Today’s post is a quickie. (Haha, you thought I was talking about something else. Perv!) I’m in the midst of some other behind the scenes work at the Ex-Boyfriend HQ, I’ll have more to unveil later this week. In the meantime, please meet my new monster Rexy, he’s looking for a bite to eat.

Stay tuned, I have bad ass owls coming your way. Plus I have news on Drinkwel and a giveaway planned. Check in later this week for the details

It’s time for some new art, and today’s designs are especially exciting because one of them is part of our brand new guest artist program. Remember Melinda? She created this very awesome masterpiece and we’re selling it right here on Ex-Boyfriend!

Those who hang around here regularly know I’m no stranger to poking fun at religion, so Melinda’s fun with nuns was a perfect addition to the offerings around here. I might be featuring other awesome artists in the coming months. This guest artist thing is a new experiment. If you’re an illustrator and you’re interested in working with me, let me know.

I also have new art by yours truly. Check it out (this design is also on tees, hoodies and messengers of course):

Lastly, remember my post about the new boozy dietary supplement Drinkwel? The very awesome founder of Drinkwel has offered to send over a sample so I can report first hand on this scientific miracle. I have a feeling I’m going to have lots of good material for upcoming Thirsty Thursdays.

I’ll let you know where I’m planning to decimate my liver this week in case you care to stalk me around Baltimore and maybe try to steal the clothes off my back.

When I’m not drawing pictures or drinking beer, I also like to cook. This past weekend I threw a dinner party; here are some pics of the grub:

Cucumber Salad Canapes with a Spicy Lime Vinaigrette. Served with Serrano Cocktail from Imbibe Magazine

Chilled Tomato and Watermelon Soup with Key Lime Granita and Cilantro Garnish

Mango Jerk Seitan with Truffled Golden Beet Slaw

Barbados Black Bean Cakes with Mango Salsa

Key Lime Tart with White Chocolate Mousse and Mango Sauce

In case you want to make any of these tantalizing treats on your own:

The canapes were a variation on Andrea Meyers Cucumber Salad. My only change was that I put everything in the salad but cucumber. Then I cut my cucumbers into 1 inch rounds and scooped out some of the seeds to create little cups for my salad.

The black bean cake and salsa recipes came from the Vegetarian Times cookbook. The seitan and slaw recipes came from the two cookbooks put out by Horizons. The soup and dessert were from the Millennium cookbook.

I actually did not have much luck with Millennium’s mousse recipe. I made it once before and it came out okay, but this last batch was a disaster. Luckily my girl saved the day and made some fantastic mousse using some white chocolate chips and whipping cream. She sort of followed this recipe.

Related art:

It was impossible to decide on how this clip should be classified—Thirsty Thursday, or Fuzzy Friday? You know, a philosophical conundrum for the ages. The kind of unanswerable question that would have prompted Socrates to fill up Uncle Scrooge’s money bin with hemlock and swim around in it.

Whatever. I know cute, and this is it:

(Via BBC, by way of andiamnotlying.com)

So, those of you who read my blog regularly (all ten of you) may have noticed that I was MIA all last week. I wish I had a good reason for my lack of communication, but I don’t. The fact of the matter is, my wife was out of town (Way out of town. London, to be precise) last week, and if I’m being honest, it’s very difficult for me to stay on-task when she’s not around.

Tempting as it is to do the revisionist history thing and post a bunch of entries time-stamped for last week, let’s just pretend that it never happened (which is, in itself, a revisionist undertaking. Tautology! Look it up, kids. Also, what’s up with all the parentheticals today?)

Since only TWO of the aforementioned TEN readers have taken me up on my Meet the Fans Monday feature, I’ve decided to ease us back into the swing of things by interviewing myself. This exercise is two-fold: it give me a chance to mention Chuck Klosterman’s latest book Eating the Dinosaur, which examines the nature of the interview from the quasi-philosophical angle that Klosterman does so well, and it also allows me to talk about myself, which I love doing.

How did you first discover Ex-Boyfriend?
I started designing some stuff. It needed a name. And “The Beatles” was taken.

5 10 desert island musical artists?
Yikes! Idlewild, The Smiths, Waylon Jennings, The Who, The Beatles, The Cure, Miles Davis, Wilco, Elliott Smith, and Blur. I will rue this list on the days when I crave some Johnny Cash, Radiohead and/or Oasis.

Tell us about your pop cultural guilty pleasures.
I don’t ever really feel guilty about the stuff that makes me feel good… but I suppose the stuff that is the most incongruous with my persona would be my appreciation of certain Britney Spears singles, Jane Austen novels, “good” romantic comedies (Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, etc) and Gossip Girl.

What kind of tees do you hope we design next?
The kind that sell a lot! Ideally, stuff with monsters and robots and critters. You know, the usual.

