We released an exciting new artist series design, "A Matter of Where You're Looking" by Richard Walker for the Bamboo iPhone Case today, and we’re sure it’ll become a quick favorite! Richard Walker, a.k.a. Ipsum, is an artist and illustrator living in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two children.



Richard is inspired by all artistic styles around him, especially the infamous street art local to Melbourne. The works of Jeff Soto, Dave Kinsey, Ron English, Sket 1, and Herakut are also influences. With his work, Richard takes viewers on a surreal, disturbing, sometimes quirky journey through a candy-colored 1970s cartoon. His favored mediums include wood, inks, canvas, acrylics, spray paint, and digital work. 

“The Dirty Bird” by Richard Walker

Richard appreciates balancing the structured disciplines of advertising design with the freedom and soul-searching of pure art. An art director and designer for over 10 years in the advertising realm, Richard puts the rest of his energy into his own art. His personal work can be explored on RichardWalker.Prosite.com. His ad work has been utilized by a prominent client list and has won awards internationally, including a prestigious Cannes Lion. 

“Faces, Past and Present” by Richard Walker

Richard’s “A Matter Of Where You Look” is featured on our iPhone bamboo cases. The design will be $20 off this week only!

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.

Oh yay! We’re happy here at Grove to announce our newest Artist Series design from Jon MacNair! Jon is a freelance illustrator born in Seoul, South Korea, raised in the suburbs of Michigan, and currently residing here in Portland, OR. Jon’s dark, narrative-based illustrations can be explored on JonMacNair.com and his blog Scritchy Scraps. He’s shown in galleries in New York, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington DC, London, Glasgow, and more. Notable shows include The BLAB show, the annual group show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, and an upcoming solo show at antler here in Portland.

Some Sort of Mystical Explanation, by Jon MacNair

Jon earned a BFA in Illustration from The Maryland Institute College of Art. His personal work has been featured in publications like Beautiful Decay, IdN, Faesthetic, and Empty magazine. Jon’s commercial work has been utilized by an extensive client list for editorials, apparel, and album art, with clinets including Computer Arts Projects, the Seattle Stranger, Baltimore magazine, Elle Girl, and Tooth & Nail Records, among others. He is an active member of the Honeycomb Art Collective (based out of Buenos Aires and New York).

The Old House, by Jon MacNair

We’re featuring Jon MacNair’s "This and That" on our Bamboo iPhone Case, and will be offering it at $20 off this week only!

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.

Grove’s art director Max has been around since the beginning---helping to build Grove from the ground up. He is responsible for the majority of the aesthetics on our website and packaging, and remains hands-on as our lead graphic designer and illustrator to boot. Recently, he put a lot of work into the newly released SkateBacks. Even though Max's visual style can be seen throughout Grove's branding, he says that none of it would be possible without inspiration from the beautiful product design and the company's unique culture.



Max hails from the coastal hamlet of Astoria, Oregon, where he went to high school with Grove co-founder, Joe. He attended the University of Oregon where he graduated with a BFA in Multimedia Design in 2006, and he was even Joe’s first employee at his pre-Grove venture Engrave Your Book.

He’s the type of artist who will work long hours at his day job and then go home, roll up his sleeves and get to work on his own projects. Max makes figurative artwork with a distinctive style that’s all about clean lines, vivid color combinations, and striking imagery that usually conveys a story. You can check out his artwork on his website: OrangeYear.com.  Yeah!

He summed it all up by saying that he considers himself lucky to have his dream job.  “I have a continual list of things I love to do, like getting to correspond with cool artists around the world whose work I respect.”

goGrove!

Written by Mike Schultz. He is an oil painter from Ithaca, New York.  When he is not working for Grove, he’s painting and drawing to his heart’s content.  You can see his work on his blog and his website.

It’s time to get excited about your current iPhone or iPad all over again! Apple recently announced the upcoming autumn release of iOS 6, which will be compatible with iPhone 3GS and later, 2nd-generation iPad and later, and the 4th-generation iPod touch. Among other new features, the updated operating system will offer enhancements to Siri and Facebook along with a new Maps application and shared photo streams through iCloud.



