Jenny's Noodle

Bread, Milk, Eggs... the everyday grocery list is carelessly scribbled onto scrap paper and expeditiously thrown away.

Far from mundane, this 1518 grocery list illustrated by Michelangelo is much more apropos of a Renaissance master.

Because the servant he was sending to market was illiterate, Michelangelo illustrated the shopping lists — a herring, tortelli, two fennel soups, four anchovies and ‘a small quarter of a rough wine’ — with rushed (and all the more exquisite for it) caricatures in pen and ink.

—Steve Duin, The Oregonian

It's no Sistine Chapel ceiling, but a work of art worth preserving nonetheless.  

(via Open Culture)

Happy 100th Birthday Crossword Puzzles!

If you've been to Google over the last 24 hours, you know why today's date is so puzzling.

(Note: At the time of this writing, Google hasn't yet published the answers online, so here's a link to my unverified solution. With regard to difficulty, I'd give it a Tuesday rating.)

The world's first crossword puzzle was printed on December 21, 1913.

The diamond-shaped puzzle, known as a "Word-Cross" (pictured at right), was published in the "Fun" section of the Sunday paper, the New York World. It was written by Arthur Wynne, a British journalist.

Crossword constructor Merle Reagle explains:

On a snowy evening in the early 1900s, a newspaper editor at the New York World was hunched over his desk trying to think of something special for the Christmas issue.

Remembering the small word squares he’d solved as a young Brit in Liverpool, he drew a diamond-shaped grid with numbered squares and numbered clues. It contained 32 words, and his simple instruction read:

“Fill in the small squares with words which agree with the following definitions.”

The puzzle appeared Dec. 21, 1913, and what 42-year-old Arthur Wynne had created was the first crossword puzzle.

Here's New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz with more:

The Beauty of Mathematics uses a triptych format to reveal how complex equations are constantly in play all around us. On the left is a mathematical equation, in the middle is an illustrated mathematical model and on the right is its application via an everyday object or occurrence (a spinning top, a lamp, a compass, etc.).

(via Laughing Squid)

I never realized that carving a beautiful apple swan could be so simple. All you need is an apple, a sharp knife and two butter knives. I'm definitely going to try this!

(via Neatorama)

Designer Tousue Vang illustrates "the beautiful colors and vibrance of modern menswear." Take a look at a few fashionable examples:

Visit the Locker Rocker for more →

(via Quipsologies)

Slash look-alike/master pinstriper Glen Weisgerber demonstrates the old English Round Hand lettering technique in an unexpectedly hypnotic video.

I especially enjoyed when this happens toward the end:

(via Colossal)

This box of "oil paints" isn't what it seems. Each "tube" is an edible piece of sculpted chocolate, each covered by a paper wrapper indicating the flavor of the filling inside—a variety that includes green tea, coffee, strawberry, vanilla and caramel. I've got dibs on the caramel tube.

(via Foodiggity)

The Pantone Color of the Year is: RADIANT ORCHID! Pantone, the global authority on color, explained their selection as follows:

While the 2013 color of the year, Pantone 17-5641 Emerald, served as a symbol of growth, renewal and prosperity, Radiant Orchid reaches across the color wheel to intrigue the eye and spark the imagination.

An invitation to innovation, Radiant Orchid encourages expanded creativity and originality, which is increasingly valued in today’s society. An enchanting harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink undertones, Radiant Orchid inspires confidence and emanates great joy, love and health.

It is a captivating purple, one that draws you in with its beguiling charm.

While I'm not such a purple-lover, there's enough of my favorite color—pink—infused that I can get behind this choice. Besides, the more Radiant Orchid mood boards I discover online, the more it's growing on me.

What do you think about Radiant Orchid? Will you incorporate the color into your lifestyle this year?

Remember that old school contest of guessing how many jelly beans were in a big glass jar? It's being held online right this very minute, and the jar is gigantic.

Guess how many jelly beans are in the jar →

You've got until December 20 to enter. Good luck!

