i know this has been a long time in coming, but we’re ready to throw open the virtual door and let everyone in.
first of all, this could not have happened without the nice people at spreadshirt: Jana, Holly, Jesse, and everyone else that helped us get this up and running, thank you, thank you.
so, without further ado…
Welcome to the Garden of Awesome
(for the obama fans out there… check out page two)
–
update – just finished with Back to School night, I’ll be adding a few more iterations of the shirts — kids, toddlers and a couple womens and mens that i forgot to copy…
update update — it was spreadshirt that did the nice design over at the shop, so thanks go to them. also, i forgot to mention that this is aj posting here… you’ll know it’s me in the the future because I tend to put one or two sentences together in each paragraph.
as opposed to matt.
anyway, send some comments if i missed any more iterations on the shirts… also, check the back of the <strike>stranger</strike> t-shirt 
153 Comments
I almost came back to complain about there not being a robot shirt that spelled out fucking, but then I moved on to page 2. Yay!
First???
That is fucking awesome! Love the onesie and of course Robots for Obama!
Oh what to buy, what to buy!
Why $15.01 (does the .01 mean something special)?
OMG~ These are AWESOME! I want the boring blog one!
@mo mo — the .01 made the shipping work out to be an even number (i may be slightly OCD) but then I got tired of trying to make that work, so the rest are something else (ADD?)
THAT IS AWESOME!!!
FUCK!!! Now I think I’m gonna have to buy ALL of them!! How can I pick??? Ok, this is truly my new work from home wardrobe!
I’m a lurker now coming out of the woodwork because I have a question. So, first things first…Matt, I have been reading your blog since the Star/Trib article. It’s weird how I feel like I know you. I have laughed and cried with you. I have been amazed and awed by your photography as well as your way with words and of course your constant and strong love for your girls. My kids adore the pictures and videos of Madeline and have actually been praying to God to bring a baby sister to them so they can name her Madeline! (umm yea- good luck with that) Anyway, my question is…do you have any shirts for kids?
Oh and BTW- The shirts are AWESOME!
Awesome! I think I need a new shirt and Charlotte needs a onesie! Maybe we’ll get a bigger size though. This kid has way too many clothes right now…
Fuckin love it I’m in for one and so is my baby girl. Now I just have to decide which ones.
OMG… these are too funny! What an awesome idea!!! Had to get the “fucking” robot shirt! can’t wait to wear it
Take care~
Robots for Obama, fucking awesome!
fucking awesome. end of story. just fucking awesome!
Any chance for some toddler sized shirts?
MATT!!!
This is *splendid*!!!!
Ahh!
You are so cool. You know this right?
They turned out very nicely!!
Fuckin A, I’m going bankrupt.
Fuck.
Any chance for Stranger Friend shirts???
love the stranger one!!!!
The shirts are great guys!
Any kids shirts?? I want to get the robot one for my son and the garden of awesome for my daughter!
The mystery has been solved! now we can all do
strikedtext! Woo hoo! Major accomplishment for this technologically challenged girl!Love the shirts! The onesie one about the pants going under is adorable. Love it!
I’m not a democrat, but the Robots for Obama is hilarious!
The Garden is…well…awesome!! I will be outfitting my little guy!!
OK i just have to have 1 for myself as well.
I second the request for kids sized robot shirts!!!
Fucking awesome Matt, and you got me on payday too. Well played.
Excellent job on the site AJ…
Which one to pick is the question! The shirts are awesome but so is the page! Love love love it! Can’t wait to order one!
Another thought – these shirts are totally going to result in a Matt, Liz, and Madeline community – united by Robots! I can see myself walking down Nicollet Mall, spotting a “I can’t believe you bought a f*ing robot” shirt, stopping that person & having a ‘can you believe how f’ing amazing Matt in the Los Angeles is?’ conversation.
All you Minnesotans – consider yourself warned! If you are wearing a Matt-shirt and see me, I’m going to stop you in the street!
Robots for Obama = fucking awsome.
Holy Fucking Crap, I am no longer having a bad night.
Guys, look up. Thats AJ!
And how do we do striked messages btw? I just got a new puter but its no MAC. I have this Vista crap.
Matt…
I have to say I was at the recycling/swap center today in my town where you can find anything and everything and what was there??? Someone dropped off a giant robot similar to yours but with a romote, and I think I must have stared at this thing for what seemed like forever deciding on whether or not to nab this for you. I was surely looking crazy to everyone else there contemplating this huge ass robot…while really I was thinking of a way to ship this to you in hopes to provide a robot friend to the one and only…only to conclude 1)you would probably think im a weirdo and 2) you probably don’t have the room with everything you’ve been receiving and 3) would have probably been a SHITLOAD to mail out.ANYWHO I am excited about the robot shirts (and all the others) and just want to know I had a good laugh/thought of you and Maddy when I saw the robot sitting there!!!
