At Last! Someone's Poking Fun at Design Catalogs!

"High-style silliness: Blogs take humorous jab at home design catalogues"
Martha Irvine, The Canadian Press (November 11, 2010)

"It started with figs, on a plate, stashed under a pool side table.

"The caption under the photo in the home design catalogue urged readers to 'enjoy the comfort and ease of indoor entertaining with outdoor sectionals, pillows and accessories.'

"But Molly Erdman saw something else. She saw a chance to poke fun at something, well ... kinda ridiculous.

"The actor/comedian sat down at her computer last June and wrote her own caption.

" 'Sweetheart,' it said, 'the Turners will be here any minute now! Did you put the plate of figs under the table?'

"And her blog, 'Catalog Living,' was born.

"Erdman didn't necessarily set out to create a daily parody of the sometimes serious, overly put-together nature of photos from high-end home accessory catalogues. She got her start as a comedian with Chicago's Second City and moved to Los Angeles three years ago to pursue an acting and writing career. You might recognize her as "the wife in the minivan" from a series of popular TV commercials for the Sonic restaurant chain...."

The CP article has links at the end, including one to Catalog Living.

So does the Lemming:

• "Catalog Living"

Except my link is sort of in the middle of this micro-review, instead of at the end.

The posts are funny - some rather in the Charles Addams/Gahan Wilson vein. Like "Let this be a warning…" (November 6, 2010). Others are, in the Lemming's opinion, wonderfully weird, like "Purple mascara majesty…" (October 30, 2010).

There's a photo and a sort of caption in each post. Actually, that's about all there is to each post. Which is a good idea, considering what sort of blog Catalog Living is. When someone has to explain a joke - - - Enough said.

Anyway, the Lemming thought Catalog Living was funny. Your experience may vary. Particularly if you take 'house beautiful' catalogs very seriously.