At Monday’s WWDC keynote event, Apple’s senior vice president of iOS Software Scott Forstall stated, “iOS 6 continues the rapid pace of innovation that is helping Apple reinvent the phone and create the iPad category, delivering the best mobile experience available on any device.”

Here’s an overview of some of the most exciting updates:

• For Siri-enabled devices, Siri will gain knowledge in some foreign languages, sports  even launching apps.
• Facebook will become more integrated with system-wide login capabilities and the ability to post from other apps.
• New do-not-disturb options will be available for hushing app notifications and responding to ignored calls with pre-set text messages and call-back reminders
• Shared Photo Streams will allow users to share pics with select friends and family through other iOS devices, iPhoto or Aperture, and Apple TV.
• Passbook, a new wallet app, will store payment cards and electronic tickets - such as Starbucks’ Gold Card, Fandango movie tickets, plane and sports tickets, and more.
• A new Maps app will be outfitted with Apple’s own map data, Yelp business information, traffic data sourced in real-time from users, and turn-by-turn navigation triggered by Siri.

Cult of Mac calls these “some of the biggest UI improvements Apple has made in the history of iOS.” Our own iOS users on the Grove team can’t wait to get a fun revamp on their devices come fall. Luckily, if you’re a developer, you don’t need to wait to begin coding for the new system! On Monday, Apple released the software development kits for iOS 6 along with the kits for OS X Mountain Lion.

Read more about the new iOS 6 on MacRumors, TUAW, and Cult of Mac.

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.

Grove is happy to announce our latest Artist Series Bamboo iPhone Case and second collaboration with Portland art duo, Jolby. Jolby is a design, illustration, and art direction pair composed of Josh Kenyon and Colby Nichols. Based in Portland, OR, the two have worked collaboratively since 2005. Their first design with us, Tree Heart, was an instant classic, and their playful Ride the Weird is sure to please.



Jolby’s work has been shown in galleries worldwide, and the two enjoy interacting with various communities through talks and workshops. Recent local exhibitions include Shapes & Smiles: Portland at Albina Press, the Small exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Craft, and the Triforce Tribute Art Show at Land Gallary. Commercially, Jolby has produced award-winning designs for an impressive client list, including Disney, Intel, T-Mobile, Pitchfork, and AIGA. Their creations have been featured by Dwell, HOW, Drawn, and Juxtapoz, among others.

Jolby’s work can be explored on JolbyandFriends.com and pieces are available for purchase on Etsy. Grove is offering Ride the Weird at $20 off this week only!

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.

It’s still a work in progress, but Grove has expanded its laser shop space over the course of two consecutive weekends, two coats of floor paint, demolition of a couple walls, and clearing out endless piles of debris.  We previously had to navigate around a maze of tall tables, computers, sewing machines in the break lounge, and all the bustling people upstairs working on customer service, website design, sewing, production, packaging, and shipping.  Needless to say, it’s a rather strange but welcome change for those with bruised hips caused from “close encounters of the crashing kind.”  

A special thank you to Craig Holmes who moved out of the neighboring studio so we could expand our space. This space was his home away from home for 16 years prior to his move to to his new studio on the third floor. All of us appreciate your sacrifice!  

Watch Ken, Joe, and Scott as they work on tearing down the walls: 

Written by Sylvia Choi. She is a pasta-eating machine! She wishes she had superhero powers to fight against modern day slavery. For now, she aims to be a voice for the voice

This week we’d like to introduce Ellie -- another integral member of Team Grove! As the dependable production manager in the nucleus of the Laser shop she makes sure that all of our handmade products are of stellar quality before we ship them out.

She hails from Beaverton, OR and graduated with a BFA in Graphic Illustration from the Academy of Art University of San Francisco. This lady can draw! Originally she planned on illustrating children’s books and doing character design for video games. Fortunately for us she chose to work at Grove.

