the biscuit | Little Dipper

So you may have guessed from the title of this blog post which 90’s television dramedy I was enjoying while making this next round of designs. When the third season of Ally McBeal aired, I was in fifth grade. I rocked an Old Navy Performance

me thinking about other things while Ally McBeal and the Biscuit sing to Barry White

Fleece Vest. I had just gotten my ears pierced. I still shopped at GapKids. I had a poster of Hanson in my basement. I had a crush on Leonardo DiCaprio…as Jack Dawson. In other words, I wasn’t watching Ally McBeal. I know I was vaguely aware of it, but, lets be honest, I was more interested in whether or not Harvey would ever realize that Sabrina was in fact a teenage witch. But recently, I started watching this little gem of a show (damn you, Netflix instant view) with a friend of mine and have become quite addicted. Not only am I shocked at the mere notion that this show was ever popular, but I am constantly perplexed at the fact that it was ever even produced. The more I watch it, however, the more I realize its popularity. It was ridiculous and it was supposed to be, and to truly enjoy it, you must commit yourself to this alternate reality of dancing infants and unisex bathrooms. Unfortunately, I have fully committed.

The really great thing about watching Ally now is seeing all the stars of the show when they were young. Of course there is Calista Flockhart as Ally, better known now as Kitty on Brothers and Sisters, but someone who will probably always be known best as Ally McBeal, lets be honest. Then there’s Jane Krakowski as Elaine who now plays Jenna on 30 Rock (see right: picture of Jane’s character Elaine

Reason #104 why I watch Ally McBeal: The Face Bra.

sporting a face bra on Ally). Peter MacNicol who plays John Cage, aka “the Biscuit” is now playing Dr. Stark on Grey’s Anatomy. Then there’s Portia de Rossi playing Nelle who later became famous for her portrayal of Lindsay on Arrested Development and for being Mrs. Ellen Degeneres. There’s also Lucy Liu, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and a host of other memorable guest stars that make the show even more enjoying. However, the BEST part of watching Ally is Vonda Shepard. Vonda plays herself, a singer at the bar where all the lawyers go after hours. Her voice is magical if by magical you mean soulfully and utterly nineties. She really knows how to belt it out (and sing the soundtrack to Ally’s life!)…but actually. My friend, who I mentioned earlier who has been watching the show with me, actually sent me one of her CDs. Ahhh thats what friends are for, am I right?

So to get to the point of this post — or maybe you read this blog for the social and political commentary and not the design — this is what I have been working on. And yes, I just referred to my rant on Ally McBeal as social and political commentary. I like topical references, ok?

So after being forced and coerced into making a desktop pattern for my sister, I started getting more interested in it. I tested out the backgrounds I made for her after posting it to the blog and I realized that maybe they were too busy. The floral print looked interesting, but it also looked really cluttered. I usually like picking a desktop image that is simple enough that I can still see my files, but interesting enough that I like looking at it at the end of a long day of work. Maybe that’s just me…and judging by my sister’s room, I know it may not be her…but I think simple is a good general rule to follow. So, I chose a shape, the hexagon, i.e. the shape of a stop sign, and made a couple variations of that. Here are the results:

I’m currently using “honeycomb2.png” the second one with the blocks of colors and I like it. I’m contemplating changing my twitter background to one of these (see below), variations on the fourth honeycomb design.

I also worked on 2 other desktop patterns to be revealed soon! I need to space out my creations though… So enjoy these for now and get excited for later.