There is a surprisingly long story behind this simple coffee tumbler.  On June 25th, 2007 I took a trip down to the National Mall with my friend Sam.  I borrowed another friend’s Digital Rebel XTi and was eager to play around with it.  Fortunately, we stumbled on a perfect subject, a common grey eastern squirrel that endured close human proximity in hopes of getting some edible loot from the passing tourists.  I held my camera out at arms length and snapped as many pictures as I could.  I eventually added one of the images to wikipedia, sharing the rather comical fellow with the world.  The photo took on a life of its own (some of which I’ve touched on in a previous post).

Skip ahead to June of 2009.  Regina F. Silva, a graphic designer/illustrator in the Philippines, sends me an email asking to use the original squirrel photo as inspiration for a drawing.  Flattered and intrigued, I accept.

The shared appreciation for this entertaining creature and the tone of the Regina’s emails gave me confidence in the possibilities of this proposition.  Months later, after more friendly exchanges and a sneak peek at a draft, she launched the first item in a line of squirrel-related items.  She promised to send me the entire line of products and yesterday, I received the wonderful bounty.

I could not be more pleased with the results and I’d like to thank Miss Silva for her devotion to her beautiful designs and for letting me know about this project.  While we’re on opposite sides of the planet, it’s nice to know that there is someone else out there who wants to share humorous squirrel antics with the world.

When I excitedly opened the package from the Philippines I was touched by the note that Regina included with all the fruits of her labor (reproduced to the right).  Best of luck to you and may the squirrel products prosper!

Please check out her Etsy shop and website, both are filled with whimsical original work. I would also recommend checking out her recent blog post about how she took a leap of faith to follow her dream of becoming a graphic designer.

On New Years Day 2009 I wrote a brief post linking my favorite news stories from the previous year.  Nothing beats an epic tale, so I’ve decided to publish it again and continue the tradition.  Without further ado, here are my favorite stories from 2009:

1) Somali Pirates Again

Last week, according to the pirates and maritime officials in Kenya, the ship’s owners finally paid $3.2 million — in cash, dropped by parachute — to free the Faina and a day later the last of the heavily armed pirates made their way off the ship.

2) Colombia Confronts Drug Lord’s Legacy: Hippos

Doraldald, Colombia — Even in Colombia, a country known for its paramilitary death squads, this hunting party stood out: more than a dozen soldiers from a Colombian Army battalion, two Porsche salesmen armed with long-range rifles, their assistant, and a taxidermist.

They stalked Pepe through the backlands of Colombia for three days in June…

3) Metro Bus Driver Takes a Bite Out of McGruff the Crime Dog

The bus driver, 38-year-old Shawn Brim, climbed out of the bus, adjusted both sideview mirrors and then slugged McGruff in the face with his closed fist, according to a police report. Because the huge McGruff head offered little visibility, Hardy didn’t see the punch coming, one officer said.

4) Man with Cocaine-Filled Chicken Busted at Dulles

Chicken a la cocaine?

Federal officials said Friday that was on the menu after a man tried to pass through customs at Dulles International Airport last week carrying a fully cooked chicken. It turned out the bird was stuffed with the drugs, they said.

“It’s the Thanksgiving holiday, and this guy is bringing in a chicken. You’d expect a turkey,” said Steve Sapp, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

5)  Miles for Nothing: How the Government Helped Frequent Fliers Make a Mint

At least several hundred mile-junkies discovered that a free shipping offer on presidential and Native American $1 coins, sold at face value by the U.S. Mint, amounted to printing free frequent-flier miles. Mileage lovers ordered more than $1 million in coins until the Mint started identifying them and cutting them off.

Coin buyers charged the purchases, sold in boxes of 250 coins, to a credit card that offers frequent-flier mile awards, then took the shipments straight to the bank. They then used the coins they deposited to pay their credit-card bills. Their only cost: the car trip to make the deposit.

I hope everyone has a happy new year!

Apologies for the brief lapse in updates, I just sold my old camera and purchased the new 7D. I’m playing around with the new features and should be adding more images shortly. Thanks for your patience.

I am currently in the process of selling my camera (don’t worry, I’m buying a new one) and as I’ve packed it up, I thought I would revisit a number of photos from my trip to Barcelona in early 2008.

While looking through the archive, I noticed that it’s rather tedious to scroll through seven images at a time.  Similar to my old portfolio design (which I will be updating and redesigning in the coming month), I’ve decided to use a collection of thumbnails that show all original photographs taken for the month to address this problem.

Some of you observant visitors may have noticed that I’ve added a category called Month in Review that addresses that old frustration and will allow you to see hundreds of photos at a time or isolate an individual month on the sidebar.  It’s a slow process to get all the links and thumbnails set up, so I’m in the process of updating and it should be rolling out for the full archive as soon as possible.

Well, I’m back from LA as promised, but I’m still sorting through the immense amount of photos I took. Starting tomorrow morning I’ll be putting up the first of the worthwhile images (somewhat chronologically) and the whole trip should last a week or more worth of shots, so stick around.

I will be in Los Angeles, California until Monday so there will not be any new photos until Tuesday. Apologies for the lack of photos.