BTW, fucking awesome AJ is what I meant!
Merch (as Kathy Griffin would say)! Fabulous!
fucking awesome!
Can’t wait to order a few!!
am i the only one getting a little teary about this? i am just so honored to be a part of something so amazing, the aptly known garden of awesome that sprang from a heaping pile of shit served to an undeserving young family.
honored and pleased to be a creepy
strangerfriend. (just learned that from the shirt, btw.)just fucking awesome is absolutely right.
So awesome Matt!!!
Love the designs. Can’t wait to outfit myself and the little guy. Good work!
That is some of thee coolest shit I’ve seen in a long time. I made Ava (my babe) one that said “I have stinky ittybittybabyshitties” but it got ruined in the wash already. Must. Replace.with.robot.love.
(but I’ll wait until you utilize my fav’ Mattism, “robot pissed”)
ps – Have fun in vegas! don’t worry, she’ll be fine!
I agree with Gina B – I’d love to see a
strangerFRIEND version!frickI mean FUCK YEAH! (if that works lol)delurking to say this is fucking awesome. my little lady needs a onesie. she hasn’t worn pants a lot in her 4 weeks, but i’m-a gonna be sure to put them under the onesie. and yea, my blog is boring.
AJ – you FUCKING rock – it’s about damn time you and Matt got your asses going on this shit.
Whew – I feel better now after cussing a little!
HURRAY!
Great job guys!
Any hope for us plus size mama’s???! =)
@Matt & AJ – We creeps are gonna need these shirts in pink to be sporting for the LL5k…Can you make that happen??
That is fantastic- I will spreading the word down under!
Awwwww! That is so, so awesome! Thanks!
Matt- We gave to Obama’s campaign tonight. Maddy will be so proud. My husband and I each gave $50. (He lol’d at he Dem onesie) Here’s to CHANGE!
Those are great shirts!!
You are so amazing.
Thanks so much for the “non slim fitting” t shirt for the “new mommy (3rd time around) that cannot shed the fucking “mom pooch” that still looks 3 months pg. I will be wearing one soon in memory of Liz and supporting your “awesomeness” (((((((HUGS))))))
A.J. Besides the fact that is awesome and I love the shirts I must say that Matt would have been fucking screwed with out you… at least someone keeps it real with him
what a great friend you are…. truly amazing.
Loving it!
AJ *does* rock. That’s why he’s in my Man Sandwich. In fact it’s gettin’ kinda crowded in there, since I made Ben the lettuce.
ANYhoo, fucking AWESOME work, guys!!!
And if Davezwife sez we need a “robot pissed” shirt and/or onesie, then I daresay we better get somebody on THAT, stat.
Hope you’re having fun in Vegas, Mattster! I bet you are soooo hammered right now! I wanna see a drink-n-post! C’mon! You KNOW you want to!
Love them all. I’m eagar to receive my stranger friend t-shirt!!
Love love love them!!
Awesome shirts & onesies – having a hard time choosing which ones we want!!
How about a “Robot Love” shirt????? Way to go on the awesome designs – you guys fucking rock!
Well done! Very cool.
I need toddler and kids sizes!!! Otherwise….FUCKING AWESOME! My husband is going to kill me.
@Nancy IL – I laughed right out loud at your comments…I too had to decide between the mens shirt and the womens…because two kids in 14 months later – I am much more comfortable in my husband’s clothes than my own. Now once I get running a 5k/10k in my new NB shoes…maybe that will change…but for now…
I was THRILLED to see those shirts!
Very cool Matt! I love Robots for Obama!!
Aw, I’ve been so crabby today about Ms. Palin (AKA Mean Girl) and the state of the world, and now I’m just feeling happy about being a flower in the garden of awesome. AJ, what a great friend you are! This is just so, so, so cool. And Matt, I agree with K in the N – - we need a Vegas update!
Matt – I donated (more) money to Obama today. Mostly because Mean Girl’s speech got me riled up, but partly because I just want a better world for “little Democrats” like your Madeline. So maybe the next t-shirt can be “Madeline Fans for Obama!”…or “Obama is a flower in the garden of awesome!”…
AHHH, checked the back of the shirt! Darn me for knowing it wasnt Matt posting, but not noticing THAT! Awesome idea. You are a great friend. And yes, you DO use the enter key quite a bit less than the Mattster!