Like any true Oregonian Ellie loves the great outdoors. Camping, hiking, golfing, and now snowboarding... she does it all with gusto. She is a dedicated sleeper and a devotee of tasty foods. (A current favorite is ban xeo, a Vietnamese crepe dish.) When it comes to cooking she’s modest, but along with Wendy she made the Grove squad a ridiculously-good-tasting Korean barbecue bibbimbop lunch (Assorted veggies, marinated meats and sweetened red peppers.  Mmmm...)

One of her favorite parts of working at Grove is problem solving. That means: working with deadlines, managing a team of people, and keeping it all organized.  Ellie said she takes pride in how much work we put into each and every product and that “we do handmade for real”. Yes we do!  goGrove!

Written by Mike Schultz. He is an oil painter from Ithaca, New York.  When he is not working for Grove, he’s painting and drawing to his heart’s content.  You can see his work on his blog and his website.

Grove is head over heels for our newest product, and we hope you will be too! We’re happy to introduce SkateBacks for iPhone 4 and 4s! This is a special collaboration between us and our good friend Lindsay Holmes of MapleXO! With Lindsay’s help, we’re recycling the waste material from skateboards to create 100% post-industrial awesomeness. Each week, enough waste material is discarded from one skateboard factory to fill a city bus, so we’re joining Lindsay in making good use of it.  Our SkateBacks are available now for $49.00 a piece, and we’re also giving away 3 SkateBacks in the final week of the Grove Giveaway! Click here to enter. 



At approximately 1/16 of an inch thick, SkateBacks protect the back of the phone from bumps and scratches while combining sleek Apple design and rad skateboard mojo. “Unique” is not enough to describe these bad boys. Our SkateBacks are made here at our workshop in Portland, OR, with a combination of high-tech machinery and good old-fashioned handiwork. You can choose from three general color schemes, Calm, Neutral, or Vibrant, but each SkateBack is as individual as a snowflake - no two are exactly alike!



Where Do We Get Our Material?
The SkateBack makes a short journey from raw skateboard waste at skateboard factory PS Stix, to eye-catching ply with Lindsay at Maple XO, to cell phone accessory at Grove. PS Stix owner Paul Schmitt, of Costa Mesa, CA, has been designing and producing skateboards known globally for durability and performance for nearly three decades. Learning to skate soon after learning to walk, he knows skateboards well. PS Stix makes more than 4,000 skateboards a day, 200 per hour, almost three per minute! 

About Lindsay Holmes and Maple XO!
Saving skateboards from landfills since 2005, Lindsay Holmes of MapleXO makes recycled skateboard jewelry and other rad upcycled accessories. Her beautiful work allows her to give old boards new life and contribute to the community by reducing the environmental footprint of skateboarding.

And, don't forget to enter our final Grove Giveaway for your chance to win one of these awesome SkateBacks!

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.

Grove-sters! We are super excited that our Wool Felt Sleeves have been featured on Design Milk, the go-to website for design geeks and experts!

Jaime, the founder and Executive Editor of Design Milk, kindly recognizes that Grove is a company that stays intentional about design and quality, from the bamboo iPhone case to the new iPad Cases and Sleeves.  She touches upon the unique detailing that the Grove team meticulously crafts by hand onto each Wool Felt Sleeve, most noticeably the “avisible and exaggerated zig-zag stitch”.

She also loved how the Sleeve is compatible with all iPad generations, and can even accommodate the Apple Smart Cover (tip: insert the “spine,” where the hinge is, first). Jaime also doesn’t forget to mention that the Sleeve has an invisible magnetic flap closure, keeping the iPad safe and secure when carried.  Yes, folks, the iPad has a new best friend!

Thanks, Jaime, and Design Milk, we are grateful, and appreciate the support you’ve shown us.

Grove on!

Written by Sylvia Choi. She is a member of the Customer Service triumvirate with a penchant for correcting spelling errors. She wishes she had superhero powers to fight against modern day slavery. For now, she aims to be a voice for the voiceless.

