Globe Corner Blogs

I-Concepts Prints

Yes, it’s that time again folks: Opening Day for the Red Sox!!! Cue wild cheering, followed by mild to moderate hyperventilation, and finally, breathing into a paper bag. Get ready for Ulla the Dog’s prancing around in her seasonal sports collar. Then, Lisa‘s bewilderment at my completely appropriate behavior. (She is a Mariner’s fan and, thus, is not really used to watching a winning and/or actual major league team. Minus the Griffey years.)

I-Concepts Prints

On Friday April 1st begins that long annual descent into the madness that Bostonians call Red Sox Fandom. Let me explain Red Sox Fandom: The Sox will inevitably disappoint at least once this season, causing you to throw things at your television, radio, and/or computer. (I suggest prepositioning something small and soft near you before a game begins to prevent the smashing of important and expensive things. Personally, I use a rolled up ball of dress socks for lightness.) Although Opening Day in Texas is Friday, we do have to wait for April 8th before the Home Opener at Fenway when the Sox will play the satanic Yankees. (Just kidding, I’m sure all the Yankees are wonderful to their mothers and small dogs. Children, not so much . . . .) You can get started on the season by picking up one of our new photo prints of classic Red Sox moments from I-Concepts. Whether it’s Ted Williams posing with Bobby Doerr or Mickey Mantle, the 2nd Fisk-Munson fight, or Luis Tiant at the plate in the ’78 World Series.* All purchases of  Red Sox books and prints in the store will be 10% off from April 1st through the 8th.

*Note to hipsters: El Tiante sports what is known as a MUSTACHE, please try to emulate!

There are not many occasions when following a guide book feels like taking advice from a native, but Fiona Caulfield accomplishes the impossible, creating a compendium of  ”better than a native” suggestions in the Love Guides for India. An Australian native, she has made India her home. Given our ongoing obsession with the Love Guides and my recent trip to India, we decided to pick Fiona Caulfield’s brain for even more tips than her books already provide. Fiona Caulfield is officially our newest author crush.

1. Do you prefer aisle or window? (Please explain.)

Aisle, specifically an aisle in a middle row. I need freedom.

2. The Love Guides are incredibly detailed. How long did you travel in India before you started making them to compile your bank of insider information?

I first travelled to India in 1992, then again in 2001. I became a resident in India late 2004 with the idea for the brand and then published the first book in February 2007. It now takes about a year to research the first edition of a book.

3. The guidebooks themselves and the maps and drawings they contain are so charming. What gives you the inspiration for their design?

The design brief was sensuality and the content brief intimacy. I wanted the content to feel like I had written a letter to a good friend and the drawings to be like a sketch I would include in a letter, if I could draw. Continue Reading »

Although Boston possesses a certain serene charm during the heart of winter, I confess that after weeks of trudging through knee-high snow I was looking forward to my week-long visit to Brazil‘s sensuous urban paradise, Rio de Janeiro. While I was there, Rio’s sky was blissfully sunny with the exception of only a few brief tropical showers. The air was hot, humid, and heavy. But it was a load I was willing to bear, especially when cooling off in the waters of Rio’s many picturesque beaches.

My father, brother, and I stayed at my uncle’s apartment in Copacabana, three blocks from the beach. Copacabana is a sliver of a neighborhood wedged between Rio’s iconic hills and the vast Atlantic Ocean. Rio’s culture is largely defined by the beach. On any day of the week, a multitude of beach goers relax with family or friends, conversing over the sound of the steadily pounding waves. Streaming through the crowds, vendors sell ice-cold beer, fresh coconut water, shrimp on skewers, towels, bikinis, jewelry, and souvenirs, rhythmically shouting the name of their merchandise as they pass. The atmosphere of the beach is very laid back, and this feeling permeates the rest of the city. Continue Reading »