Upshot.

5 May 2008

Was reading John Cheever's "The Wapshot Chronicle" and came across this passage written by Leander, the protagonist-

"Advice to my sons: Bathe in cold water every morning. Painful but exhilarating. Have haircut once a week. Wear dark clothes after 6 p.m. Eat fresh fish for breakfast when available. Avoid kneeling in unheated stone churches. Ecclesiastical dampness causes prematurely gray hair. Fear tastes like a rusty knife and do not let her into your house. Courage tastes of blood. Stand up straight. Admire the world. Relish the love of a gentle woman."

Sicard Rules!

23 April 2008

Stuti Garg sent in this screen capture from her cooking video blog, which features delicious vegan and vegetarian recipes. You can check it out at: Spice Route. Thanks Stuti!

Get Uppity!

5 April 2008

God comes without bell. Sitting in traffic on the George Washington Bridge about 2 weeks ago I noticed this sign. Didn't think much of it until I got back home. I've been trying to come up with a visual for Uppityshirts since last year - something that represents the brand, that's recalcitrant of course, and that's also iconic, original, easily reproducible, etc., e.g. Logo Design 101.

And then it hit me: why not stand convention on its head, literally for a change? And instead of "Do Not" how about making the logo a positive call to action? Get Uppity! Smarten Uppity! Turn your life around - buck up and wise up with nerve and charm. Bump your head up against the planets, embrace art, inspire joy, knock some socks off with impunity, and laugh - life is lovely!

That's the gist of Uppityshirts and the new logo. We're going to put it on its own Uppityshirt (big and bold) soon - so stay tuned, and be the first on your street to Get Uppity!

No Fooling.

1 April 2008

Unfortunately, there were hardly any responses to the tagline contest and none that were deemed acceptable, so we're going to go with "Smart t-shirts for smarty pants." Thanks anyway.

Just kidding - the response was fantastic, much more than we expected. I'll share with you a sampling. Michaela from California wrote in: "Well, I really like 'Smart t-shirts for smarty pants' with one tiny tweak... 'Smarty shirts for smarty pants.'" Kathy from Oklahoma sent us an email with the same opinion, different solution: "I think the one you came up with was great - 'Smart t-shirts for smarty pants,' but I would change it to 'Smart t-shirts for smart t-pants.'"

Troy W. sent in "Wear your mind" which we thought was great, since we're also fans of the Pixies, who have a cool song titled "Wear is my mind?" Another one we liked was from Henry Moon in Paris: "Won't shrink if you are rude to somebody." A variation on that same theme came from Dawn at Oregon State: "Me thinks, not shrinks." Alice in Indiana got our attention, and a smile, with "Shutuppity!"

Karen from Florida had us stumped with "Why no Bermal?" We asked her about it and she explained it was an anagram of "Why be normal?" Debbie thought we should "Eschew Obfuscation" and the Sagehorn Family sent in a couple of taglines we really liked: "one up all the rest" and "read between the line". Barb S. submitted "acritochromatic and feeling blue" and Trish in Calgary asked "How about 'talk nerdy to me' for a tagline?" Susan in Spokane entered "Cogita ergo est" which means (it thinks, therefore it is).

After sorting through all of the entries, we've decided on a runner-up and a winner. The runner up (a free Uppityshirt) is "bonsuelina" who offered up this gem: "Supplying front- and back-talk" which we thought was really cute. And the winner is, Elizabeth Jay, for her elegant and simple "A word to the wise." Thanks to everyone for your enthusiasm and brainwork, and stay tuned- we're going to unveil our new Uppityshirts logo soon!

Wise Up?

28 February 2008

We were invited to Housatonic Community College by Professor Alan Weaver to talk to his business students about Uppityshirts.com today. What a blast - conversation ranged from low overhead to "The Sword of Damocles" to Johnny Cupcakes, shoestring budgets and even the Mona Lisa! Thanks Professor Weaver for a great learning experience and a great opportunity to get the Uppity word out.

