mr. squirrel's recent post highlights certain questions...
1. why is mr. squirrel speaking in self-referential third person?
2. is this not actually mr. squirrel, instead a squirrely and strange 'someone'?
3. has mr. squirrel overdosed on FOXnews and just gone nuts? (peanuts, i suppose.)
"we report, you decide."

problem solved, pinking shears found. sometimes i'm a real idiot.

favorite tool of the moment...pinking shears.

the only problem is that they seem to be missing.

i support this use of duct tape at haine elementary and middle schools in pennsylvania's seneca valley school district. i never knew books and duct tape had so much in common. clever, clever! and i was also happy to learn that march 2nd is dr. seuss's birthday.

the duct tape muzzle in a court of law? dear goodness, what is our legal system coming to?

my apologies for not introducing mr. squirrel . he lives in the family back yard in california. mom stopped feeding him because he was becoming a bit of a 'nuisance'. mr. squirrel's retaliation was to eat my precious, young, barely-just-rooted avocado pit which was recently planted in the back yard. sniff. apparently mr. squirrel carries strong political and war views as well, is he watching a little too much fox news network through the window? i'm sensing some mingling with the old guy.

ah, there's nothing like being on 'hold', listening to awful muzak, and the frequent operator apologies for the long wait, oh, there's nothing like muzak. watch for frequent on-hold blogging in the near future.

the old guy's recent post suggests that he might be familiar with sporto and 'the shopping cart situation' from the weekend?

vanessa jean is all over the web, and this is a good place to corral all the links and references ...

* yale daily news report 12.11.2002. thanks erika and the rest of the ydn crew.
* a february interview in hoard magazine. whippeee. i like the reference about the 'rugby team'.
* the duct tape guys are quite complimentary, which is supercool as they are the end all & be all of duct tape.
* chateau bizarre lists vanessa jean in this week's lucky 13....wahhoooo, fun!
* and of course, the kitchen cabinet is so kind to us too! 2.17.03 & 1.17.03
* guava magazine asked us to design some do-it-yourself belts made with seat belt buckles. the belts and a vanessa jean bio will be in the glossy guava magazine spring issue. guava magazine - the girl's guide to travel, is an awesome travel magazine for women, get your subscription today.
* vanessa jean * duct tape design is an editor's pick on the bust magazine girl wide web.
*wahooo, girl's life magazine makes vanessa jean the march trend alert! find out how to win a duct tape 'id wallet' and a free bracelet.

and watch for these upcoming spotlights...
* a girl's world online contest in april - win a one-of-a-kind duct tape purse .
* girl's life glossy mag, april/may - available in stores
* sugar magazine (it's british, but you can buy it in the u.s.)
* ym magazine, july - available in stores.

i'm a little worries that the old guy's last post is directed at me. not that i ever stuck duct tape in places it shouldn't be. and after reading phil the cat's post, i'm thinking that genius probably could have used some duct tape to prevent that disastrous situation.

want some nike's? cnn radio just reported that 33,000 nike sneakers lost in a december 2002 container ship spill are now washing up on beach shores in washington, and soon alaska. check out this modesto bee article to see if some nike's will be landing near you. the shoes are being tracked by washington oceanographer curtis ebbesmeyer.

"over the past decade, ebbesmeyer has tracked 29,000 duckies, turtles and other bathtub toys; 3 million tiny legos; 34,000 hockey gloves; and 50,000 nike cross-trainers that went overboard in the pacific in 1999."

that's a heck of a lot of tracking. i wonder if he's ever found a pack of plastic duckies mingling during a pacific ocean happy hour? and why didn't the legos just build themselves a boat and float to shore in one piece? these are the things i think about, and might explain why i am so happy playing with duct tape.

my last question? are the hot pink nike's easier to find? and if mr. ebbesmeyer could please send a few more pink pairs to ms. darcy, i would be quite content.

find out what university of cincinnati engineering students do with duct tape during engineering week (e-week). apparently this duct tape challenge was the finale for this year's e-week. i'm just glad the society for women's engineers team won the competition. sometimes it really take a woman (or a team of women) to do justice to duct tape.

the quantity of duct tape articles listed in google is slowing down, which means less fun links for us all.

