+ Today’s gorgeous artwork provided by Gabi Piserchia, available for purchase on Society 6.

+ Randomizer.org picked entrant number 8, Brendan Beale from Australia, as the winner of the Sonnenzimmer poster! Congrats, Brendan! Sonnenzimmer & I are so grateful to all who entered.

+ What it Means to be a Geek offers the freedom to devour your interests with all the enthusiasm you can muster. Screw cool, care instead. I wish I’d read this when I was in high school or college.

+ Had a chuckle over the World’s Longest Invoice that’s been making the rounds this week. Currently the deadbeat clients of the world owe over 10 million to the freelancers who worked with them.

+ 37signals founder Jason Fried wrote an excellent article for Inc. Magazine on why most business writing is awful. Finally someone is stepping up to the plate and explaining the difference between compelling business writing and the watered down jargon-y crap we’re so used to seeing. Also makes an excellent case for using a more informal, conversational tone for online writing, thank goodness, I’ve been pushing for this for years.

+ MOXIE Conference tomorrow! I’m hitting the stage to do a mock-negotiation scenario with financial advisor Linda McCauley on how to wheel and deal like a boss. If you’re going, please say hello!!

Happy weekend! On the dock for next week: co-working tales & behind-the-scenes tour of ze Walker Art Center.

+ Buy Some Damn Art got a new design! Aw yeah, good work as always, Ghostly Ferns! Artwork is by Kate Pugsley and is the most recent to be showcased on BSDA. So buy some damn art, would ya? Cause prints are great, but originals are better.

+ I’m giving a BIG speech in the coming months and I’m already prepping (gulp!). Scott Berkun’s speaker’s checklist is exhaustive and will prove to be quite useful no doubt. His point about making sure to get directions not just to the venue, but also within the office-park insanity, and within-building insanity made me chuckle. Nothing worse than arriving a few minutes early only to discover you took the wrong elevator and end up tearing through the building to make it to the room on time. (Not that I’ve done that, ahem.) Via Nickd.

+ Wired on why being sleepy or less than sober are good for creativity. Excellently reasoned article, in short it says our brains are able to free-associate more readily during these states which makes total sense to me. There is, obviously, diminishing returns on this phenomena so get it while the getting’s good I guess.

I haven’t checked out old fave Tauba Auerbauch in a while, but in the interim she’s cranked out an entirely new style of work and it is bee-yoo-tiful. These are – wait for it – paintings. Egads, so awesome. Thanks to Jessica Comingore for reminding me of this inspiring lady’s work.

In Chicago, it’s rare to see hand-lettered signage in the gentrified neighborhoods. Most small business either can’t afford it or it’s viewed as not pro-level or too “ghetto”. Which, I’m sure we all agree, is super lame. Luckily there’s a bunch of people in this town who are making it their mission to keep this incredible craft alive. Enter mr. Andy Luce, aka Visual Armory. Andy’s a fellow-solopreneur who just happens to frequent Ipsento, a modest coffee shop right on the crack between the Bucktown and Logan Square neighborhoods. Andy made pals with the owner of New Express Muffler & Brake, also an Ipsento regular, and they made this beautiful mural-baby together. There you are folks, another shining example of community engagement. Makes me so happy to see. More, more, more please!

Isn’t this something to behold. Though the music itself isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but I would totally hang prints of this incredible cat in my house! Such incredible color and detail. Via Ms. Jacqui Oakley herself, the artwork is a collaboration with the awesome Polystudio.

I’m currently in British Columbia (going to Vancouver tomorrow & Thursday!) and even though we’ve been traveling for the last 16 hours, there is free wifi at the moment so I can’t resist popping in w/ a post. Not sure when I will have this chance again, so I’m taking it! Love these works by Connor Harrington, they are a totally surprising mash-up of traditional portraiture and graffiti. Beautiful color & energy, they are super unique indeed. Via Design for Mankind.