closing time

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end..."
circa Semisonic 1999

What is ending?
Dear Bloggery, the blog of Leigh Sarti is coming to an end. Shot down in it's prime. Tragic. Unavoidable. Needed. Unfortunate. Inevitable.

What is beginning?
sartidesign.blogspot.com
The Sarti Design blog will feature projects I am working on, random graphic design tips, designs from the archives, featured products, and much more! And of course, every once in a while a humorous anecdote from my daily life will pop up!

Be sure to adjust your links to sartidesign.blogspot.com!

Oh, and for those Bella & Leighton fans... they are staying the course and continuing to blog about their exciting life!

taking over the cartridge world

I first came across Cartridge World near the Chipotle on El Toro Rd. I thought it was a lonely little tadpole in the big fish world of ink. Battling upstream against giants such as online ordering and Staples I didn't really give them a shot.
Then, in May, I realized they were a global giant. Driving down Parry Avenue in suburban Perth, Australia I glanced over to a small shopping center and there it was, a Cartridge World in Australia!
I guess I was wrong Cartridge World, I am sorry I underestimated you.

learnings from the parking lot

Recently I have spent some real quality time in the car, in the grocery store parking lot, as Jana runs in and buys some quick foodstuffs we need for our kids. As I sit in the car, I have learnt a few things about the brave people who collect the shopping carts.

Learning #1: It seems that the majority of people collecting carts are female.

Learning #2: It doesn't matter what uniform each grocery store has, the cart person is always supplied with a bright vest that doesn't match the store uniform.

Learning #3: If you are designated to collect carts, you need to have a look of disdain and attitude as you perform this humble task.

Learning #4: It seems that the most efficient way (according to how these people perform their task) is to collect one cart at a time and bring them al the way back to the corral, then collect another, and so on.

Perhaps the biggest learning is Learning #4. For years I thought that the shopping cart was designed to be stackable with others of it's kind, so that you can collect and transort multiple carts a t a time, thus saving time, and company money. After seeing these professionals in action and not doing their task in this manner, I guess I got it wrong all these years.

Sizzler: Steak, Seafood, Awesome

We were greeted by the "distressed" signage, oversize wooden door, and floor tiles that could tell many a story of days gone by. We were at Sizzler. The annual Friends Sizzler Night. The reason we do it once a year... because it takes our stomachs that long to recover.
There was shrimp, there was malibu chicken, there was more shrimp, there were kids running around, there was a great waiter, there were lots of old people, there was even more shrimp, there was a mess left on, under, and around the table.
And finally, there was a reservation made for next year.

sd marathon: friends

-Mike Howerton 20.5 mile celebration
-A Doug Fields sighting
-Barry soldiering on
-Natalie and Beth Hall still smiling
-Scarlett, also still smiling

sd marathon: me

I almost put myself in the oddball category.

sd marathon: the oddballs

This is a montage of some of my favorite peeps on the marathon track on Sunday...
my fav guy wasn't actually a runner, he was just watching (guy on top of page).
Other highlights included juggling man, muscle man, no shoes man, mr t lookalike man, flash gordon man, spongebob man, and last, but not leat, craz waiter man.

signing up

We are in the SD (ahhh San Diego), as Jana's Dad and siter-in-law are doing the Rock N Roll Marathon tomorrow morning.
The kids are trying to make signs, and Jana is back to her cheerleading days making sweet signs.
We have signs for Barry, Scarlett, Doug Montgomery, James Andrew, Nats Hall, Bethall, and the Howertons.
My favorite is the "Go Powerton" sign I had Jana make for Mike.
More photos to come from the marathon course tomorrow...

last night I saw...

someone cruising around Von's listening to a Walkman. A real, live, tape-playing walkman. It was the highlight of my day (behind Bella's prayer).

What tape do you think this listener was rocking out to? Here are three options that would have been awesome:
1) Poison
2) Bell Biv Devo
3) David Hasselhoff

Thoughts?!

why i love my kids.

It's not just because they're so cute... here is a great example...
Bella goes to pray the other day and here is how her prayer goes:
"Jezuz, please give Mommy a baby girl so I can share my clothes with her.
And, then brng Mommy a baby boy so Leighton can share his clothes with him.
Amen, with all your heart."

Need I say more?!

an interesting photo

This photo was taken in Istanbul, Turkey on the official Tour De Turkey trip.
I think the guy on the right is advertising his taxi service.
Question: What do you think is more scary, the consequences of the skull warning sign, or, getting in a taxi with that guy?!

music recommendation of the month

Not often do I recommend music, but I need to tell the world about my favorite new artist...
She is a young Australian singer/songwriter by the name of Missy Higgins.
I'll be the first to admit that female vocalists don't dominate my iTunes library, but I think her music is awesome.
Her debut album is available on iTunes, and her new release just came out in Australia and I am sure will be up on iTunes very soon.
Website: www.missyhiggins.com
Have a listen, let me know what you think!

discovery channel is nothing...

discovery channel is nothing...compared to what we got to see at a playground in Australia!
While this may look like one extremely long caterpillar, it is in fact a caterpillar-convoy.
Who knew caterpillars traveled in such a manner?
To test the loyalty the caterpillars had to the convoy format we conducted a lot of experiments which included using a leaf to block various members of the convoy, to see if the front end would react. They are indeed a tight-knit group with the mantra "no caterpillar left behind".
It was a great half an hour, and you won't catch this kind of riveting stuff on the Planet Earth series.