this is a production week, lots and lots and lots and lots of bag making. hanna's and meri's and id wallets and bracelets and belts and mini maron's. the list goes on and on... have a good week!

irony or intent, you decide? a washington post article referencing duct tape campaign giving to the GOP in 2000? it even has a funny title 'the GOP home shopping network'.

i'm trying out e-bay. go visit e-bay for cheap vanessa jean belts. two up for bid right now, a nice silver and black belt and an avocado and pink belt. the bidding starts so low, i can't tell you how low. go, see, bid. (but don't forget to smile).

i can't tell if it is raining, or if it is just the snow melting and dripping off houses.

this is an official day off for vanessa jean. with all this free time i may climb the alps or rescue beached whales off the coast of new guinea.

then again, maybe not.

happy saturday.

uncle ronny alerted me to a culturally informative los angeles times article about duct tape and national panic attacks. uncle ronny is great, i don't know him too well, but he's great.

the la times article, along with about every feature satirizing the duct tape scare, mentions the duct tape guys. also know as jim berg and tim nyberg, these dudes make their living writing about duct tape (and tons of other humorous topics, including parodyville). you may have seen their book 'the jumbo duct tape book'. these nice duct tape guys have given a kind place to vanessa jean * duct tape design on their design refrigerator. check it out.

this has been a truly good day! there's nothing like morning productivity to make for a good start. and, after pounding the pavement of downtown new haven, i am excited to say that the vanessa jean goods will soon be featured in one very special downtown new haven store. yes, yes, this is all very exciting, and i will keep you all in suspense as to which store will carry the line. to add to the joy of the day, i ran into a fun friend in the street, and then we surprise visited her roomate. unexpected visits with friends are at the top of my list of joys. AND (as if it couldn't get any better) i went for the most amazing run in the snow! running in the snow is such a workout, and the city and river are so much prettier with snow, and i could just go on and on, but i will spare you the details. and as if that really wasn't enough, i just found out two incredible friends will be visiting town for the weekend. wow, if that isn't overload, i don't know what is...sending wishes for everyone to have a joyful evening!

a breif rambling about the one benefit of my previous existence on the west coast...

so, in cali i had a sprawling studio space (read: my parents' living room) and it was always sunny and there was just lots of space. there is lots of hammering involved in the production of vanessa jean * duct tape designs, that's how snaps and grommets and various other things get put in place. in my previous space i didn't have to worry about a thing! it was always warm and sunny and dry...and i could go out and hammer whenever i wanted. and there was always enough space that i wasn't going to bother the neighbors. and i sort of took for granted (sorry) that the biz manager, inventory controller and distributer would be able to shine it on.

well, here it's a whole different story. hammering inside is tougher. i feel bad bother the 4 nice girls who live on the 2nd and 3rd floor because the pounding shakes the whole house! i don't mind venturing outside, although it poses certain challenges. 1. the freezing cold. there's nothing like spending a good 20 minutes squatting outside, bare-handed, in 12 degree weather. that's probably not my fave. 2. space! there's a nice patch of concrete in the back yard here that's suitable, only now it's covered with 2 feet of snow. which leaves me hammering on the front porch. although, this seems to be a suitable option. the hammering sounds quiter, and it's a lot cleaner than the back.

dear old guy, you may now take this moment and send a big 'told you so'.
my response: hey, at least you don't have to hear the hammering.

a newspaper just now reporting about the rush on duct tape and plastic sheeting, today? hmmm, wasn't that the fluff story from last friday and saturday?

and abc news dot com is running a story that 70% of americans actually disregarded the call to panic and collect supplies in case of emergency or attack. which means the general panic and rush for supploes last week was caused by 30% of the public. media overplay or a ravenous 30% of the population?

and ridge finally gives us a functional plan in case of attack, like what to really have in an emergency kit, and not to panic so much. so, send me that duct tape, and put your plastic sheeting in the basement. "Homeland security officials now concede the message was botched. They are still trying to get it right and hope that the long-planned advertising campaign announced yesterday will help. How did something so serious go awry?" quote thanks to the pittsburgh post gazette.