(via Mental Floss)

Using personality test data from over one million people, researchers have identified three distinct personality regions in the United States: friendly & conventional, relaxed & creative, and temperamental & uninhibited.
So long, friendly and conventional Michigan. I'm off to relaxed and creative New Mexico.

Which state matches your personality? Take the quiz →

Illustrator Marcello Barenghi draws in a hyper-realistic style, such that the objects he depicts appear three-dimensional. From the potato chip bag (below) to a crumpled up dollar bill, his YouTube channel has tons of videos demonstrating his process. Barenghi also published his list of art tools, should you feel inspired.



(via Boing Boing)

Photo credit: Graphics.com

A new book, Viva la Pizza!: The Art of the Pizza Box, celebrates a medium that most of us have overlooked as an art form.

On the contrary, the pizza box is largely considered an item to be immediately discarded once it's contents have been savored.

The book's author, Scott Wiener of Serious Eats, has been collecting unique pizza boxes for nearly seven years. His current collection totals over 600, making him the Guinness World Record holder.

Since the origins of to-go pizza, pizzerias and pizza chains have taken great pride in covering take-out boxes with captivating designs. They’ve also wrestled with the best way to manufacture a box that can keep a pizza looking and tasting great.

Here, the world’s expert on pizza boxes presents more than one hundred weird and wild box designs and explores the curious history of the pizza box. Included are international designs, corporate designs, and dozens of quirky images from mom-and-pop pizzerias.

Here's a look at Wiener's pizza box collection:



Viva La Pizza! The Art of the Pizza Box is available on Amazon →

(via Flavorwire)

Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream has been reinterpreted in so many ways, but this cream cheese brownie is one of the sweetest.

Get the recipe for Scream Cheese Brownies →

(via Neatorama)

Good morning. Spot of tea?

(via Like Cool)

FACT: 1 out of 255 women and 1 out of 12 men have some form of color vision deficiency. How well do you see color?  

Take the online color challenge →

(via thecreatorsproject)

Catleidoscope — it's a kaleidoscope made of internet-famous cats. When your mouse moves so do they. Just try it →

(via Neatorama)

Scary jack-o-lantern faces, spooky cats and haunted houses are so tired. Forget the mini serrated knives and avoid the gooey, stringy mess — this Halloween, turn your pumpkins into word search puzzles! All you need is a pumpkin, chalkboard paint, letter stickers and some chalk.

Find out how it's made at Thistlewood Farms →

To be really evil, I might leave the words uncircled, then require trick-or-treaters to earn their candy by correctly solving the puzzles. MWAHAHAHA

(via Neatorama)

I was born on the same day (different year) as the brattiest of the Rugrats children. I'm not reading into this.

Which fictional character shares your birthday? Find out at Buzzfeed →

Ding! The timer goes off and you remove your deliciously-smelling cake from the oven. Wouldn't it be nice if you could steal an early little taste just for yourself, just to make sure it's worthy of serving to others? Of course, the only way to accomplish this is by slyly removing a portion from the bottom and strategically covering the newly-deficient section with excess frosting.

But not anymore! The Nibble cake pan allows you to bake a "bite to know it's right." Sweet genius!



(via Holy Cool)

Here's a neat trick that might come in handy this Halloween. It's possible to remove a bit of chocolate from a chocolate bar and, if done correctly, nobody will be any the wiser.

This type of optical illusion is called a vanishing area puzzle (or paradox).

The following video illustrates the principle, courtesy of self-proclaimed "Wonder Injector" Mariano Tomatis.




(via Boing Boing)

Earlier this week on Late Night, Jimmy Fallon challenged Stephen Merchant and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to "a lip-sync battle for the ages." JGL takes it with his version of Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass," but Merchant definitely comes close with Beyonce's "Single Ladies."



Also worth watching is this previous battle between Fallon and John Krasinski, who wins it with the Boyz II Men classic "I'll Make Love to You."