We’re so excited to announce our newest artist collaboration with Tasha Chapman! Tasha, a.k.a. Jewelwing, is a full-time artist and illustrator and a lover of the sea. Living and creating near the beach, Tasha is drawn to animals, nature, and anything alluding to the ocean. When Tasha’s not making art, she’s likely surfing on, diving into, or gazing at the water. She’s always been fascinated by the shapes and textures of the natural world and the creatures inhabiting it.



Favorite mediums include pen and ink and watercolor; although, Tasha also produces a lot of digital work. Personality and a handmade feel shine through in all her projects. Her designs have been sold at Urban Outfitters, Threadless, shirt.woot, Society6, and Goodjoe, among others. The Atlantic Ocean is Tasha’s new Etsy store for all things sea-inspired. The best way to learn about her and her work is to explore her website, jewelwing.com.



Tasha’s beautiful “Feathers” is featured on our bamboo iPhone case and leather back. We’re offering the “Feathers” bamboo iPhone case at $20 off this week!

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.

Among the myriad of ways to enjoy a leisurely summer day in Portland, from Edgefield outdoor concerts to wandering around an air conditioned OMSI or Evergreen Aviation Museum exhibit (then jumping into their pool and water slide!), or even taking advantage of $2 Tuesdays at the Oregon Zoo, we've gathered Grove’s top 5 favorites!  



5) For those of us in the rainy Northwest, we try to prolong our time outdoors as much as possible when the weather is nice and sunny, so what better way to do that than camping!  Mike embraces all sorts of camping, including car camping, beach camping, and the more intense “hiking into a forest and setting up camp” camping.  Regardless of the approach, he finds beer is a camping necessity! More on that later...

4) Tommy enjoys his summers with some old school pizzazz a la Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer - he floats down rivers!  All you need is a large rubber tire, a rope (to tie onto your partner’s tire or to trail a 6-pack of brewskies - seeing a trend here?), some sunglasses, and don’t forget your SPF!  Tommy’s favorite is actually a bit South of here - the McKenzie River, it runs through Eugene, Oregon - home of his alma mater, University of Oregon. A river float anywhere around these parts are peaceful and beautiful in the warming PDX Spring and Summer.

3) Joe looks forward to summer bicycling tours with his lady friend. Ooh la la! This year they are taking a few close friends with them up to the San Juan Islands and perhaps even up to Victoria B.C. They’ll take the train up and then ride around the islands and explore all the natural beauty and serene of the upper Pacific Northwest.

2) Oregon’s Brewers Festival or, as it’s more commonly known, “Brewfest!” (There were more than a few resounding cheers of agreement to this suggestion from our Grove team.) 20 styles of handcrafted Beer, sun, fun, and free admission! A souvenir mug is required to taste the beers for $6, and beer is purchased with wooden tokens ($1 = one token). Coming to you the last full weekend of July! 

1) And our number one favorite thing to do in Portland on a summer day is just simply being out and about in the sun (unless you’re Yuji, in which case you’ll be indoors playing video games all day, like Diablo III). It’s one of life’s simple pleasures that we never take for granted! Whether you, like Mary, can’t wait to bike without your rain gear and fenders to avoid splashing water and mud on your back; or, like Kim, will be living at a nearby park (Laurelhurst or Colonel Summers) reading, picnic-ing, bbq-ing, or walking and running; or, like Ken, will be seeking out new secret swimming holes (he wouldn’t reveal his secrets!) to jump off of cliffs in, there are plenty of things to do in the beautiful city we call home!  

Sylvia Choi is a member of the Customer Service triumvirate with a penchant for correcting spelling errors. She wishes she had superhero powers to fight against modern day slavery. For now, she aims to be a voice for the voiceless.

This month we are celebrating our love of walking and riding bikes. Many of us Grovers enjoy a daily commute alternative to driving a car so that we can arrive fresh and ready to make more handmade goodies for you!

