January 2008 Archives

I'm going to have to yet again postpone our great new design announcements.

The stomach bug is back, and this time it's pissed.

I've just passed the 48 hour mark with all the symptoms of the norovirus. So hopefully this will clear up soon.

On the bright side, I've apparently started the diet I should have started at the beginning of January.

New design postings will resume when the rotten bastard has vacated my system.

Well, there's nothing like a stomach bug to knock me off my game plan. This should actually be the day to announce our sixth newest design, but instead I got to spend a lot of time admiring my newly remodeled bathroom. And one other thing while I'm on the topic of the dreaded stomach bug... can someone tell me why, after all the time Pepto-Bismol has been on the market, no one has reformulated the damn stuff to make it taste a little better? I'm not asking for much here, but when I'm taking something to prevent me from hurling, the taste of that something should not make me want to hurl. I'm just sayin'....

Anyway, on to important business:

Day "4", Design 4
"Hot Chocolate"
Men's, Women's and Kids' Apparel, $14.99 - $39.99
Mug, $17.99

One of the most successful designs at the puppytoes.net store has been our "Chocolate" design. It's another fun tribute to the periodic table, with our familiar spin on the word "element". They were so popular over this past holiday season, I was beginning to think there was a bug in our order reporting system! If we owned a brick and mortar store, I'd imagine little tshirts with wings just flying out the door.

One night as I was getting ready for bed, it hit me. Hot Chocolate. Everybody loves our "Chocolate" design, so why not come out with some Hot Chocolate? Of course we couldn't spell the word, "Hot" with the periodic table, so we just added the word itself along with some chocolate-y flames to the existing "Chocolate" design. We also replaced the wording.. it "protects me from the elements"! You know... the cold, bitter, winter elements.

So the new Hot Chocolate design was born. It's available mostly on apparel, but you will find one sweet little mug to hold your favorite hot chocolate.

And before I wrap up, let me add one more thing about hot chocolate. I usually have a very difficult time falling asleep at night. My average falling-asleep-time is usually somewhere between 1AM and 3AM, regardless of when I have to get up. It's not on purpose, I just can't fall asleep sooner, no matter what I try. Since the weather has turned colder, however, I've found there are some nights when I can fall asleep faster than others. After trying to establish a pattern, I realized they were the nights I had a cup of hot chocolate before bed. So after doing a small bit of reading (nowhere near comprehensive, mind you), some research indicated that hot chocolate consumed before bedtime promoted better sleep.

Whoda thunkit?

I must be reforming my slacker ways. Two days of posting in a row. Well, I did promise, didn't I?

In My Element
Men's, Women's and Kids Apparel, $14.99 - $39.99
Mousepads, tiles and buttons, $5.99 and up

I've been involved in chemistry for a very long time. When I was quite young, I was always interested in science of some sort, and it just turned out that chemistry was the direction I chose. I'm not saying those years in college were a piece of cake, like I chose chemistry and it was all a breeze from there, because it wasn't! Things like Calculus, Physics, and even Physical Chemistry kind of put a kabash on the whole doing well thing. But I've always been "in my element" around science-y stuff.

So, the science geek in me started spelling out stuff with the periodic table. I'll write another post on those designs later, but the lastest periodic-table inspired offering is "In My Element", featuring none other than Indium. See, get the whole In, element, periodic table thing... I told you I was a science geek! I thought it was pretty funny.

I'll continue tomorrow (Day 3) with yet another new periodic-table inspired design!

Until then...

I know, I know! there hasn't been a new post here since December 17. That was 24 days ago. I've been slacking in the blog department.

But that doesn't mean I've been slacking in the shop department. In the last month, seven new designs have been added to the puppytoes.net store, and at least two more are currently in the works.

But yes, I've neglected you, my dear internet. And as a token of my apology, I will be personally announcing our seven new designs over the course of the next seven days. Yes, I realize I've just committed myself to seven straight days of writing. But I'm fully prepared to accept the consequences of my slackerishness.

So without further delay, I present the first of our newest designs:

Day 1, Design 1
"I'm Drunk"
Mens and Women's Apparel from $14.99 - $39.99

This design was inspired from personal experience.

See, in the beginning of December, I broke my cardinal poker rule - don't get hammered when playing poker. I must have been in "one of those moods" or something, because the alcohol kept finding ways to slosh down my throat. After awhile, I noticed my chips were getting dangerously low. I didn't think I was playing bad - I didn't start playing junk hands and I wasn't really making any donkey calls - maybe I was just chasing a little too much, but it shouldn't have been enough to decimate my chip stack! So I shook my alcohol-rattled head a bit and took a good look around - as good a look as my slightly blurry eyes could see, anyway. It seemed like others at the table were playing better than usual! Not that I ususally play with a bunch of donkeys or anything, but even the loosest player at the table seemed to be exercising some restraint.

I was mystified. Do some other players really play better when I'm drunk? Perhaps the alcohol was inhibiting my aggression? Who knows? Maybe I really was just playing poorly! Either way, towards the end of the evening (no surprise I didn't cash in that particular game), I started giggling. No, it wasn't the alcohol making me giggle, it was the idea for this shirt. I imagined wearing it while sitting across from some poor donkey to advertise the fact the only way he'll end up beating me is if I'm drunk. Probably in poor form to wear in while playing with strangers, but it can give friends a good laugh!