(via Late Night)

Fill these adorable jeans-style molds with batter and as they bake, a bulge will develop over the "waist" edge. Careful though: eat too many muffin tops and you'll grow a little something extra around the middle too.

Available for pre-order at Perpetual Kid →

At first glance, the painting above looks like a piece that might be hanging in any art gallery or museum. You're probably asking yourself whose work it is. Can't quite put your finger on it? That's because it's not actually the masterpiece of a famous abstract painter. It was painted by Brent, a 37-year-old chimpanzee!

Brent lives at Chimp Haven in Louisiana and recently won first place and $10,000 in the Humane Society's Chimpanzee Art Contest. Even more astonishing is Brent's artistic process: the creative chimp doesn't use brushes—he paints with his tongue!

See more of the chimp art contest entries →

A word cloud is a visual representation of text, with more frequently used terms shown in larger font sizes. In this Sporcle quiz, word clouds are used to depict 150 of the most common words from each of 25 famous works of literature. You will be given nine minutes to name as many as you can (although there is a pause button in case your mom or nature calls).

Take the quiz →

(via Neatorama)

Here's a sweet way to brighten up any room. The Candelier is a "candy" chandelier, crafted from approximately 15,000 hand-strung acrylic gummy bears.

Watch this video to see how it's made.



(via Jellio)

Photo: 186 S. Division, Holland, Michigan 49424. Sotheby's International Realty

Someday soon this blog will bring in billions, and I'll need some sound investment options. A new home seems like a logical place to start.

Business Insider has compiled a list of the most expensive homes currently for sale per state. My state of Michigan is #23 on the list, with an $18.9 million estate on Holland's Lake Macatawa. The most expensive home is in Greenwich, Connecticut, listed at only $190 million.

Decisions, decisions!

To be filed under: Occupations I WANT.

(via HYC)

Remember when the camera slowly zoomed out... and we all realized that Brody was actually standing in front of a painted billboard—not the real Hollywood sign.

And we saw that he was surrounded by TV cameras. And a crew.

ON A STUDIO SET.

And so we proceeded to hurl our remote controls at our TV sets and collectively scream: "OMG IT'S FAKE?! It was fake THE WHOLE TIME?! WHAT THE HELL?!"

Three years later, MTV has finally released the less controversial alternate ending to "The Hills" that we never got to see. The ending that would've allowed us to remain contently delusional about the realness of reality TV. We see the same K-Cav farewell, but now *spoiler alert* a cameo by LC.

Get ready to feel the rain on your skin once again. Because no one else can feel it for you. Only you can let it in.

The alternate ending:



The original ending:

Break out your Faber-Castells or Prismacolors! "Outside the Lines" is a new coloring book that adults (like me) can enjoy.

For anyone who loves creativity and contemporary art, or who simply loves the joy of coloring, comes Outside the Lines, a striking collection of illustrations from more than 100 creative masterminds, including animators, cartoonists, fine artists, graphic artists, illustrators, musicians, outsider artists, photographers, street artists, and video game artists.

With contributions from Keith Haring, AIKO, Shepard Fairey, Exene Cervenka, Keita Takahashi, Jen Corace, Ryan McGinness, and more, Outside the Lines features edgy and imaginative pieces ready for you to add your own special touch.

"Outside the Lines" will be released on September 3, but is available now for pre-order.

(via Cool Hunting)

Yahoo! announced that it will unveil a new logo on September 5. Until then, the search engine will display a variation of their current logo every day, for 30 days.

The new logo will be a modern redesign that’s more reflective of our re-imagined design and new experiences.

We also want to preserve the character that is unique to Yahoo! — fun, vibrant, and welcoming — so we’ll be keeping the color purple, our iconic exclamation point and of course the famous yodel.

They should really rethink that yodel.

What defines a literary twin?

According to The Daily Fig: "There's always that one book you return to over and over because you completely identify with one of the characters. [A literary twin is] JUST like you — or the person you hope to become."