Favorite haunts on the web?
Alright, time for some true confessions… I’m a bit of a sports nut. Not exactly the sort of thing you’d guess based on my job, wardrobe, haircut, listening habits, etc. But I LOVE baseball and football. So a lot of the places I visit deal with sports. Pretty much every one of the Yahoo! Sports blogs is choice. Fangraphs.com. CamdenChat.com. All are pretty entertaining reads. But I also love to drop in on chromewaves.net, because Frank Yang and I share a lot of the same taste in music (and I like free mp3’s), videogum.com is excellent because Gabe is one of funniest bloggers I’ve ever read. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention andiamnotlying.com, which is partially contributed to by my friend David William, who is an amazing artist “living the dream” in hipper-than-hip Brooklyn. And of course tastespotting and liquorious!

Do you have any pets? What are they, what are their names?
I think this is pretty well-documented, but I’m pwned by two cats, Oliver and Bigby. And let’s not forget the seemingly never-ending parade of foster animals.

If you had a time machine, where in history or the future would you go?
The future. To paraphrase Brian Fellows, I don’t do dinosaurs.

Beer, liquor, or wine (be specific)?
Beer and wine are more or less in a dead heat. I love a good Belgian-style wheat beer, but I also like a nice, flavorful copper, amber or red ale. As far as wines, I’ve graduated from the “I only drink whites” camp to almost exclusively reds. I tend to shy away from the drier stuff—no merlots for me, thanks. I like a nice full-bodied shiraz, cabernet savignon, malbec, or pinot noir.

What’s the first thing you notice about the ladies (or dudes if you prefer them)?
Teeth/smile. I can look past a lot of physical flaws, but bad teeth are pretty egregious.

Cake, pie or cookies (ice cream and candy are also acceptable, but be specific)?
This is tough! I love Starbursts. I like cupcakes a lot (though I’m pretty no-frills; plenty happy with vanilla-on-vanilla), and certain pies really get me going (key lime, blue berry, pumpkin, pecan). I appreciate a well-done cookie, but they’re more of a stop-gap dessert in my book—a sort of “well, if there’s nothing else around” treat. My wife’s cherry cheesecake is pretty awesome, as is her pumpkin cheesecake topped with toasted pecans and caramel-bourbon sauce.

Trip over potholes and small children no more! This droid ap uses your phone’s camera to show you the street ahead while you’re text messaging. Now you can finally walk and text with ease.

Would you use this? Fess up — do you text and walk or text and drive?

Yesterday, as I was leaving the grocery store, I saw a tiny dog locked in a hot car. The car was sitting in full sun and it was 97 degrees outside. The internal temperature of that car was probably over 115 degrees. The dog was clearly in distress, barking and whining. I called the police and they told me it could take an hour to show up! I called again 10 minutes later remind them that the situation was critical and this dog would not survive for an hour. I spent 20 minutes trying desperately to think of what to do to rescue this animal and not get myself arrested for breaking into the car.

The police never arrived and the car owner finally returned with her friend. They had ice cream for themselves, nothing for the dog, not even water. They drove off like everything was fine. One of two things was going on here:
1. These people are evil and want to cook their dog alive.
2. These people are idiots and don’t realize you cannot leave a dog in a car in 97 degree heat, even if windows are cracked.

I was mad that the police didn’t respond right away. I was mad that I was the only person who bothered to call the police. I don’t know if people are that uncaring or if they’re that clueless about what a clear case of animal abuse this was.

In case you don’t know, a dog’s body temperature is 101-102.5 degrees. They can withstand a body temperature of 107 to 108 degrees for only a short time before they experience brain and nerve damage, heart problems – and even death. This is why you cannot leave a dog in a parked car in the summer, even for a minute. Here’s a study on how hot parked cars get, even with windows cracked.

Please tell everyone you know that leaving a dog in a hot car for even a few minutes is cruel, deadly and illegal. If a pet owner is caught doing this, many states WILL arrest them, as they should. Tell your friends, even if they don’t have pets, to call 911 right away if they see a dog locked in a hot car. Dogs suffer this slow awful death every year, so it’s very important that everyone be aware of this issue at this time of year, and be willing to take a stand against this kind of animal cruelty.

P.S. I shouldn’t even have to say that this same thing goes for small children, but disgustingly enough, kids sometimes die this way too. If you see a child locked in a hot car, obviously, call the police. Ugh!

Last week we celebrated my wife’s birthday and our first anniversary. Thus we went to two different posh restaurants: CityZen and Equinox, both in Washington DC. The challenge with restaurants for us is always finding great chefs who will cook a vegan/vegetarian meal for us. Both restaurants made an effort but we weren’t blown away by either place. This got us talking about the best restaurants we’ve ever been to. Here’s what we picked:

1. Millennium, San Francisco CA
Known as the pinnacle of fine vegan dining, Millennium doesn’t disappoint. Everything from the decor to the cocktails to the food presentation impresses and the food is epic. It’s impossible to say what you should get there because you really can’t go wrong no matter what you choose.

2. Horizons, Philadelphia PA
It was tough to decide whether Horizons or Millennium deserved the number one slot. Both are worth going far out of your way to visit. The menu is seasonal so it changes often, but no matter the time of year, you’re sure to get something delectable and creative. We’re thankful to live only a 90 minute drive from this restaurant.

