I’ve been putting my old periodicals to decent use as occasional source material for UM, but perhaps they’d be even handier as impromptu furniture.  Design Crack has a link to Arik Levy’s “Stool Wraps” which are (thankfully) less bodily-function related than they sound:

Having done a fair amount of traveling for periods between a few days and a few months, I’ve picked up a few habits along the way on how to make a temporary space one that I enjoy.

Vanessa Minnillo has always been, how you say ‘easy on the eyes’. I started digging her even more when she ‘accidentally’ dropped a massive F-bomb on some stupid live MTV broadcast (take that FCC). Perusing one of my old Maxims though, I came across a quote that really got my pulse racing:

The temporary apartment I’m renting is sparsely appointed.  A recent renovation left us with brand new electronics still in the boxes.  After the Brazilian contractor ran a cable line for us, we unpacked the TV and ran the auto scan.  The TV tuner picked up 70 analog channels and, surprisingly, 19 digital.

If there’s one thing I miss, it’s my membership to the Denver Art Museum.  I received one as a gift years ago and used it constantly.   For quite awhile after that, I bought one annually and took advantage of the great savings it offered. Its value was most apparent when blockbuster travelling exhibits arrived. 
An example?
“Inspriring [...]

One of the troubles of traveling is finding dependable internet access.  I spent my first few days in New Orleans hitting coffee shops, drinking tea, and soaking up the free wifi wherever I found it.  After just an hour though, those wooden dining chairs detract from the fantasy of working around cute baristas all day.

Throughout high school, I was fascinated with the occult. I spent plenty of time surrounded by ouija boards, tarot cards, and books galore on subjects like numerology and wicca. It probably didn’t hurt that many of the cute gothy girls I had eyes for were aspiring witches themselves.
One element of wicca and spellcasting I found [...]

Earlier this year I started getting up at 6:30am.  I gave this pattern a 30-day trial and at the end found the behavior added value to my life.  I thought it would be a good idea to keep trying different habits, one a month, for the rest of the year.  At the end of the [...]

My recent post on a potential heroin addict near my work has me thinking about our UM readers’ own experiences.
The question for our anonymous poll is simple;

Have you used any illegal drugs in the last 30 days?

Yes

No

View Results

Filming this, I locked myself out of the apartment, forced to spend 3 hours waiting in the zoo for a replacement key…

Sometimes, my friends’ stories are so good they need to speak for themselves.  So to explain the absence of a ‘legit’ noon post, here’s Greg, via text message, checking in from New Orleans:
I don’t think the noon post is going to happen.  I locked myself out of the apt.  Currently trapped in the zoo
Only you Greg.

There is was. Like a casually tossed, barely burned cigarette. A syringe. I’ve known enough diabetics   people with deadly allergies to recognize an Epipen, those oddly oversized adrenaline injectors that look like huge, novelty ballpoints. This wasn’t one of those. No, this was a regular syringe. Like a medical professional uses to give you a flu [...]

The one thing that invariably goes whenever I change my daily routine is my hydration level.  At home or in the office I’m guzzling water.  Switch up my daily habits, or relocate me around the world, I stop drinking enough water.  This trip however, I packed retaliation in the form of a planet saving reusable [...]

Morrissey Album Cover Picture - Sleeveface
Some internet phenomenons almost pass me by.  “Sleeveface” for instance.  The name pretty much says it all.  Check out the Sleeveface pool on Flickr for more.
Mad props to Mike, who’s discovering gems like this when not busy racking up frequent flyer miles chasing Depeche Mode around the globe.
See another UM approved example [...]

Between blog posts, facebook photos, and craigslist postings, I resize a lot of pictures.  Typically I’m popping open gimp, adjusting the scale and saving.  Last week, with 8 images on my desktop needing resizing, I decided to take the time I would’ve spent opening them individually to find an easier solution.
Surprisingly, Microsoft had the answer.  [...]

I’ve never been a big believer in Valentine’s day as a ‘real’ holiday, and even if I was, it’s unlikely I’d spend much money on it.  The most romantic things in the world are always home brewed.  Naturally, ’society’ disagrees with me, and most men this year will shell out around $164 for the ‘big day’.  Losers.

I’m currently sitting in Baton Rouge in an almost sterile animal hospital apartment.  While it’s nothing shy of an awesome experience to be literally living in a zoo, it’s not quite the place to talk about the compelling interiors.  So, I’m going to take this time to answer a question from Cash.
The other day while [...]

Regular UM readers know I try to avoid posting stuff that’s been all over Digg, Reddit, etc, but sometimes it’s impossible to resist.  Such is certainly the case with Cracked’s feature on honest Valentine’s Day cards.
Reminds me of The Onion’s awesome piece a few years back that included such classics as “Quit yer squawkin, I’m [...]

Last night while waiting for Cash to join me for a beer, I started cleaning out my phone.  Normally I maintain active lists of different priorities and frequencies of people, sending systematic spam out for parties, dates, and just general good times.   Now, after a few years of building up my phone database, it was [...]

A couple of years ago, I received a package of birthday goodies from an incredibly thoughtful ex of mine.  Amongst the treasures was a large clutch filled with samples of my favorite cologne.  At the time, I had two regular sized bottles on hand, so the bag ended up forgotten in a drawer. 
During my move, [...]

Yesterday I saw two popular financial links bouncing around the internet.  The first, from The New York Times, is a graph that separates Americans by their income bracket and analyzes their spending trends.  The second, from online conservative financial advisor Ramit Sethi, provides spreadsheet examples to track your wealth.