Can you make a onsie in a size 8 women? Wait, since I have to put my pants under it make it a 10!
Great t-shirts! So many more Matt-isms to be added. I look forward to seeing that!
Awesome!!! Love the Robots for Obama!
We’re all going to buy these and then we’ll be able to identify each other as your followers when we see each other on the street.
Love it!
LOVE the shirts!! As most everyone said above…this is totally fucking awesome!! (And that’s the very first time I have posted the word “fucking” to complete strangers!)
May the Garden of Awesomeness bloom forever!!!
I am totally buying a Robots for Obama shirt. Fucking awesome.
Does any of the money go towards keeping the little one in formula and the big one in beer?
So awesome, I love it.
Sweet. I love these. SOLD!!!!
Have you guys thought of Bumper Stickers? Maybe even Robot for President 08?
completely badass.
Very cool! I’d like a Garden of Awesome one but that international shipping rate is steep. I know you have nothing to do with that, but still….
Maybe I can convince someone from the US to ship it to me!
YEAH! Going to get some for my babe…agree that we need a “robot pissed” onesie, and a stranger/friend onesie too! (I have no idea how to do strikeout.)
Maybe the onesie should say “I’m about to get robot pissed” or “Don’t get me robot pissed”, ” Feed me or you’ll see robot pissed”, etc.
Brainstorming for more ideas…
How much $$ do Matt & Maddy see from this? A ton I hope!
These are GREAT! I can’t wait to order kid sizes! I also second the call for bumper stickers, much cheaper for us international fans!
PS I played around with some Tshirt designs on cafepress a while back, I had ideas but sucky execution. One had “I’m not mad, I’m ROBOT mad”, with a pic of the robot and the other one had “BACK OFF! I’m robot mad” on it.
I have been reading your blog for awhile now…and your blog and pictures are so inspiring………I love the garden of awesome!!! Definitely gonna get one of those “I can’t believe you bought a &*(^^%$$ robot tee. P.S. I want the Obama one too!
@kathryn We didn’t know there was an international crowd here! We can open a European shop. Anyone else need that? If not, Kathryn, contact me via jeg *at* spreadshirt.com and I’ll hand deliver it to you. I spend 1/2 my time in Germany.
fucking awesome!
I want 1 of each!!!
Love love love them!
Hope you’re having fun in Vegas
I remember a few months ago – something about if you made a shirt with a saying you were using, some of us wanted to buy it. Was the saying ““It fucking sucks”?
OMG! They are amazing…can’t wait til payday to be sporting my new robots for obama shirt!
so, so fucking awesome. i need one of every design!
@Anna in Minneapolis – I love the idea of Obama being in the Garden of Awesome! I too dislike Mean Girl.
These are great – nice work Matt/A.J./Team Logelin!
Love them!
Oh hell to the no.
The cult has officially begun and now has uniforms.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.
Placing my order today!!! LOL
OMG what a great idea! Love it!
OMG I LOVE the shirts! I can’t wait to get a “flower in the garden of awesome” T. I also can’t wait to spot someone wearing one of these!
Any chance for GOA ball caps?
I am getting myself a shirt! WooFuckinHoo! I am so stinkin’ excited! And I also agree that we need toddler size shirts!
AWESOME!!!!!
we need pink womens tees!
and an exclusive creep tee too.
haha… great job! I LOVE them!
Caps … we need baseball caps!
I want to see Madeline in one of the onesies!
So hilarious and so cute!
I love the shirts! They are great. Especially love the Robots for Obama…I want one…and I’m not even American! LOL
One thing…are there other designs that will be available for toddlers? What about older kids? I would LOVE to order a garden of awesome t-shirt for my 2 year old daughter…as well as a couple shirts for my friends 5 & 8 year old sons.
STRANGERDID ITHi Matt….I’m a long time reader (StarTribue article) and completely addicted to your blog as many other lurkers are. I have 3 beautiful children that love watching Madeline clips, especially my two year old son…he loves Madeline, she is so darn cute. Anyways, I hope you had a blast in “Sin City” and what happens in Vegas…should be posted on your blog. Thinking of you guys often….Shanna in East Grand Forks, MN.
Fantastic! Now to figure out which ones and how many?!?! Thanks AJ!!
Love it.
Now want to know where to get the “Tiny Democrat” shirt Madeline was wearing.
