Out of Print celebrates the world’s great stories through fashion. Our products feature iconic and often out of print book covers. Some are classics, some are just curious enough to make great t-shirts, but all are striking works of art.
We work closely with artists, authors and publishers to license the content that ends up in our collections. Each product is treated to feel soft and worn like a well-read book.
In addition to spreading the joy of reading through our tees and accessories, we acknowledge that many parts of the world don’t have access to books at all. We are working to change that. For each product sold, one book is donated to a community in need through our partner Books For Africa.
These shirts look amazing. Here’re some I’d love. You know, if you’re looking to get me something. Or maybe someone in your life who’s into books. You know, whatever.
I recently gave a talk to a group of interns about how to make the most of their semester inside the beltway. During the q+a, one intern asked about meeting people in town. You know, to date. I laughingly replied that being in a room full (or half-full) of libertarians was a culture shock for me. But that was nothing compared to the shock of meeting libertarian women. Ladies, in the words of Flight of the Conchords, you got it going on.
I make some dick jokes, and House of Punte gets pretty … incorrect. And the honest truth is, I don’t think about women’s issues or political correctness very much, because they aren’t things that touch me on a daily basis. Myopia isn’t the same as sexism. I hope.
Look, you have your dreams, I have mine.
Earlier in the week I wrote about the libertarian challenge of bringing ideals into day-to-day life, and in that spirit I’m adding a new blog to my rss-feed. It’s called Free Market Feminism. Run by Nicole Ciandella, it’s a ‘pro-liberty perspective on women’s issues’:
Free-market feminists, on the other hand, argue that enduring gender equality can and should be achieved through open discourse and the open market. Free-market feminists hold that most government interventions on behalf of women are, at best, short-term solutions to long-term problems. Often, they have unintended consequences which actually harm the very women they’re intended to protect. Free-market feminists argue that capitalism empowers women. It is through capitalism that women have managed to seize the tools and opportunities necessary to liberate themselves from the domestic realm and pursue their own self-interest. And it is through capitalism—not through government intervention—that women will ultimately manage to affect cultural perceptions of gender difference and feminine ability.
Well put. I look forward to reading more. Hat-tip to Libby, who has a great analysis of one of Nicole’s posts about gender income inequities. Libby also suggests the term “libbo-femmes”. I think it’s a secret ploy to get most of her name into the title, but then, I’m a shameless egomaniac. Now to mail Kate Beckinsale another copy of End the Fed.
One thing I struggle with since we started this space is how to creatively espouse libertarianism. In many ways, it’s easy to reduce this writing to a kind of fingers-in-my-ears denialism, na-na-na-na-na I can’t hear you, I know why you’re wrong, etc. That’s simple to do but it’s not fun to read, and it’s not fun to write.
We shouldn’t go along with big, expensive, complicated plans for lots of reasons, mostly because they don’t work, they’re wasteful, unsustainable, and they chew up the lives of innocent people. They’re fiscally irresponsible and morally questionable. But what should we do? I work for a non-profit that works towards more social and economic freedom, more personal responsibility, and better, if smaller, government action. But outside of work, I’m often flummoxed when I try to imagine ways to act more libertarian, to lead by example, rather than by criticism. In that spirit, I thought regular readers might like to know about Philanthroper, a deal-a-day style site that aggregates charitable opportunities. Lifehacker explains:
Launched by friend-of-Lifehacker Mark Wilson, Philanthroper aims to solve a common problem with non-profit donations. The issue: Most non-profits ask for minimum donations of up to $10 or so, often because payment systems will take significant cut of your donation. (According to Mark, even the best in the business take 3-5%.) But for many of us, $10 or $20 is a larger donation that we’ve got budget for—or it’s just more than we can bring ourselves to pry open our wallets for. To fix that, Philanthroper has teamed up with mPayy, a payment service that takes a comparatively tiny 1%, leaving most of the money for the non-profit you’re trying to support. That’s how Philanthoper can sustain the $1 micro-donation. You donate $1. mPayy takes a penny. Philanthroper takes nothing. The non-profit gets the rest.
