Dear Alaska,
I forgive you for inflicting Sarah Palin on the rest of us, because you also brought us this:

Alaska Nanooks 2010 Hockey Intro

We’ve listed a bunch of overstock items on Etsy. You can peruse them here. Items are 40% off or more. Help us clean up our studio and take our overstock items off our hands?

We humans might not be fans of the incessant snow but this polar bear doesn’t seem to mind. I thought I’d wrap up the week of snowmania with this cutie enjoying some of the white stuff.

P.S. The snow has made me so productive this week. More new art: Ghost Whisperers

If you’re like me, you’ve spent a good part of your week shoveling snow in the frigid winter air. After a few back breaking hours of manual labor, it’s time to unwind with a drink. A crisp refreshing vodka tonic isn’t quite the right way to go. When it’s this cold outside, you need something a take the chill off. My suggestion is a Nutty Siberian. Yes, I just made it up. It’s got vodka (Russian) and hazelnut (nutty), thus it’s a Nutty Siberian. Here’s what’s in it:

Nutty Siberian
5 oz very hot coffee from your French press
1 oz vanilla vodka (I use Stoli)
1 oz Frangelico
1 oz coffee liqueur
1 oz cream (or Silk non-dairy creamer if you’re vegan/lactose intolerant)

Combine the gredients in a cocktail shaker. Pour into a coffee mug and serve right away.

Note: If you normally keep your booze in the freezer you may want to pull it out and get it room temperature before you prepare your drink. Otherwise the chilled booze might take all the warmth out of your drinks.

For extra fanciness you can combine the top 4 ingredients in a shaker. Froth the cream separately and then use that to top off the drink.

Got a go-to cold weather cocktail? What’s your favorite?

The meteorologists are flat out losing their shit. I actually heard a Weather Channel anchor say “It’s all downhill from here” the other day. Are they even supposed to be saying that kind of thing? Check this guy out, he’s totally lost it:

Also admire the icicles outside my bedroom window, I could impale a polar bear with them. Which may be necessary at the rate things are going.

In the meantime, enjoy my 3 day forecast for the mid-Atlantic:

Goodness 9 days into February and I forgot to announce our January winning commenter. I think I was too busy fretting about the impending display of nature’s fury. We are actually now out of stuff at our supermarkets. Send cookies? And beer?

Any way, Our winning comment:

“File these pictures under “Dangerous/Snuggly”"
-Melinda wrote in response to Fuzzy Friday: Polar Bear and Sledding Dog BFFs

Keep your entertaining comments coming, we’ll pick a new winner at the end of February.

I love this dude’s ice-cold stare—he ain’t taking shit from no fools. Add your captions below.

(Via Picture Is Unrelated)

This year winter is not screwing around. It’s out for blood and trying to crush the city. I spent my weekend holed up inside my fallout shelter, um, house I mean, waiting for the snowpocalypse to subside. It left up to 3 feet of snow in some areas. Considering that I went out for a bit in it and had snow up to my ass, literally, I am inclined to believe it. Here are some photos of winter’s handiwork:

You can see all my winter mayhem photos on my Flickr account. Actually things got so crazy around here that neighbors to the south saw snow lightning! Yes, SNOW LIGHTNING. Who knew you could even have that? Watch if you don’t believe it. I like the screaming in the background of this video, it adds a certain Blair Witch vibe to the whole thing.

Winter’s not done with us either. We have another blizzard heading our way for Tuesday. Snowmageddon 2: This Time It’s Personal. Stay tuned for my epic battle with nature. In the meantime, enjoy some new art. Since I was trapped indoors all weekend I drew some new pictures. (I spent much of my weekend doing housework and cursing the snow, thus my illustrations have a theme this week.)

Watch out for Yetis my mid-Atlantic homies, I have a feeling they’ll be making their way into town any day now.

As excited as I am for my upcoming European vacation (May cannot arrive soon enough), stuff like this just serves to make me pine for a Tokyo visit in the near future.

(Via Cute Overload)

Because I refer to colors as “Prussian blue” or “pewter” and tend to wear a lot of argyle, I’ve become pretty adept at defending my masculinity throughout my life. But I never imagined I’d have to do so against my own wife.

A few months ago she scoffed at me when I ordered myself a White Russian. Apparently White Russians fall squarely into the “Girly” category of adult beverages. This came as news to me, considering that The Big Lebowski played an integral role in my transition from boyhood to manhood. Here’s a guy who roadied for Metallica, knocks up Julianne Moore, listens to CCR and makes liberal use of the F-word in his daily discourse. Sounds pretty freaking manly to me.

But NOOOOO, ordering a White Russian puts me one cocktail umbrella and/or sword away from being a girl drink drunk.

And thus, an oldie (but a goody.)

White Russian:

1 1/2 oz Vodka
3/4 oz Kahlua
3/4 oz Light Cream or Milk

Add ice to an old-fashioned glass.
Mix the vodka and Kahlua together then float the cream on top.

What do you say readers? White Russian is a manly libation or is it strictly for the ladies? What exactly makes it girlie anyway?