Get your iPack Rat here!

Disclaimer: preliminary data checks make what I’m about to share with you seem like a money saving solution. However, if anyone reads the fine print and finds out otherwise, let me know.

So. You’ve decided to be all 3008 instead of 2000 and late and get yourself a smart phone. But, every time you think about buying one, you cringe at the cost. Here’s a way to turn a device you may already have into one of the smartest phones you know. Check out truphone, a software-phone company that offers free down loads and a month by month contract that can turn an iTouch into an iPhone. Now the cost of an iTouch is nothing to scoff at (they’re actually more than a standard iPhone these days. Go fig.). But, if you already own one, this truphone solution could save you from having to buy yet another handheld device. And, if you’re going to college, you can really cash in, as Apple has their “buy a mac, get an iTouch free” program going for college students. Buy the computer you need, get the iTouch gratis, down load the truphone software and for $17 a month (or so they claim) you could be sporting your own d.i.y.Phone. Sounds good to me.

Pack Rat has two ears and a heart–that’s why we love Phil Collins.

Look what I just bought! Honest to God, I am totally in love with The Utilitarian Franchise. This guy makes THE. BEST. STUFF. ON. EARTH. Snapple may try to make that claim, but oh ho ho hooooo boy, they are way off. Quick test. Which is better? Unique, affordable ($9.00 - $12.00 a piece), and blazingly surreal art slapped onto a hand towel…or some kind of artificial ice tea that tastes like bowel cancer waiting to happen? If you’re on the fence, let me remind you that these towels don’t just look like a Wonderland dream, you can also use them to dry stuff.  That’s two, count ‘em, TWO great uses in one. Where as Snapple…well, now that the Snapple lady is gone, they don’t really bring much to the table at all, do they? Stop surrounding yourself with mediocrity in your everyday workhorses. Fill your home with stuff that you’re going to love! And if you think I’m talking about Snapple, there’s just no hope for you.

View my most recent acquisitions. Do it.

photo copyright by The Utilitarian Franchise

photo copyrighted by The Utilitarian Franchise

Pack Rat is one angry dwarf…and don’t forget our black t-shirt.

Imagine if you still lived life like you were in the second grade. Your boss denies your vacation request? Demolish him on the 4-square court. Know your multiplication tables up to 10? You’re a freaking genius! Have a blue foil star. And you glued a stack of popsicle sticks together in one fire-hazard sized pile? Instead of sad and slightly disturbing, it’s artistic. Looking at the stash of reclaimed art supplies at the Materials for the Arts warehouse in Long Island City, NY brings back those grammar school feelings of standing in front of the open art closet–big possibilities. MFTA opens their art and crafts treasure chest to artists and groups who need cheap or free swag in order to make their creative vision a reality. For 31 years, MFTA volunteers and staffers have been saving perfectly good arts supplies from the landfills and playing matchmaker, pairing them with the appropriate causes. Their warehouse is a veritable candy land of paint, glitter, yarn… So, actually, maybe not so much like a land made of candy, but definitely as good. Just seeing it will make you feel like a kid all over again. And knowing that a bunch of schools benefit from the MFTA resources, means that they’re helping today’s kids have that same kind of excitement. So support them how you can. Live near by? Volunteer: volunteer@mfta.org

However,  unlike second grade, if you eat the paste there will be repercussions. You know who you are. Actually, depending on the kind of paste you ate, maybe you don’t.

photo copyright by MFTA/Susan Springer

photo copyright by MFTA

Pack Rat singing in the dead of night; take these broken wings and learn to fly

You know what I’m about? I’m about two things: affordable fashion and one of a kind looks. And that, people, is why Etsy is the shiznit (well that and about a million other reasons). As I’m peeping the NYC boutique scene, I’m not surprised to find that most Manhattan shops are out of my price range, but even the cute little Brooklyn stores are full of gear that costs at least twenty dollars more than I’m willing to spend. (where I come from, an expensive tank top costs $30, and I can maybe talk myself into it. When it costs $50? You can fuggetaboutit.) Etsy, on the other hand, brings me one of a kind pieces from up and coming designers all over the world at price points I can afford. Case in point: poppyswickedgarden. LOVES it!

There are plenty of things to oogle in this delicious shop, but today I’ve picked this Jesus’s Last Supper Convertible Skirt Dress ($30) . First of all, I am a big fan of anything that can do double duty, and being able to wear this either as a dress or a skirt is not only fun, but functional; it’s like you’re buying two pieces for the price of one. Also, I love the idea of wearing a reproduction of the famous Da Vinci painting, it turns you into a walking piece of art. This is not for the wall flowers out there; you are definitely going to be stopped in this little number as people take a closer look. I realize that maybe the religious imagery is a bit too much for some people, so I’ll also offer up the sexy Mod Dots Elegant Top ($23) as an alternative. Or get them both! Life’s too short to have a boring wardrobe.

photos copywrighted by poppyswickedgarden

Pack Rat does a binary solo: 00000100000111. Robo boogie!

Today I bring you a link to some free laughs. There is nothing funnier than a really good non-sequitur. And I mean nothing. Have you any doubts? Well then you, my friend, should immediately get thee to explainthisimage.com. Explain This Image is my favorite kind of site, the kind where the name says it all. Essentially, this is a gallery of the weird, the mysterious, and–some times–the frightening. The peeps at Explain This troll the Internet in search of the most bizarre images out there, pictures that without a caption and without a context seem completely foreign to the everyday life most of us lead. These little vignettes are either a creative writer’s dream come true, or nightmare as some of the pictures are so outlandish that it seems nearly impossible to ground them in reality. But even if you’re not a day-dreamer prone to trying to figure out the story behind the image, everyone can enjoy this finely curated collection of the ridiculous. Here’s a pair of my favs.

photos copyrighted by explainthisimage.com