...and this is the very first Panda Head newsletter! The PLAN for this NEW ENDEAVOR is not to provide any actual news (hence the name), but instead to give you an extra week's worth of FRESH OUT THE BOX content, in the manner of which you've grown accustomed to at Panda Head Blog. Each post will have a little links list beneath it - please poke around this thing at your leisure, or click the header to view the whole thing at once. And please! Don't hesitate to visit our advertisers - SMASH! and Windian Records. Thank you so much for your subscription!

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
pizza party. neil youngin'. cats. i love lamp. what a liar.

all photos by Floyd York.

As much as I like to think I'm a REAL WHIZ in the kitchen (and I do! I really, REALLY like to think that!) my friend Tess Lally actually IS. If you, too, grew up a child of small-business owners, you'll understand how FAMILY SKILL SETS are passed down not only by genetics but by REPETITION - while I was spending nights and weekends at Hungerford Printers, folding Kennedy Center invites and learning the intricacies of line spacing, Tess grew up at the Alexandria Pastry Shop, in front of a cutting board and an oven. Her nature/nurture-fueled KITCHEN ADVENTURES most recently involved a PIZZA PARTY at her (and her boyfriend's, photographer Floyd York's) place, during which I ate so much that I had to take my belt off.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

it's march. neil youngin'. cats. i love lamp. what a liar.

You can give it a shot, I guess, but you're gonna be hard-pressed to convince me that THIS is NOT THE LOOK (and I don't mean that MAGICIAN-FACE I'm making, above).
Denim on denim on denim (for life).

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

it's march. pizza party. cats. i love lamp. what a liar.

My first introduction to Katie D'Angelo's artwork was by way of her recent feature at Design Sponge. By day she's the Display Coordinator for the downtown DC Anthropologie, and by night she draws "pointless, often cat-related, things." You can check out more of her work - including the cat UNrelated - at katlyndangelo.com

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

it's march. pizza party. neil youngin'. i love lamp. what a liar.

This was supposed to be an awesome DIY about how I miraculously transformed the below lampshade (purchased at The Lamplighter in Old Town, Alexandria, for a SONG; it had been custom-made for someone a year prior and they'd never come to pick it up, and was completely hollow/SANS HARDWARE) - into MY DREAM SHADE. But instead of making you suffer through some extremely gnarly trial and error (let's just say that in the battle between epoxy and electrical tape, my money is ALWAYS on THE TAPE), I would prefer to just direct you towards the before and after pictures, below. Happy 4th of July, everybody.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

it's march. pizza party. neil youngin'. cats. what a liar.

I didn't lie on purpose, but this edition of NO NEWS is GOOD NEWS, does, in fact, contain a tiny little bit of news: Panda Head Magazine is out of hibernation, and the Spring 2012 issue will launch in May!
With pal Nilay Lawson (Art Content Editor, issues 3,4,5) off traveling the world (let's all wave in the general direction of Brazil, shall we?), Issue 6 will be manned by Kate Greene (meet her here, and here, if you don't know her already) and - of course and as always - Erik Loften and myself. It (already) feels good to be back.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

it's march. pizza party. neil youngin'. cats. i love lamp.