You can buy this first edition copy of 'Alice in Wonderland' for around $2 million

Reading Alice in Wonderland as a child gave me my interest in weird, anthropomorphic creatures, as well as some of my favorite quotes ("It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then"). I'm a huge fan of the book and, if I had a lot of money, I would place a bid on this extremely rare first edition copy of Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel. It comes from a recalled Macmillan & Co. pressing of the book and is expected to fetch $2-3 million later this month.

As Christie's explains, 2,000 copies were printed in 1865, but illustrator John Tenniel was "entirely dissatisfied with the printing of the pictures" that he ordered every copy be returned and a fresh copy printed. The returned copies were to be "sold as waste paper" but at least 23 survived — six of which are in private hands, including the one going on auction.

Christie's copy was owned, at one point, by Carroll's Oxford colleague George William Kitchin. The book has since passed through multiple hands but has "remained intact over the intervening 150 years since its publication, and still features its original binding, binder's ticket and title page."

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Brett Kern fuses 80's pop culture icons into Hellenistic sculptures

Brett Kern is best known for making ceramic art pieces that deceptively look like inflatable toys . But over the course of the last few months, the West Virginia-based clay master and professor have been working hard at finishing a new series of sculptures. The series is based on 80's pop culture characters and inspired by the Hellenistic period. In this set, you'll find everything from a drunken E.T. (a recreation of the The Barberini Faun ) to a Rafael/ The Dying Gaul mashup. Perhaps my favorite of the bunch (pictured below) is ALF Strangling Cat , which is based on the Greek original Boy Strangling Goose . "I am choosing characters that I sympathize with in some capacity," Brett was quoted as saying by Nerdist.com . "When I used to play Ninja Turtles, I pretended to be Rafael because he was the badass rebel that didn't want to listen to anyone else. Fittingly, my older brother was Leonardo and we clashed often." Br...

Mark Poulier's Leaning Tower of Coffee Cups

Some people like to ruin their coffee with things like milk and sugar, others want their coffee black. But Australian artist Mark Poulier seems to be enjoying his morning brew with a lot of ink and a little imagination. Mark specializes in drawing architecture, but recently, he's been experimenting with coffee cup art. I really like his Leaning Tower of Coffee Cups. Intricately detailed, stacked and leaned properly — the paper cups look just like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. To see more awesomeness from Mark, be sure to check him out on Instagram . [h/t: Foodiggity ]

James DeRosso's ceramic monsters

I really like these whimsical ceramic creatures by James DeRosso. Yes, they have bulging eyes and toothy grins, but they're not scary at all. The Portland-based artist started making cute monsters while he was a student to jokingly create gargoyle-like guardians for the kiln. After other students kept taking his quirky little figures, he realized there was a market for them. "I'm enjoying the whole monster making niche," James says. "It's amazingly gratifying to be doing ceramics full time and especially to be a teacher introducing kids to the joy of clay." Be sure to visit his website and like his Facebook page for the latest monster news.

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