If that description holds true, my literary twin should be Charlie Bucket. But no! My result was Sherlock Holmes. Although the commentary is pretty accurate.

So who's your literary twin? Take the quiz to find out

(via Mental Floss) 

The United Kingdom will soon enjoy its own version of the Detroit Institute of Arts' Inside|Out project. From August 12 through 25, more than 22,000 poster sites will feature 57 British masterpieces to create a massive outdoor exhibition in the UK.

Art Everywhere will cover streets, bus stops, car parks, rail stations, supermarkets, shopping malls, cinemas, health clubs and bars to create the world’s largest art show.

With an expected reach of 90% of the UK’s adult population, cities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will see advertising spaces transformed into favorite works of art.

Watch the following video to learn more or visit arteverywhere.org.uk.

click image to view larger

Proof that heaven exists.

(via Pop Chart Lab)

Conceptis Puzzles—one of my favorite puzzle publishers—is challenging readers to solve The 10 Hardest Logic Puzzles Ever Created.

Challenge accepted.

I've decided to start with this Fill-a-Pix puzzle (shown above) and will move on from there.

Fill-a-Pix is a Minesweeper-like puzzle based on a grid with a pixilated picture hidden inside. Using logic alone, the solver determines which squares are painted and which should remain empty until the hidden picture is completely exposed.

Advanced logic Fill-a-Pix such as the one above contain situations where two clues simultaneously affect each other as well as the squares around them making these puzzles extremely hard to solve.

See you in a few hours.

Reality TV fans are getting excited about the upcoming premier of "Meet the Tanners" (no, not those Tanners):

A new family is stepping into... the sunlight. Sparks and oils will fly, because for this family getting the perfect shade of perfection is no easy task- and they're going for the bronze. Meet the Tanners, premiering Sunday, August 18th at 8/7C. It'll be sunsational.

Watch the trailer:



Well played, PBS.

Nightvision, a film by Luke Shepard, features some of the most famous European buildings after dark. From Rome's Trevi Fountain to Barcelona's Sagrada Familia, iconic structures like these are showcased as stunning marvels of architecture.

According to the filmmaker:

Nightvision is a celebration of the brilliance and diversity of architecture found across Europe.

Over the course of three months I journeyed with a friend through 36 cities in 21 countries with the ambition of capturing some of the greatest European structures in a new and unique way.

Comprised of thousands of carefully taken photographs, strung together and stabilized in post-production, Nightvision aims to inspire appreciation for these man-made landmarks.

(via Like Cool)

Can you picture camping out underneath Van Gogh's "Starry Night" sky? Have you ever fantasized about how a burger might taste at Hopper's "Nighthawks" diner? Can you imagine taking an advanced ballet lesson in "The Dance Class" by Degas?

Famed masterpieces like these will come alive for a little boy named Walt and his grandfather if a pair of Disney veterans have their way. Using Kickstarter, the filmmakers hope to fund "Art Story"—an original animated film that needs to be made!

It's a story about an 11-year-old, meticulous boy, Walt, and his crazy, loopy Grandpa—two complete opposites—who get stuck in a vast, imaginative world of paintings.

Inside, they cross paths with a ruthless painted character determined to make it into our world.

In order to get home and stop the villain, Walt and Grandpa have to set aside their differences, work together and navigate worlds where the rules can change around every corner.

Check out some of the concept art below, then visit Kickstarter to learn more about the project.

(via HuffPo)

Attention Ladies! 

Hello Flo is a newly-launched subscription service for your time of the month. The company delivers packages filled with tampons, pads and candy so you're always prepared to deal with your "Red Vag Badge of Courage."

Or as the little girl in their cute ad exclaims: "It's like Santa—for your vagina!"

Now this is the way to market feminine hygiene products. Period.

How geeky are you?

Do you know your Hubble from your Hubba Bubba? Do you think a transistor is a female Transformer? Find out if you’re a top techie or leading Luddite.