One Uppitymanship?

26 February 2008

A tagline states a company's mission. Our mission is to get one.

We're thinking about adding a tagline "a simple, poignant phrase, used to set off a logo, describing a company’s position or purpose" to Uppityshirts.com and decided the best way to do it would be to have a contest and let our brainiac fan club unleash their enormous IQ power upon us. Seriously, you've given us a lot of great t-shirt ideas, which in our mind is just an incremental mental leap to a tagline. Let's get Uppity! Winner(s) will receive 2 free Uppityshirts, and eternal glory.

To start the synapses firing in the right direction, we'll give you two of our own attempts so far:

"Smart t-shirts for smarty pants."

"Put the world on."

Email all entries by April Fool's Day to: mr.write@uppityshirts.com

Uppity Hour

8 February 2008

The Hour newspaper out of nearby Norwalk, Connecticut did a feature article about us in their Janaury 26, 2008 Business Section. Thanks Steve Kobak for the great write-up and Erik Trautmann for the picture that actually makes our hero* look almost good - a miracle of accomplishment.

To access the article click here.

*I may be many things but fortunately a graduate of Yale is not one of them; in fact I didn't even go there; to be honest - I've never even seen the place. But until the correction was printed I guess I was, kind of. Sic transit gloria mundi!

Grown Uppity?

2 February 2008

Charlie White is our next-door neighbor's 4-year old son and if anyone's "rebelliously self-assertive: not inclined to be tractable or deferential" it's this kid. Innocent-looking enough with blond, blond hair and blue eyes, man, all I can say is... if you believe in God, you must have some sympathy for the devil. Anyway, he comes over 2 or 3 times a week to have an after-school snack with his sister Morgan and when they leave he never says good bye or anything. Just leaves.

So finally yesterday his embarrassed mother tells him he has to say thank you to Mr. Cataldo (me) or he won't be allowed to come over anymore. After a few minutes of hemming and hawing Charlie comes up to me, all 2 foot 8 of him, looks me right in the eye and says "Good bye Mrs. Cataldo!"

Y'up!

7 January 2008

Wow - thanks for keeping us out of the kitchen so-to-speak and in the mailroom, as well as for the for the most part positive feedback and encouragement. There were a couple of Scrooges out there - one who actually wanted to return his Uppityshirt and get a refund!

Undeterred by criticism or common sense, we've decided to start 2008 by being predictably self-assertive; we're foisting a new Uppityshirt on the world - "incorrigible"- another "elegant variation" on the theme, with "2257 compliant" not too far behind. And futzing with the design of a perennial favorite "I'd Rather Be..."

Looking for the perfect gift for "Mr. Write"? Free Shipping (U.S. orders only) will continue through Valentine's Day. Use Discount Coupon code "incorrigible". What are you waiting for?

What's Uppity?

16 November 2007

Let's have some fun: We were trying to be facetious when we announced that Uppityshirts was going to launch to worldwide acclaim- but the response so far has been amazing! Damn.

The hyperbole is probably around 55% justifed by now: check out the latest Uppityshirts review, this time surprisingly positive, on T-shirts Around the Internet. Go Kat!

We've also gotten emails and pictures from people in North Carolina, Las Vegas (I hope to have some Uppityshirts shots soon!), and several thank-you shout outs from New York City. Amy Keith from Westwood, Massachusetts (below) sent this picture from the bleacher seats in Fenway Park. She (and a bunch of her camera-shy friends) - "The Backwards K Gang" - stand up every time an opposing player goes down looking and gives them a wicked-big Boston welcome.

BREAKING BAD NEWS Why couldn't the Sox have won a World Series when it might have redeemed (or at least impacted) my rotten childhood? How are my kids going to grow up with the same sense of futility and hopelessness I enjoyed throughout the Gloom Period now that Mudville's a winner? Back in the day, Disappointment with a capital D came reliably every fall - there was a certainty (and joy almost) in degradation!