Books. And a giveaway

Tara Books

Tara Books was started by Gita Wolf, initially as a publisher of children’s books. Now their catalogue has expanded to include art and design books for adults, beautiful stationery and posters, as well as a select list of fiction. The thing that immediately draws you to the books published by Tara is the rich visual appeal. Designed by Indian artisans and young designers, each book published by Tara is a collector's copy. And the best news...you can buy their products online! Shop here, and connect with Tara on Facebook to get updates on their latest releases.  

The Art of Book by Seagull Publishing

Seagull Publishing is an independent publishing house based in Calcutta with books in the area of contemporary fiction, philosophy, literature, drama, cinema, music and a selective list of literature in translation.
Seagull is celebrating 28 years in publishing this year, starting with an exhibition 'The Art of the Book' that celebrates Seagull's passion for good design through a recent series of digital collages and book covers created by their designer Sunandini Banerjee. 

You can buy prints from this exhibition here. And browse through the many books (India and UK site) and art prints available for sale online.

And, The Loaded Trunk Giveaway

Do you remember my post on Roni and her fabulously Loaded Trunk? Well, she is back with a fresh stock of treasures from all over the world, and is hosting giveaways on her site to celebrate her first year mark. Drop her a line and you just might be the lucky winner!

Music Montage - Wet Hot American Summer

YES.

HOW TO CHOOSE COLLEGE DORM BEDDING

GO HERE TO SEE MORE!


The summer has flown by with days at the beach a memory, how to choose college dorm bedding is what's on most teen girls' minds these days. With the exodus for college in full swing, for the next few weeks I’ll be up to my eye teeth in dorm room decorating projects.


Actually, after thinking about it just a minute I realize that I've been taking little else in the way of calls requesting decorating consultation since mid-summer and longer. You might be amazed to learn that some girls start bouncing around ideas for decorating dorm rooms right after they returned from spring break vacation. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at their enthusiasm since this is a teen girl’s first bedroom in her life as an adult and having the perfect set of girls college dorm bedding is very, very important.

As excited as the girls are about getting their rooms decorated, after spending several weeks shopping online and browsing in stores for looking for twin bedding, extra long (xl) twin sheet sets, pillows, and room accessories, I have a tip to share with you that will save you some time AND money thus the title of this post, How to choose college dorm bedding...get it?

Before you rush out to buy your dorm bedding and stuff you should consult with your roommate to see what color and style her comforter set is. It would be a raging disaster if you bought bedding that clashes like crazy with hers. Find out what color your roommate's things are and do your very best to be accommodating if she has already jumped the gun and made her purchase. MAYBE, just maybe you will get lucky and learn that she was waiting to find out what color your bedding set might be and you will get to pick first!

Saturdays with Hedy Lamarr #15

To Stretch or Not to Stretch

I apologize for the length of time between blog posts. I spent most of June traveling and have been busy with summer classes this past month. One of the places I went in June was to Philadelphia, PA, for the National Athletic Trainers Association annual meeting and symposium. I did a presentation on some of my ankle research and got to hear many presentations from leaders in our field. One of the talks was on stretching. There is debate in the scientific field and athletic community about the importance of stretching, when you should stretch, how much you should stretch, etc. The big questions are: does stretching improve or hinder performance, and what is the effect of stretching on injuries? I'll go through the questions now with my opinion and what was discussed at the conference.

1) What is the effect of stretching on performance? Most athletes do some type of stretching before practice or a game. There has been some debate in the literature about whether or not stretching right before a competition, especially one involving speed, will hinder performance. Basically, one theory is that stretching will make you slower. There is some evidence to support this, and some evidence that does not. The panel said that there is not enough evidence yet to support either theory, but that for most athletes, a dynamic stretching routine (one where the body is moving) is preferred over static (being still and holding a position) before practice or a game.

2) What is the effect of stretching on injuries? Another question is whether or not increasing flexibility will reduce or limit the potential for injuries. Again, there is not enough research to support the notion that increased flexibility will reduce the number of injuries. It has been established that you lose flexibility after an injury, and that regaining this flexibility is a key component of the rehabilitation program. It is also known that flexibility imbalances between the extremities, just like strength imbalances, may lead to injury. But, for example, there is no concrete evidence that says if you do not have this amount of hamstring flexibility, you are more prone to a hamstring strain.

So, to sum this up and give you my opinion, stretching and flexibility should be an important component of any exercise or rehabilitation routine. I think it is better to do more dynamic stretches before you exercise, practice, or compete, and static stretching should be done after a workout or if the goal is to increase range of motion. There is research to support that tight hamstrings and hip extensors can lead to low back pain, so it is essential to stretch these muscles. Until more research is conducted, the other questions cannot be answered.

One of my favorite real life couples. . .

David Bowie and ImanClassic couple, classicly beautiful.

Modern Bookcases

We've been struggling with the decision whether to buy an iPad or not. We are late adopter, or maybe even no adopter, type when it comes to technology. There is something about holding a book and flipping the pages that is really satisfying to us.

That is, until you want to carry ten books with you when you travel. And most of them are hardbacks. Times like that make us wonder if printed books are going the way of CDs, you know. Like, who buys CD anymore?

But as we were driving down the Melrose Design district the other day, this gorgeous bookcase from the Poliform showroom almost caused us to crash the car. It is STUNNING! It's huge and it's perfect if you have a loft with very tall ceiling.

We don't have the pricing information for this item, sorry. Poliform is very high-end and upscale, so it is probably really expensive. But, if you have a really good carpenter, it's probably really easy to build! And, wouldn't it be great as a room divider too? Just make sure your carpenter anchor it properly.

You see, there is always a place for books! Ipad or no Ipad.

To see more bookcases from Poliform, click here.