Take the How Geeky Are You Quiz

Turns out, I'm 95% geeky. Guess I should be off solving quadratic equations and whatnot.

Filmmaker Luca Agnani has added digital animation and lighting effects to 13 artworks by Vincent van Gogh. The results are subtle, yet beautiful, bringing the artist's imaginary world of paintings to life, right before our eyes.

(via VVV)

Art + Food. Upon visiting Jenny's Noodle, my passion for these subjects quickly becomes obvious. So it was interesting to learn that Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci and I have more in common than I ever realized.

From one of the artist's notebooks:

Surprisingly, good bathroom habits were of importance even way back in the 16th century!

In his personal library collection, da Vinci owned a single cookbook, Platina’s "On Right Pleasure and Good Health," considered to be the first printed cookbook. First published in Rome in 1470, the book focuses heavily on the dietary advantages of various foods and how to prepare them.

(via PBS)

Unbelievable. Bay Area station KTVU has issued an apology for this afternoon's broadcast, blaming their blunder on Sum Yung Gai at the NTSB. But the internet is just getting started.

(via Gawker)

What a cute idea for a summer centerpiece! Especially because I dislike watermelon; eating it, not looking at it. Consuming watermelon is like snacking on crunchy water—so slushy ice, basically—but then it also drips all over the place and is sticky. Plus seeds. No thanks. On the other hand, the kebab fruit looks tasty (exception = kiwi). So win, win.

> Instructions for DIY Watermelon Grill @ SheKnows

Typing three letters requires SOOO much effort, doesn't it?

Thankfully Paul Mathis, a restaurateur from Melbourne, has designed a new symbol to save us all from wasting precious seconds of our lives.

Mathis created a new text character "Ћ" to represent the word "the"—the most commonly used word in the English language.

"The word 'and' is only the fifth-most used word in English and it has its own symbol – the ampersand," says Mathis. "Isn't it time we accorded the same respect to 'the'?"

The issue isn't just academic for Mathis. It's about efficiency.

"The main functionality of this is in the texting space," he says. Typing the symbol he has devised with a single keystroke will save time and – crucially, in the context of Twitter – two characters.

"The Benedictine monks developed the modern version of the ampersand in the Middle Ages, when they were hand-copying religious texts," Mathis says. "I'm not putting myself in the same league, but who knows – maybe in 500 years' time people will be amazed that there was a time when we didn't use 'th'."

At first, I really wanted to be all "W Ћ F?! This is totally ridiculous." But then I thought about it some more, and yeah, I would definitely use this. Be honest—you would too.

(via The Age)

Will be back again to visit someday...

(via Laughing Squid)

Pooleaf pens—crappy name aside—are cleverly designed to resemble a cluster of grass blades when displayed together in a pot. The pens are available in three shades of green and crafted out of silicone.

At $5 per pen they're not exactly cheap, but probably less effort to keep "alive" than a desk plant. After all, who would have the nerve to steal one of these and then whip it out again, right there in the office?

(via Gizmodo)

The [Empire State Building] LED tower light show, created by world-famous lighting design artist Marc Brickman, was designed and choreographed to the music curated by Usher for the fireworks.

In case you missed it!

(via esbnyc)

Instructions:

1) Stare at the pink dot and count to 30. Do not move your eyes during this time—stare at the dot.

2) After you count to 30, immediately look at a blank white space, such as a wall or a piece of paper.

3) Enjoy seeing the American flag in its true colors.

Happy Fourth of July! It would be unpatriotic to not try this. And besides, it works.

(via Penny Press)

Photo: The New York Times

I've got at least one of these museum buttons stashed away somewhere. It may be over 10 years old, but at the time I got it, I remember feeling like I should save it as a souvenir of my visit. I'm glad I did.

[In] 1971, the Metropolitan Museum of Art introduced a colorful piece of metal as its admission ticket, a tiny doodad that came to occupy a large place in the reliquary of New York City, along with Greek-themed coffee cups, I ♥ NY T-shirts and subway tokens.