OMG, I love that site!! And I’m gonna have to get the
strangershirt, that is just too awesome. And I love the back, “friend” that just gives me goose bumps.(And I’m hoping the strikethrough works. LOL)
Totally awesome. Can’t wait to be wearing my new stranger/friend tshirt while walking down the street and run into other Matt/Madeline groupies. It will be like running into fellow Gusties with their GAC sweatshirts on — doesn’t matter that we don’t know each other… we’ll have plenty to talk about! Thanks for offering this up
Love the shirts. Love Matt and Madeleine. But am I the only one who noticed the inference that Obama supporters are mindless, programmed machines?
Thanks for the update AJ. And those are fucking awesome. Now, to decide which one.
::coughs:: hoodies ::coughs::
I just ordered a robots for obama shirt for me and for my husband.
One word: RAD.
Thank you for being awesome and having a garden that is awesome and for letting us buy t-shirts. Friday is even better now!
fuck yeah!! love the shirts. they are totally rad.
awesome.
love the robot onesies. when my nephew was an infant, robot was one of the first words i got him to say.
hells yeah! this totally made my day (week)! the boyfriend buys tshirts ALL the time and i get so pissed–not robot pissed, but pissed–now it’s my turn!
@ christa, i totally agree on the hoodies. i live in the WI for fucks sake, it’s almost winter!
hope you’re having a great time in the las vegas, matt!
Wow – this is hilarious. I agree with Christa, hoodies wouls be awesome – it is already getting chilly here in Chicago!! I giggled at the Robots for Obama, and giggled more at the thought of me wearing it – but I will!!!!
Thanks!
What, no ‘Fuck Jill’ shirts?
(aj – nice job, this is great!)
Hoodies, and what about a robot tote bag thrown in? You know how we love our purses!
@ Deeann – I totally picked up on that! Which is why I wont buy that one!
But it did make me giggle last night.
It was one of those head scratching makes you go “hmmm” things. Cuz I KNOW AJ likes Obama.
I mean WE would get it, but if we wore it people would think we are Obama bashers lol.
Excellent!
We need a stranger/friend shirt though!
Like the other 100 in something comments … this is fan-fucking-tastic! I should put a second mortage on my house now, just saying.
I would fucking love a onsie goes over the pants in blue!!
Please note that there is now “Garden of Awesome” flair available on Facebook. (If you are one of my Facebook peeps, I’ve already sent it to you!) All Matt & Maddy flair is available under the keyword “Logelin”.
Demanding fuckers aren’t we?
Elaborate? Proceeds from the shirts go where? Feel free to smack me in the head if I missed an original announcement about this neat tshirt sales collection. I’m so tempted!
I was thinking about this last night… since Madeline was teething I remembered a photo of an amber teething necklace someone sent you from Inspired by finn… my girls didn’t go without theirs while teething… you might give it a shot hope all is well!
I SO love the “flower in the garden of awesome” shirt!! I want to get that for my daughter!!
Ok, I have been just glued to your blog for a while now, as a mom I am so in awe of you! You have quite a little fan club of mommies up in Victoria, Canada, BTW.
This is the best thing ever!!!! Are you shipping to the Great White North, or just the US?
Any plans to mass-produce the actual robot?
@Davez wife–We ABSOLUTELY need one that says “robot pissed.”
@Marissa–We ABSOLUTELY need one for Creeps.
@AJ–Can you get on this…? You haven’t done enough work on Matt’s (and our) behalf yet.
They’re awesome…can’t wait to get mine and find all my like-minded new stranger friends out on the streets.
Love the idea of shirts & onesies! Can’t wait to see what other designs you come up with…
I agree on toddler size shirts and hoodies!
*** cough**** long sleeve tees***cough** pink**** cough***
Hope they are ready to be bombarded with orders.
Amazing!
I love it!
@Jana Eggers- seriously? That’s so cool! I’ll email you tonight :O)
These are awesome!!
Wow this is the awesomest (yes, in my vocab that is a word)
I am so excited to buy!!!
I have to agree with the others- toddler sizes would be, well, awesome! In the mean time my daughter will fit into a onesie. Oh and the hoodies too. Where I live those can be worn year round!
Yes to hoodies.
Yes to blue “pants go under the onesie” onesie.
Yes to long-sleeved.
I think I’ll wait a few days and see if any new designs/choices pop up…otherwise I may have buyers remorse!
@K8~Are the Garden of Awesome flairs the ones with M&M’s picture and the robot’s picture? Those are the only 3 I saw. Of course, I snatched them up.
Re: Facebook Flair: I’m sorry you guys, the new flair is still listed as “pending”. Not sure how long that takes, but maybe it’ll show up tomorrow? Keep lookin’!
