Jaime: Portraits of the Housing Bust

These aerial photos of half-finished housing developments truly are, as the blogger at What the Flux writes, "strangely beautiful, with a geometric symmetry that belies the state of human misery they represent."

Aaron: A Note on Design

If Tumblrs serve as repositories of cool, then up the hip level of your follow list by adding A Note on Design. Hot interiors, clever details, a penchant for chic Scandinavian action, this site makes for one inspiring scroll. Toss in a bit of fashion, the odd car, and, well, you've pretty much got any of the current crop of $17 coffee table magazines conveniently packaged in blog format. Whence all this fine design? A Note on Design is a kind of online journal of the L.A. designers behind DISC Interiors.

Leah: Bird vs. Bird Designs Coin Purse

Bird vs. Bird Designs focuses on the beauty that can be found during weekend strolls along tree-lined hiking trails. On such a stroll, one may encounter the beauty found in nature and the creatures that call these areas home. At times, there are lovely graphic and illustrated signs available to identify some of the habitats. It is from these types of illustrations that Bird vs. Bird Designs gleans inspiration. The graphical elements and color usage are fantastic! The featured waterproof coin purse is crafted from salvaged vinyl banners and features illustrations by Bess Petty, the one-gal design studio that creates the products and ships them straight to you. They can be purchased here

Cortney: Science Photo Library Mugs

For both the mug enthusiast and the science guy, there is an almost infinite repository of just the right combo: Science Photo Library mugs on Amazon. The subject matter can be somewhat bizarre and completely random, often with images that appear to be corrupted partial uploads—but this just seems to add to their cool factor.

Diana: Blood and Champagne

Really diggin' the rough-hewn modern interiors in this blog (minus the antlers that pop up every 10th photo or so).