Now the Met’s admission button will go the way of the token. Citing the rising cost of the tin-plate pieces and the flexibility of a new paper ticket system using detachable stickers, the Met will end the buttons’ 42-year run on [June 1], the same time it switches to a seven-day-a-week schedule instead of being closed on Mondays.

“I regret it slightly myself,” said Thomas P. Campbell, the museum’s director. “One of my assistants has a whole rainbow of the colored buttons on her desk.”

The good news: If you happen to be in NYC on a Monday, you won't have to hopelessly wander the streets in search of entertainment—the museum will now be open on Mondays, for the first time in 42 years.

(via NYTimes)

Uh-oh! Guess what day it iiiiis?!

Guess.
What.
Day.
IT.
IS.

Huh? Anybody?

Woot! WOOOOOT!

Waited all day for this camel from my favorite new commercial to appear in my office.

Nope.

(via Geico)

Glasgow-based chef Domenico Crolla creates pizza masterpieces, featuring icons of fashion, art and celebrities.

"I think most chefs are naturally show offs with their food, or at least they should be," says Crolla. "I have always had an artistic eye for arranging my food nicely on a plate. After all, the customer eats with his eyes."

From Vogue's Anna Wintour to Christian Louboutin shoes to the Mona Lisa, Crolla's couture pizzas almost look too good to eat. Almost.

> Launch the gallery of couture pizzas by Chef Crolla

(via Fashionista)

The purr-fect cure for boredom, it's Catflakes. Select your preferences, from a light dusting to a blizzard, blowing in from the east or the west. Because the internet.

The "Slice a Recipe" cookbook was designed by Ogilvy & Mather for use in Bogota's Escuela de Cocina Carulla cooking school.

Slice a recipe. The cookbook to improve your cutting skills.

Students had to cut the book apart in order to see the recipes. They had to follow a thin cutting line, not an easy task the first time.

With each slice, they saw what to do in class, cut by cut. Improving their skills with each page.

A pretty clever design, any way you slice it.

(via Behance)

I've always wanted to take a road trip across the United States. My tentative itinerary: get a taste of Pennsylvania, take a bite out of Minnesota, wash them down with Texas and end with a nightcap in Washington.

(via Maps on the Web)

The image above appears to be four photographs put together into one mosaic, but it's actually a single photograph! Don't believe it?

The deceptive work of art was created by photographer Bela Borsodi for VLP's "Terrain" album cover.

Watch the video below to see how the optical illusion was achieved.



(via Bored Panda)

If you plan to visit the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, be sure stop to by the museum's Blue Bottle Coffee cafe. From Mondrian cake to Matisse parfaits, the SFMoMA cafe chefs are creating some truly modern artistic treats. A new book, Modern Art Desserts, highlights some of their most popular masterpieces.

Taking cues from works by Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, and Matisse, pastry chef Caitlin Freeman, of Miette bakery and Blue Bottle Coffee fame, creates a collection of uniquely delicious dessert recipes (with step-by-step assembly guides) that give readers all they need to make their own edible masterpieces.

From a fudge pop based on an Ellsworth Kelly sculpture to a pristinely segmented cake fashioned after Mondrian’s well-known composition, this collection of uniquely delicious recipes for cookies, parfait, gelées, ice pops, ice cream, cakes, and inventive drinks has everything you need to astound friends, family, and guests with your own edible masterpieces.

Taking cues from modern art’s most revered artists, these twenty-seven showstopping desserts exhibit the charm and sophistication of works by Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Henri Matisse, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Avedon, Wayne Thiebaud, and more. Featuring an image of the original artwork alongside a museum curator’s perspective on the original piece and detailed, easy-to-follow directions (with step-by-step assembly guides adapted for home bakers), Modern Art Desserts will inspire a kitchen gallery of stunning treats.

Watch the video for a preview of the recipes, then buy the book and get creative in the kitchen. (File under WANT!)