3. Saf, London, UK
This chef deserves extra credit for his creative use and presentation of raw ingredients. Despite being vegetarian, even we typically think of “raw” food as a little too hippy dippy for our taste. Saf will quickly rid you of that perception though, with such elegant presentation and unique flavor profiles you won’t even notice you’re eating an entirely raw meal. The cocktail menu is also just as innovative as the food. If there’s any doubt in your mind that this restaurant could be enjoyed by anyone, take the word of Harper’s Bazaar, they included Saf in their top 20 Going Out Guide in 2009.

4. Ubuntu, Napa, CA
This restaurant’s chef was selected as one of Food and Wine magazine’s best news chefs in America 2008, so he can hang with the best of them, despite cooking only vegetarian fare in his Michelin starred restaurant. Hands down some of the freshest and most beautiful ingredients you’ll ever get on a plate. If you’re anywhere in the northern California area, it’s worth it to trek out to this restaurant.

5. Inn At Weathersfield, Perkinsville, VT
I got married in Vermont and sadly, it’s less vegetarian-friendly than you might think. You can probably get a veggie burger or pasta in most places, but don’t expect anything remarkable. With one exception: Inn At Weathersfield stands out as a destination eatery and is one of the state’s best kept secrets. Chef Jason Tostrup can cook just about anything. We stumbled upon this romantic inn while in Vermont and asked if they could cook something vegan. We were blown away by Tostrup’s respect for the ingredients and delighted in dishes like his sorrel soup, raw beet “ravioli” and pineapple “carpaccio”. This is the only omnivore chef we’ve run across that can truly hang with experienced vegetarian chefs in terms of his creative use of vegetables.

6. Gobo, New York, NY
Fusion vegetarian eatery with an Asian flare, served in a clean modern setting. We discovered this restaurant during a weekend birthday celebration for an omnivore friend, who declared it the best meal she had all weekend in NYC.

7. Tempo Doeloe, Amsterdam
Decadently rich and exotic flavor profiles accompanied by an amazing wine list and impeccable service made for some of the most memorable eats on our last trip abroad. I can’t say enough good things about the rice table, other than you’ll spend months in the gym making up for it when you’re done. It’ll be well worth it though. Be sure to make a reservation, this is one of the most popular restaurants in town.

8. Fatty’s and Co., Los Angeles, CA
This gourmet vegetarian restaurant and wine bar will make you happy to eat your veggies. The sauteed black Tuscan kale with red onion confit is not to be missed, but make sure you save room for dessert, like the two layer chocolate bundt cake with chocolate ganache, toasted coconut and pecan frosting with creamy center. They even spin cotton candy on the premises. Fun!

9. Madeleine Bistro, Los Angeles, CA
Creative upscale vegan fare that will sate even the most ravenous omnivores. The portions are fairly generous and the selection is a vast and refreshing departure from the standard hummus wraps and vegetarian chili most places serve. Even brunch and deserts are made decadent with chocolate souffle and banana’s foster waffles.

10. Cafe Green, Washington, DC
This is a relatively new all vegetarian restaurant in the capital city, and owned by a popular veg lunch cafe called Java Green. Unlike its parent restaurant, Cafe Green serves dinner and has table service. The menu is 100% organic and vegan and includes a sizable selection of raw offerings.

Honorable mention should also go to our favorite local haunt, Liquid Earth, where you can get the world’s best vegan rueben and an assortment of freshly made soups, smoothies and juices.

Alrighty, where’s the best place you’ve ever eaten? It need not be vegetarian of course

There’s a very fine line between precocious and pretentious. Some would say they’re one and the same, but I like to believe that precociousness implies a certain naivete that gets washed away in the transition to pretension. While I have a sneaking suspicion that xOphoeniXfeath3r probably falls on the wrong side of that fence, I can’t help but hope that she’s just some smart kid who is self-aware and self-deprecating. If you check out some of her other vlog posts, it’s hard not to catch a whiff of drama geek. Charming!

A couple of weeks ago a friend excitedly emailed and said “Hey I saw someone wearing an Ex-Boyfriend shirt at a show last night.” Sadly, I never run into people in Ex-Boyfriend shirts. It probably doesn’t help that I don’t get out a lot. I’m usually hanging around my house watching Netflix, drawing pictures and entertaining my cats.

Sooo… I’m going to start a new series around here called Meet the Fans. I’ll be profiling the cool peeps who wear Ex-Boyfriend stuff right here on this blog. There will be interviews and pics and everything.

Of course this only happens if you guys help out. So if you want to be semi-famous and featured on this blog send me a picture of yourself wearing something Ex-Boyfriend and I’ll send you some interview questions. I’ll also send a little thank you to each fan who plays along so be sure to send me your mailing address. You can send your picture and a brief note letting me know you’re willing to be featured on my blog here.

P.S. We have a new contest winner for our monthly comment-on-this-blog-to-win-free-stuff contest. The winner is:

“Rent a Boyfriend was clearly devised by someone who’s never had a boyfriend. Boyfriends do not usually remodel kitchens and make home repairs. Even if they know how to do these things, you’ll probably have to nag until you turn blue before anything actually gets done. ”
- Lisa wrote in response to WTF Wednesday: Get a Life (with your wallet)

You can be our May winner. All you have to do is leave some comments around the blog