my apologies for not introducing steve the monkey. he has decided to join us from eugene, oregon (no link!). stevie's handler, lizzer, occassionally speaks for him, as steve is often a lazy monkey, or else he is flying. really, he flies, and screams.

i believe that some time soon the old guy will be joining this blog as well. the old guy hangs out in pasadena, california and double as the vanessa jean business manager. he's a nice guy, and if we're lucky, he will grace us with his political views. invitations have also been extended to the infamous green pants who is cavorting (well, teaching) in munich, germany. maybe she can add a worldy perspective on duct tape...she does tell tales of a german duct-taper who sells bags in the munich marketplace (but he sews them, and i say that's not authentic). also, annabelle matheys may be joining us, if we're very lucky and very well behaved.

quick venting! the credit card processing industry is corrupt! they are masters of fine print and "oh, we didn't tell you about that fee?". venting over.

i commence my investigation of the muffled dribbling basketball sound outside my window. 'they' are playing 24/7, even when it snows.

there are a few groups of people in this world who go without enough applause. the two i would like to spotlight here are the united states postal service and the united parcel service (ups).

my (i like to pretend that he only delivers packages to me) ups man just rang the doorbell in the friendly manner he does when he has a package for me. he says his friendly hello and i sign that nifty electronic signature board with all the excitement of an expectant child on christmas. we chat briefly, and off he flies to deliver more brown boxes to more people in more places. he even apologized that deliveries were delayed due to the snow storm! i am just so impressed! i always get so excited when my doorbell rings at 5.30 on a weekday, because i know it must be my ups man. i know i'm only getting that usual delivery of duct tape or ribbon or snaps, but that doesn't mean that i can't, and shouldn't, be in awe of the way merchadise and goods safely travel around the world.

i can also say that i enjoy all my trips to my local post office branch as well. i belong to (i use 'belong' because 'everybody knows your name' at this branch, and they all show such enthusiasm for duct tape) a wonderful little post office branch just a few miles from home. the lines are always short. they're always stocked with the supplies i need. and the friendly folks behind the counter are just that: friendly and kind and they smile a lot too (ellen is my favorite). i think they are all just great, and i appreciate my daily smile and conversation with everyone there. and i am constantly amazed that our mail is delivered everyday, and i am so grateful.

good news! i've just heard that the vanessa jean goods have been accepted to the 'breath of spring' craft show in new fairfield, ct. how exciting it will be to get back into the crafting circle! mark your calendars: saturday march 29, 9am - 3pm. come and see the vanessa jean goods for yourself at New Fairfield High School. maybe i will see you there.

it's still snowing,, and i couldn't be happier. last summer, as steve the monkey and lizzer can attest, i tried to learn all the nascar drivers and their corresponding numbers. i peaked in wall, south dakota. isn't it great to know that nascar and duct tape go together so well?

off to finally play in the snow, which is again falling heavily.

all this talk of duct tape these days, and such neglect for it's fashionable uses. oh well. at least newsday.com will educate you on the history duct tape, as well as other functional uses. ironically, none of which include ducts. Dr. Tape, from Tape-Right, informs us that "because modern air ducts are made of flexible tubing, a pliable aluminum tape is better suited for repairs." leaving the duct tape for us to play with.

right now i am wondering if i can make a suitable sled from duct tape.

the new york times discusses some uses for duct tape. clearly, they have left out the most important (just kidding).

good afternoon, and welcome to the snowy life! there's nothing like waking up and seeing that the streets and houses are already covered with a heavy dusting of that white stuff.

oh! this might be a good time for an update in order to avoid any confusion. my studio is no longer in the tropical city of pasadena, california. i've moved into my own space in new haven, connecticut , the new home of vanessa jean's. sunny california might be warmer right now, but new haven has some nice perks and i actually like the snow. i do miss the crew in pasadena, but the interns (phil & em) are holding down the fort, or so they say. they'll keep the updates coming from the warmer west.

wow! this is exciting! i've had lots of requests to document the trials and joys of vanessa jean duct tape life. but mostly, folks are cheering to hear the other voices found at vanessa jean's. like phil and emily or even the far away green pants. so, this little ditty has been started to help you all meet the rest of the vanessa jean family. check back for more.