1. In October, after my name change and all, I re-launched my design business with a new focus and new name. It’s Studio Guerassio, and I focus on design & branding for the lifestyle sector (food & drink, writers, artists & makers, culture, events, balance & wellness). I’d like to ask a favor of all of my lovely readers: if you know a business owner or blogger or solopreneur who fits that focus and is in need of design work, please send them my way! I’d be über grateful. 🙂

2. Random thoughts on film and TV: I was browsing through the TV guide the other day and saw Meet Joe Black was on. It’s one of those movies that I really liked and can easily re-watch again. It struck me though, just how unusual it was for a movie like that to be made. It’s not hugely dramatic, there’s very little action- in fact, the pace of the movie is quite slow. It features a kind of abstract mythology/fantasy element that is never overtly explained. It’s mostly a romance, when you get down to it. Yet is has this AMAZING cast, and continues to have the staying power to be a TV regular. I can’t off the top of my head think of another similar movie. My other TV-related musing is about the show Elementary (Sherlock Holmes set in NYC, with Watson as a woman). I watch a LOT of crime dramas, and nearly all of them that are based on a main duo eventually have that main duo end up romantically involved. Elementary is refreshing because it doesn’t even have a hint of that. Sherlock and Joan have a solidly built friendship, but that is it, hard stop. I originally liked the show because of Jonny Lee Miller’s portrayal of Sherlock, and the show’s gender-bending (Watson and Moriarty are both women). But now I love it even more because they’ve stuck to their guns even 4 seasons in, and haven’t forced a romance between Sherlock and Joan. That is the best way to take something old and make it truly new.

3. I know I’ve mentioned that I neglected the shop this year, due to wedding planning and events. But that might actually have been a good thing. It’s given me some time to think about the shop and see a) whether I want to keep going with it and b) if so, how/with what products? The paper prints are going to ramp down, as lokta paper is a bit hard to come by post-Nepal-earthquake. So I’m thinking up other product ideas. I’m also going to put all of the one-of-a-kind shirts in the Sale section, and focus only on growing the made-to-order section. I know I want to retake some photos. Bottom line: there will be some big changes coming to the shop in 2016.

4. There’s a house on the corner of one of my neighborhood’s intersections that for the longest time had a car parked outside with a World of Warcraft sticker on it. It has recently been joined by a car with the license plate Moria (that’s a LOTR reference, if you didn’t catch it). I have now dubbed this house Dork Headquarters. I also kind of want to be friends with whoever lives there.

5. Speaking of dorky things, this weekend I am attending my first ever reading party. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a bunch of people get together all in the same place, but instead of watching a movie or playing board games or having a dinner party, they all read. It’s good timing, as I’m still chipping away at my 2015 reading goal. I haven’t picked which book I’m taking yet, but I’m still really looking forward to it. It’s a introvert’s kind of party. 😀

What’s been on your mind lately?