I asked a small panel of informed Grovers why they choose to walk or ride a bike to work, and received some great answers. Overall, we do it because we love to be outdoors.  It’s good for our health and great for Momma Gaia. It can be faster than driving a car, and is economically savvy. As we collect our thoughts and ride through beautiful neighborhoods, we get excersize to boot. It helps us appreciate our surroundings. Best of all, riding a bike can help a person feel free, independent, and self sufficient.




Here are our favorite quotes from the inquiry:

“There are street treasures to be found...”
“I bike because I only live a couple miles from work.”
“My steed’s name is Olde Blue.”
“I feel like I am alive when I bike.” 

-Anonymous Grovers

Out of the 11 Grove employees who commute daily to work by biking or walking this is how far we travel (in miles). (Note: This is a conservative estimate assuming we go straight from home to work and back, five days a week.)

Collectively we travel:
46.5 miles a day
232.5 miles a week
12,090 miles a year

That’s 12,090 miles of travel every year without pollutants or use of fossil fuels!  Wow!

Sean summed it up by saying, “I like the feeling of getting somewhere by your own means, using your own power. Like the feeling of the wind on your face. Like an eagle.”  Indeed. goGrove!

Written by Mike Schultz. He is an oil painter from Ithaca, New York. When he is not working for Grove, he’s painting and drawing to his heart’s content. You can see his work on his blog and his website.

Ever wake up and feel like you’ve had a bit too much to dream? Cailan Burns is an illustrator and musician hailing from Adelaide, Australia, and he feels this way often. Luckily, he’s able to channel that energy into painting, drawing, and the digital arts. His works are crafted through a range of mediums, including wood, ink, canvas, acrylics, watercolor, digital collage, paper collage, and Flash, Photoshop, and Illustrator composition. Cailan’s inspirations include children’s books, 1960s psychedelic poster art, Russian and Czech animation, folk tales, cultural masks and costumes, and Japanese anime and Yōkai (ghost stories).

“Mothface” by Cailan Burns

We highly recommend exploring Cailan’s work on TooMuchToDream.com; in his words, it’s “a bit like astral travelling with Dr.Suess.” His art conjures a psychedelic world of fuzz, flowers, colour, and organic shapes and forms. His designs “Drum Garden”, “Middle Dream”, and “Follow That Sound” are now a part of our Artist Series for our iPhone bamboo case, iPad bamboo case, and bamboo wall art.

We’re so proud to work with Cailan and excited to add these pieces to our series! The “Drum Garden” bamboo iPhone case and the “Middle Dream” bamboo iPad case will be $20 off this week only!

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.

Quick to laugh and eager to work, Scott spends his days sanding through small mountains of our handmade iPad and iPhone cases. He’s a push-up enthusiast, a cabbage eating king, and Grove’s very own Master of Compost!

One word that sums up his life pursuit is “modding”. Scott likes to have fun and make everything unique by adapting whatever it is to fit his needs. He’s a true embodiment of the D.I.Y. spirit who modifies everything from electronics to his crazy bike, Jankosaurus Rex. He even customized a Grove case for a phone that’s not an iPhone! Check out his handiwork below - he made a similar case for his mom for Mother's Day too (sorry folks, these aren't for sale).  

Currently, Scott works as a production assistant, but his proactive nature had also led to his involvement in other interesting projects around the shop. For example, he built a compost bin out of old wooden palettes. “My interest in composting stems from minimizing the waste stream that I create.” He added that he first learned about composting and worms from his mom when she was a Girl Scout leader for his older sister’s troop. 

Scott and Ken spent a Sunday planting moso bamboo outside the woodshop window, which is the same type of bamboo we use for our iPhone and iPad cases. In its native habitat, this type of timber bamboo can grow over 70 feet tall!

All of these efforts are part of a larger push to transform the urban decay around our building, as people typically treat clean spaces with more respect. Two years ago, the area to the side of our loading dock was one enormous blackberry bush which had collected decades of garbage. Today, Scott has put the finishing touches on what is now a much more pleasant space.