I want a ROBOT PISSED one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Change up the Obama shirts for Palin and your ready to go.
My 5 year old totally needs a robot shirt. PLEASE say you’ll add some kid sizes?????
Oh yeah, Robot Pissed is a must have! Like everyone else… Fucking awesome!
First time poster long time reader! Had to get me some of those shirts! Matt you are a great father. Madeline looks like Liz to me and I am sure you would agree that’s a great thing!
YAY! Thank you.
Now, (because I’m a woman and I’m never satisfied) please make the ‘I can’t believe you bought a robot’ in RED with the blue robot. Pleaseeeee?
I have a pooch and generally
pets+blackshirt=a badddd time
This is awesome. I agree with the hoodies and Robot Pissed. I can’t wait to what else will pop up. Have a great time in Vegas and can’t wait to hear about it.
tammy wrote:
Change up the Obama shirts for Palin and you’re ready to go…
…only if “straight to hell” is where you’re headed.
Kidding! I swear! Please don’t tap my phone or draft my children (or try to get me fired) — it was just a joke! Please don’t be mad, Tammy — look, I even corrected your spelling!
I think Tammy was totally talking about the inference that Palin supporters are mindless, programmed machines inference that the t-shirt COULD make. Gotta be.
OMG. Awesome.
When will pay day come so I can buy one!!! LOVE these shirts!!! Great job!
Hi Matt,
I love the Garden of Awesome site. I think it’s super cool and it make me really happy to see the flowers and sign at the top of the page. I hope to be wearing one of the Awesome t-shirts sometime soon!
(Hello, Madeline!)
Piper
(Yup, that’s me, Mother of the Year, keeping my kid up past midnight…)
The t-shirt site looks great, Matt…and AJ! Piper was so excited when I showed it to her. (I love how you reversed the sign and matched the type for the homepage link — super neato!)
Looking forward to outfitting the whole family with them snazzy new shirts — and running into stranger/friends (yup, that’s me, too lazy to reach for the carrot thingy for the html) wearing theirs.
Mostly, I hope you’re having a blast right now. Take care — and probably, to be safe, a cab.
My buds had some ideas too-any chance of some that reference “The Bastard”?
And totally have to get ones that say “The Mn” or “The Mpls” or ‘The Burbank”, etc.
We’re still brainstorming…
Ok , please excuse me if this has been asked already as I do not have time to read all the comments today. But will there be any Garden of Awesome shirts and/or onesies in Long sleeve as I live where winter is a good 8 months of our year!!??
They all look awesome by the way!! Love it!
Also, I think The flower in GOA phrase is very catchy like that of the “Life is Good” phrases. I think you should copyright, register or do what is needed to market it big! Seriously!!
You ROCK! These t-shirts are awesome.
My favorite: A lot of Blogs are boring…
Second to the Obama shirts.
What about a remarkable shirt for the kids? “Another remarkable”
I made my own t-shirts on Spreadshirt … “Single Mama for Obama” You can find it on my site if you click my link above.
LOVE the GOA!
i 2nd the long sleeve t’s, also looser fits too
Great shirts!! I’m ordering two RIGHT NOW.
I want to see AJ in this
https://gardenofawesome.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/Article/Index/article/mens-lightweight-goa-t-shirt-3313867
…as he is *truly* a flower in Matt’s Garden of Awesome.
:: rolling on floor, cracking self up ::
My bud suggestd shirts that say “The Mn” or “The Mpls” or “The Burbank”, etc.
Hope sales are swift!
I am going to have to get a shirt soon, but I can’t decide if I want the Flower of Awesome or Robots for Obama. Tough decision when bills just keep on coming. hehe
For those of you with blogs… You can get a widget for the “Garden of Awesome” here:
http://thesiegelfiles.blogspot.com/2008/09/attn-bloggers-matt-logelin-fans.html
Thanks to my husband for all the time he put into this!
Thanks Kate and hubby. I put mine up!!
Any word on if we can get Long sleeves??
Long sleeved for the northerners?
Robots for Obama? LOVE IT!
Matt, I too have been reading since the Trib article, and now I will definitely join the community by buying a Robot for Obama shirt.
I’m just sorry I didn’t have one to wear when the RNC was in St. Paul last week. And dear stranger/friends: do say hello if you see me on the street wearing one!
@AJ & Matt: Thanks for all the awesome new stuff at the store! I guess it’s no surprise which shirt I’ve chosen…
http://219297.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/Article/Index/article/robot-love-3461810