I. Am. Fashion.

Boy that's funny. I am fashion-illiterate and wear the same polo shirts and khakis I wore when I was in High School. I've never met a button down shirt I didn't like. Despite that, I've been invited to the Jason Wu show under the tents at Bryant Park on 11 September. Thanks to the slavish attention I pay to Project Runway, I know what "under the tents" and "Bryant Park" signify. Apparently, this is a big deal and I'm genuinely excited to see what a real Fashion Week runway show is like.

My only first hand knowledge of what a fashion show is like comes from the first episode of the first season of Absolutely Fabulous. I hope with all my heart that my experience in New York will go something like this:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Cash for your clunky fridge: get ready to be stimulated

via Flickr

I've been hearing whispers about this all year and I just found a real confirmation from my pals at The Consumerist.

Beginning this fall, as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Obama administration is encouraging the purchase of energy-efficient appliances through a $300 million appliance-rebate program that will soon dole out amounts that could reach $200 per appliance if you buy Energy Star-qualified models. Appliances that qualify for Energy Star use roughly 10 to 25 percent less energy than the maximum allowed for that category by the U.S. Department of Energy, which runs Energy Star with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The program is similar in concept the the soon to be completed Cash for Clunkers program. However, it will be implemented by each state independently. States will announce their plans for disbursing the rebate funds and recycling the replaced appliances by 15 October, then the program will kick in shortly thereafter. Once again, even though the money will be coming from the Federal Government, the size of the rebate you qualify for will vary from state to state.

The program will cover refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines. This program couldn't come at a better time, sales of those covered appliances are down 25% this year. So, if you've been putting off replacing a major appliance, you will have an added incentive to do so come October. The entire renovation industry will thank you.

Here's a great optical illusion for a Friday

The great (and funny) astronomer Phil Plait ran this on his blog, Bad Astronomy.

Stare at it for a while. See the spirals?

Not so fast, there aren't any spirals.

Here are the circles, not spirals, in that first image. It's funny. Even though I know that there aren't any spirals, my brain persists in seeing them none the less.

Pretty cool. Phil picked it up from his friend Richard Wiseman. Richard Wiseman is another brilliant blogger. Wiseman's also a psychologist, magician and author. He writes the blog Richard Wiseman Blog. Trust me, it's a good deal more amusing than the title would suggest.

One last point about Julie Richey

Yesterday's post about the work of Julie Richey had a glaring omission and I apologize for missing an attribution.

This is the baptismal font of St. Philip's Church in Falls Church, VA. I attributed the whole work to Julie Richey but as I learned yesterday, that project was a collaboration between Julie and Lynne Chinn.

Lynne Chinn is another highly regarded and award winning contemporary mosaicist. In fact, it's her work that adorns the 2009 cover of Mosaic Art Now.

Lynne Chinn's a topic for another day, believe me. She has a website that showcases some of her work and I can't encourage you strongly enough to look it over.

Update: a kitchen backsplash by mosaicist Julie Richey

Someone just sent me these images of a Julie Richey original kitchen back splash. Wow. I am now rethinking every objection I've ever had to a rooster motif in a kitchen. Gorgeous stuff!