This little toy speaks lovely words to my inner geekdom like nothing else. So sweet that I bought 2 of them! (yanno, one for the office, one for the road).. Actually they make dope gifts for your techie friends and significant others. Shipped straight from Japan, the thing is fully functional: plug it in, turn the key, flip the switches (in sequence please), and kill!!!! The USB hubs in the back are fully operational to give you some excuse of why you really, really need one. About $60 from Audio Cubes. (Pss.. awesome store! physical one recently opened in NYC on 8th street)

Pictures from the trip here.

Niseko was fun and full of many eating excitements in addition to the usual “puffily” snow goodness. So I arrive back to a balmy NYC winter yet again. This is making me worry even more about our climate and the world. I vow that in 2008 I will be a better human being in contributing less impact to the environment (or at least pay the off-set, which by the way is pretty friggin expensive for international flights. Yikes! Kudos to Continental Airlines - they make carbon off-setting a part of your flight purchase. Yay!). For those curious about where your contributions really go with this whole “off-setting” business, NYTimes has an interesting article that covers it. And, oh yea.. floss more. Happy new year to everyone! Have you got a resolution?

It’s winter again and this snowboard junkie is heading east to the land of onsen, ramen, and fluffy snow once more. See you in 2008.

Every year Redbean makes the prettiest little holiday cards ever. $18 for box of 12. Buy here.

 Donno if its’ because of the sudden cold front or the constant state of perpetual uphill battles at work, but I’ve been feeling the blues lately. Kind of like what my dog nemo’s doing in the photo - half asleep, half awake, comfortable, but not quite aware. I suppose every now and then everyone question self motivation and ultimate purpose in work and life. I tend to do this every November and this year is no exception.

Next week I’ll be compiling the 2nd annual gift guiding and switch over to the winter skin. And then I’ll be looking forward to a nice season of snowboarding and traveling.

 
Smart, stylish, and functional cookware designed by Jan Hoekstra. Each piece is thoughtfully crafted to handle little things in life that matter - like lid locking and storage snapping. Love the military inspired color scheme. Price varies (and generally expensive). Available at DWR

 Limited edition Mimobots USB Flash Drive. Best stocking stuffer for every geek in your household. $60 gets you a single drive 1GB/USB2.0. Available at Urban Outfitters (online only). Darth Vader is so cute!

 
Quite an elaborate contraption for herb storage. Not sure how well this works but the concept makes sense. $34 at A+R

 Unfortunately I can’t really read the details of this site, but hey.. a cool bag is a cool bag no matter where it comes from. This is Vax laptop bag from Barcelona. Shock-full of color and function that will keep your baby (that’d be the computer) protected in style. I love the bright combination of the hip tech color. Turns the inner-nerd on. (Thanks Xavier!)

 
Absolutely gorgeous digital art by the perpetually impressive Joshua Davis (who also happens to be a flash god). I’m especially in love with this lastest aspen series (view larger at his flickr) mostly because the color palette is exactly what I have painted in my home. Although this specific series isn’t up for retail, you can buy other ones of his limited edition super large print art at maxalot studio (450+ euro) and check out his other amazing work at once-upon-a-forest.