Scott hails from central PA, and has a bachelor degree in entrepreneurship from Shippensburg University. “My favorite part about working for Grove is the malleability of both the position and the company.” Adaptation is how we roll!  goGrove!

Written by Mike Schultz. He is an oil painter from Ithaca, New York.  When he is not working for Grove, he’s painting and drawing to his heart’s content.  You can see his work on his blog and his website.

We were super excited to begin our four-week Grove Giveaway this past Monday! To enter, simply visit our Giveaway page and get all social with us by signing up for our newsletter through our special contest page, or sharing the contest via Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. We’re offering a different prize at the end of each week-long phase, so get your Tweetin’, Facebookin’, Pinterestin’ shoes on!



This week’s prize is our beloved “Tree” Bamboo iPhone Case, which definitely has a special place in our hearts. We’re keeping the next three prizes a mystery (for now), because we know you just love the suspense. We might even throw a new product in the mix!

Oh boy! We can’t wait to pick the lucky winners!  

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.

Designer, illustrator, and screen printer, Graham Erwin offers up our newest addition to our Artist Series. Calling Columbus, Ohio home, Graham works for a custom t-shirt shop by day as pre-production manager and designer. At night, he explores his own brand of detail obsessive illustration. His work is heavily influenced by the screen printing process, and features flat shaping, fine vector lines, and loads of personal iconography. Time spent in front of video games as a child inspired Graham's illustrations to have a quirky geometric quality - instantly recognizable as his own.

Graham’s work has caught the attention of MondoTees in Austin and Gallery1988 in Los Angeles, where he is currently exhibiting several officially licensed posters paying tribute to a range of pop culture characters. His work can be explored through his website. Graham’s blog is also updated often, and some of his pieces can be purchased through his Etsy shop. 

Grove is incredibly proud to present “Lucky Cat” by Graham Erwin on the iPhone bamboo case and leather back. “Lucky Cat” bamboo iPhone case will be $20 off this week!

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.

Last week the Compound Gallery in downtown Portland opened a group show called Lazerz! -- artwork made by and about the laser. Of course, that’s right up our alley!  

We here at Grove were happy to exhibit several laser cut pieces from our wall art series by some of the awesome artists who design images for our hand made iPhone and iPad accessories. Grove artists featured at the show include Cole Gerst, Christopher Bettig, Jonny Wan, Ryan Bubnis, Jonathan Calugi, and Amy Ruppel.

Enthusiastic art lovers showed up in droves for the opening night of the exhibition during the monthly First Thursday art openings. Amy Ruppel made quite a splash with this beautiful custom piece made with wenge wood and white wax:

Also among Grove’s favorites was “Tupac Jesus”, made especially for Berto to which he added a 14k gold foil halo!



All of Grove’s limited edition wall art is laser cut and engraved from 1/4” thick bamboo plywood. Check it out here!

The art of Andrea innocent tells quirky and bizarre stories through detailed illustrations.  Melbourne, Australia is Andrea’s home base, where she has served as a committee member of Illustrators Australia since 2009. Andrea’s character-driven work often explores various aspects of Asian culture through imagination and playfulness. Color, texture, and pattern are emphasized in her pieces, which can be explored on her blog and website, otoshimono.org.

Girl with a Mirror by Andrea Innocent (Part of a series of illustrations inspired by Japanese folktales)

Andrea has worked with an extensive client list to design advertising and packaging. Editorially, her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Nylon Magazine, and Creative Magazine, among others. Recent exhibitions of her work include Amalgamation at Compound Gallery, Illustrated Type at Gallery Nucleus, and The Hideout at C3 Contemporary art space. 

Grove is thrilled to feature “Cloud Girl” by Andrea Innocent on our iPhone bamboo case and leather back. Make all your daydreams come true with the “Cloud Girl” bamboo iPhone case, which is $20 off this week only!

Written by Mary Yajko. She is a Grove customer support rep and crazed blogger originally from upstate New York. She enjoys opened minds, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and large amounts of french fries with ketchup.