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Uh, about twelve hours too late.
Well, better late than never, right?

So, in an attempt to bring a basic sense of order to my chaotic ramblings herein, I thought I'd try and institute some fixed thematic postings that I'd *try* to attend to on a weekly basis. Of course, as per the above, I'm already half a day behind in this grand goal.

Regardless, we shall persevere. It's all about those good intentions. Here we go with "Friday faves"--ie, a bunch o' things I've been digging this week:

1. Alec Flint
Y'all, I can't believe I forgot to post about this earlier in the week!
On Tuesday night, I headed over to the fantastically fun children's bookstore, Books of Wonder for a party in honor of double agent editor/writer Jill Santopolo and the first book in her new middle-grade mystery series. There were lots and lots of people in attendance, including such luminary editor/writers as David Levithan and Lisa Ann Sandell (who also happens to be the editor who works on Alec himself). There were also cupcakes and brownies, *and* Jill read a very funny section to a rapt room that included some honest to goodness kiddies in the target demo.
Buy a copy for the super-sleuth in your life today! And while you're at it, have a cupcake. Yum!

2. FitFlops
If you are not grossed out at the idea of spending $50 on a pair of glorified flip-flops, check these out. I was skeptical myself, but my Pilates instructor RAVED about them at our last class. If nothing else, they make you stand up straighter and are more comfortable than the flat flip-flops. I *think* my core feels firmer? Could be the placebo effect. Either way.

3. Healthy and non-orange sunless tanning!
So, I'm Puerto Rican. It's no secret: I crave the sun. That's not going to go away any time soon. But my new theory is that I might be more willing to cover up more fully on the beach if I'm sufficiently fake-baked. Anyhoo, this stuff was recommended to me on Sephora, and when I saw a friend last night, she said, "you look tan."
Perfectamente.

4. Vermont College is now, officially, Vermont College of the Fine Arts! What this means is that it's now its own separate accredited institution. Purchase of the purdy little campus up in Montpelier has been finalized, and a new website is in the making. In the meantime, here's a promotional video put together by some alumni:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgQseXLhMI4
Vive le Vermont! You can bet there will be some celebrating at the upcoming rez.

5. And finally, bringing it back to a pop-cultural note in honor of a lazy Saturday, David Letterman totally, completely, hates Spencer Pratt!

Okay, now that's awesome. Dave, will you marry me?

Tekentijger!!! Cindy DiBlasi has chosen this week's winner and a very fine representation of the topic it is! This is what Cindy said:

"For this weeks challenge underground, I choose Tekentijger. Overall, it is a great illustration. It's simple yet professional looking and the colors are vivid and line-work is wonderfully rendered. The root looks snug and happy underground, and I think Tekentijger did a great job conveying that."

Congrats to Tekentijger!

Richard Cardona has chosen the winner for "Favorite Book"...

Candace Trew Camling [link]

Richard says, "the charm, color, moment make the illustration very nicely done."

Congrats, Candace!

And the winner is...

Richard Cardona!

Yes, again. :) The rule was a weekly winner can win again after 2 weeks so Richard is eligible. And in my eyes, certainly deserves to win! Pixzlee made her choice very thoughtfully:

Most of the entries were good for one reason or another. Some for concept, some for technique, and some for style. I narrowed it down to (in order of posts):
Richard Cardona for his Minotaur, which was very straightforward, artistic, attractive, and even a bit humorous. It looks very professional, too.
Zari's Beast Scale was also very professional, neat, and clean with great use of contrast. It was also humorous and very original in its concept.
Samuli S's comic book style illustration got my attention because of its quality, texture, depth of layers and expressions.
And then Emily's Pig Flamingo with another original concept (half beast doesn't mean the other half can't also be beast), composition, and design.

In the end, I kept going back to Richard Cardona's because of its expressive use of color and simplicity in message, so I choose him as the winner for this week.

I have changed the rule to every 3 weeks now, to give more people a chance. Not that I'm saying Richard would beat out everyone every time! ;)

Besides Pixzlee's choices, I think there are some really amazing illustrations here this week! Keep 'em coming everybody!

And thank you, Pixzlee! Awesome job of judging!

The winner of the challenge of the previous week, Pascal, has chosen this week's winner!

"For me It was difficult to decide between "Kelly B." and "pixzlee" for this week's competition. both made great illustrations, I liked the hollywood/adoption-message of kelly B., and both would deserve to be the winner. But as I have to choose, I declare "pixzlee" as winner because her drawing suited better for this week's theme."

Congrats, pixzlee!