Small-scale action, crowd-sourced donation, local knowledge, and charitable work. Those are libertarian virtues I’d like to see more of in the world, and it looks like Philanthroper will help foster them. So please, make it a regular part of your day.
Traveling a lot for work the next couple of weeks, but one thing that keeps me going on the road is the awesome Instapaper app. It’s the perfect text-only format for reading the articles, profiles, and book excepts that are too long to read on a computer screen.
If you go to Instapaper, they explain how to put a little bookmarklet into your browser, so you can read any webpage later. You can also get stuff delivered to your kindle, if you’re all techy. There’s a few good sites that aggregate articles, like Longform or Give Me Something To Read. Tate also started his own site, partly to share, and partly to organize interesting writing in a variety of useful ways.
Some of the more interesting things I’ve read recently with Instapaper:
The Alot is an imaginary creature that I made up to help me deal with my compulsive need to correct other people’s grammar. It kind of looks like a cross between a bear, a yak and a pug, and it has provided hours of entertainment for me in a situation where I’d normally be left feeling angry and disillusioned with the world.
That’s from today’s Internet Awesome Alert. I feel kinda stupid pimping a blog that gets 2 million visitors a month, but whatever. I just discovered Hyperbole and a Half. It’s written and drawn by Allie Brosh, columnist for The Gloss, whose goal is “to win the internet”.
There’s something deeply lovable about the art direction, in spite of it’s (literal) rough edges. It’s cute and funny and awkward and sad and endearing, because life is all of those things, sometimes all at once. Whether she’s talking about a grammar monster, the fish that almost ruined her life, or whether her dog is secretly retarded (spoiler alert: yes), the mix of pathos and ebullience warmed my cold black heart. Tell me this image for the retarded dog doesn’t turn your insides to kittens and cotton candy and rainbows:
If you didn't a) laugh and b) say "aww", you're a monster. You should get that checked out by a doctor who'll poke and prod you, and then say "Yup, you're a monster. Eat two children and call me in the morning."
Her logic is epic. Magical space bear? Why? In Allie’s words “You know what? Fuck it.”
All artwork courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half. Her writing is at least … four times as good as ours. Check it out.
My wonderful husband Jerry and his partner Peter today released their first iPad app, and guess what? It’s a browser for Tumblr! It’s called Tumbleroo. Here’s a bit about it:
The iPad was virtually built for browsing Tumblr, and Tumbleroo is the first iPad app for Tumblr. Tumbleroo brings a native feel to your Tumblr adventures that you’ll love. Big colorful photos, full-screen videos, and all the liking and reblogging you can handle.
The Tumblr Staff blogged about it today and they said it was “awesome.” So if you’ve got an iPad, go grab it!
Around these parts we talk a good deal about innovation and creative productivity. Whether it’s kerosene or sneaker sanitizer, libertarians have a strong historical argument for the benefits that accrue to society, individuals, institutions, and the environment, from innovation. But not every innovation changes the world. Some are totally asinine. Some are just fun. Today, I bring [...]
Last week was filled with great sentiments and efforts. Honorable mention goes to Phil Raintree for his political snark, but I’m calling it a win for Krista, who noticed a tomato that escaped my attention. Well done. This week I didn’t have time to find a picture. Instead, I thought we could crowd-source this. If [...]
Recently I’ve been thinking about irony and authenticity. The series of hipster-hatred was an introduction to the topic, because I feel like irony is easier to deal with than authenticity. While I look forward to writing more on the subject, I just discovered this site: You Are Not So Smart: A Celebration of Self-Delusion. It [...]
An explanation of the interesting life of a male angler fish. He spends his life a tiny little guy, hungry and sad, but is blessed with an extremely scented nose that allows him to find true love. Then….My hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps. More here at The Oatmeal.com.
