunch in Whole Foods, it's the way forward!

If you want to steal the next big business idea that means you can get out of your 9 to 5 and stop working for da man, or you just want to impress your friends, then check out this man's book, Microtrends, set to change our world now!

Gina Luck, Penguin Press Senior Marketing Manager

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We have a few cool life drawing groups around town here in Montreal, but nothing quite like Dr Sketchy’s Speakeasy - “Anti-art school sketching insanity. Must be seen to be believed,” - where all the models are in burlesque (no nudity; safe for work, I think).

It looks like they have a few groups around the States (NY, Kansas, Indianapolis), so you may have a Dr Sketchy around the corner from you.

Also check out Dr Sketchy on MySpace for more info.

Thanks to Salgood Sam, for the link.

Don’t let the seemingly-innocuous front page fool you, Tim Biedron’s work is suitably creepy in all the best ways. Don’t miss his tattoo work.

(Thanks, Eric)

Lots of people wrote to let us know that yesterday's mystery Russian alien was... a guitarfish (although there was healthy disagreement on exactly which kind).

Hi Neil,

I'm a big fan of your work, and I am a big fan of ampersands, so when I decided to get a tattoo of the latter, I wanted the one from the softcover editions of "Preludes & Nocturnes" and "Fables & Reflections". The only problem is, I don't know which font they're in. So, instead of feverishly searching (actually, I already did that), I decided to go right to the source. Do you know what font it's in?

While I didn't know, I figured Dave McKean would, so I asked him, and he said,

The answer to your blogger question about the ampersands:
Which PB editions? Since DC have released 57 versions, I'm not sure which one you mean. If you mean the recent SANDMAN LIBRARY editions, I have a copy of Fables... and this lovely scrolly fancy ampersand is set in MISSIONARY, a font available from Emigre designed by the brilliant Miles Newlyn (if memory serves me correctly). If you don't mean this edition, then can i recommend this empersand anyway, it's the best one.
...

Seeing the Village Voice has just leaked it, and a few of you have written to ask about it, yes, I will be a Guest at the PEN World Voices Festival at the end of April. I can't give you any other details right now, but the curious should go to http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/1096 and sign up for the Festival mailing list for more information.

I just finished Peter Beagle's I See By My Outfit, a book I've wanted to read since I was a teenage Beagle boy and learned of its existence in the back of A Fine and Private Place, and I loved it. It's the true story of a two man road trip across America on motor scooters, and it's as much a journey across time now as it is across space: funny, heartwarming and wise. The kind of book you feel a better person for having read.

Too much fun is being had with Readerware (http://www.readerware.com/rwFeat.html) and a cuecat scanner, as books are brought up to the new library upstairs and scanned in or ISBNd or entered by hand before being put on the shelves. Mostly I wish, given the number of old books here, that someone had thought of ISBNs before 1966... And then I wish that the library upstairs was three times the size, as I don't think it's going to make the dent in the basement library that I hoped it was going to.

Not necessarily in that order....

I guess if I'm to cover these topics in chronological order, the bruise has to come first. So last Wednesday when we had the snow storm, it also happened to be Valentines Day, which as previously mentioned is sad for us because it's when we lost Oskie. So seeing as that chocolate is the cure for practically everything (and thanks to Mark London Williams for sending an article with yet another scientific study proving this is true)I'd ordered a big heart shaped box of Jacques Torres chocolates (http://mrchocolate.com) which are totally the best chocolates in the world and believe me, I've tried a *lot* of chocolate. Well, of course the Fedex truck couldn't get up my long, steep driveway, and I saw him leave the box down by the mailbox.

Having been waiting all day for the chocolates to arrive, I wasn't about to let them get ruined or stolen, so I traipsed down the driveway in the snow, ice and biting wind to retreive them. Managed to make it both down and up driving unscathed, and kids were rapturous. However, then I decided to go throw the packing box away in the garage, with its newly painted floor. Which had snowmelt on it. And was, unbeknownst to me, extremely slippery. I haven't done a cartwheeling fall like that since I fell down a flight of stairs three years ago and damaged my shoulder. This time, however, I was fortunate not to break anything, but here's the lovely bruise on my thigh, which bore the brunt of the fall, almost a week later:



Let me tell you, it looks really lovely with my bikini.

"What?" you might exclaim. "Bikini in the snow? I knew you were crazy but..."

Let me reassure you, faithful blogfriends, that I'm not *that* crazy. I'm in Mexico, Cancun to be specific, with the Webmeister, while my kids are with their dad. TWM found this great package deal at this all-inclusive, adults only (!) resort called the Sun Palace, recently re-opened and after its post-Hurricane Wilma renovations.

It's gorgeous. Here's the view from the window:



And here's what the hotel looks like:



It's awesome. It's warm. And this afternoon, after my water aerobics session, the clouds burned away leaving a wondrous blue sky. I managed to loose my prescription goggles in the ocean while bodysurfing (they got washed away in a good wave, but I guess I should be grateful it was the goggles and not my bikini, but still...) but to console myself I had a tattoo done on my back in henna. The guy was amazing - he did it by hand without stencils.

This is what it looked like while he was doing it:



And here's the final result, which I totally love!:



Needless to say, it's temporary, as we Nice Jewish Girls aren't allowed real tattoos. (Do you hear that, Daughter of Mine?) I sent a picture to my mother, who looked at the picture before she read the part about it being henna and nearly had a heart failure. I guess even at 43 with kids of my own, I still haven't lost the ability to shock my *own* mother :>)

More pics of the extremely cool room and other stuff tomorrow!

Folks who read this blog know that I rarely link to things for sale unless they are really special. This is one of those times. I only wish I had a birthday coming up. Please enjoy the Illustrated Librarian Temporary Tattoos.

Librarian stereotypes are as old and outdated as microfiche. Nowadays you’re just as likely to see your local librarian driving a Harley as a Honda Accord. This 3-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ hard-cover book contains twelve non-toxic temporary tattoos ranging in size from 1-1/2″ to 3-1/4″. Put one in a prominent place to prove once and for all that “smart” and “cool” are not mutually exclusive! Also great for bibliophiles and bookworms. All colors follow FDA cosmetic regulations.

[note: I drive a Honda Accord.]