Tauba Auerbach and Cameron Mesirow

I saw these videos on Root Blog, another noteworthy place to visit. These lovely ladies remind me of artists from the 1920s, like Lyubov Popova and Varvara Stepanova, whose collaborations moved through different media to create a unique perspective of the world and its possibilities. I also love that Ida Falck Øien's costumes relate to their collaboration, forcing each to rely on the other to dress. Those shoes are dreamy.

Blog of Note: But Does it Float

But Does it Float is a blog filled with amazing imagery and links to even more. Just look what I found there!

David Bazan Covers Vic Chestnutt

This song is so beautifully written.

Classy? Well, not really...but they'd go well with these:

or these things, which seem to be sold everywhere:


But it all begs the question: is this design? I know it's supposed to be cheeky and referential, a meme of sorts...but those original plastic objects were DESIGNED with elements that made them stackable, sturdy, easy to hold and lightweight. I am still in awe of the original designs because they met their purposes to the highest degree. For once, I'm in favor of the plastic versions.

Derick Melander

Derick Melander makes sculptural pieces from folded used clothing. I'd love to see him work with Jean Shin:

Square

Square is a plug in device that allows you to complete credit card transactions on iPhones, iPads and other smartphones. WOAH. After dealing with two clunky web-based merchants, I am totally dazzled with this new option. Not that I currently have an iPad or a business that sells things, but I'm keeping this one in the files anyways.

The interface looks really clean and simple, and it helps you keep all of your transactions in one place. Check out the video... don't be too alarmed by the guy's creepy tone. SQUARE WILL BE EVERYWHERE but it's an okay thing.

Letting Others Do the Cleaning

Areca palm

English ivy

Dwarf date palm

Boston fern

Janet Craig dracaena

Australian sword fern

Peace lily

Rubber plant

Weeping fig

I've been busy, to say the least. I am hoping these plants will do some of the dirty work and clean up the air in my apartment. I'm much too busy bumbling around and sticking my finger in the wind for a sense of direction. Interesting article here. Thanks, NASA!

Chemical Heritage Foundation Kaleidoscopes

These kaleidoscopic images are blowing my mind! I wish I could show the close-ups - you can zoom in on the images on the CHF website to see each individual Bakelite button, light bulb and miscroscope. I wish every museum would sift through its collections to do something along these lines. It's fun and instills curiosity about some of the more mundane objects in the CHF's immense collection of scientific ephemera. Way to go, guys!

Red Hot

Crazy for Music

I like music, you know? But there's something about music-related tschotchkes that just baffles me. I mean, come on:




On the other hand, I love this image:


I feel like my grandparents would send a card with this image on it. I have one with cats, fully dressed, eating cookies. Divine!

Aaliyah Cover

I saw this video on the REFERENCE LIBRARY blog. Nice!

Love Notes

The other evening on the crowded train home, I stood by a man reading a note written on graph paper. What caught my eye was the kisses - three sets of mocha lipmarks dotted the page that was already jam-packed with text. The man looked like he was re-reading it, thinking about each sentence as he went along. It must have been a good one.

I thought about the ways we communicate now as compared with the pre-internet/SMS era, and I remembered the letters my grandmother wrote to my grandfather while he was on the road. It wasn't what they talked about, but the tone and intimacy of the written words, spelled out fully and thoughtfully in handwriting on old stationery. I am sure this man on the train would not have taken the same pleasure from an email version of this letter, even if there were kisses attached in a PDF.

A Comforting Phrase

Until this weekend, the term “Rest in Peace” never meant so much to me. In reading the inscription on gravestones, the abbreviated version seemed even harder to understand – I’d just read it as “rip,” which conjured up images of torn cloth and dismembered limbs. It felt all wrong to me.

But in learning of my great-uncle’s passing, someone said those words and for the first time they knocked the wind right out of me. I sighed and crumpled over as I finally understood what they meant to me. For a man who had so much trouble sleeping – and eating, and breathing, for that matter – it was so relieving to know that he would finally be comfortable.

We are not a religious family, and we instinctively cringe when people say things like “We are praying for you!” and “May God have mercy!” Phrases like this assume so much. “Rest in Peace,” on the other hand, is not a religious sentiment. It doesn’t mention the great beyond, nor the great nothingness, but instead emphasizes that the person’s demise brings them a level of comfort they couldn’t have here. It acknowledges a basic human desire – of finding rest when exhausted – that I think everyone can understand.

REST IN PEACE

Resolutions

1. GET BETTER AT CARDS
- writing cards, keeping in touch
- playing cards

2. LEARN HARMONICA?

Question mark because I'm not sure I can really follow through with that one...but this man promises to be my guide:

Saying Goodbye to the Ghost

Last week they announced that one of my neighborhood buses would be discontinued. I was a little heartbroken, but also strangely relieved.

I called it the Ghost Bus because it appeared out of nowhere, mostly when you least expected it. It threw timetables to the wind and showed up five minutes early when it felt like it (or was it fifteen minutes late?). Once on the bus, you'd see the same characters every time. The bus driver, the lady with the little kid, the housecleaner dragging her vacuum and rolling suitcase full of supplies, and the couple who took the bus only one block. Old ladies heading to the senior center or hospital were there in the front, moving gingerly as the driver waited for them to be seated. I liked these characters and I will miss their silent company.

In a way, it was time for me to let go of the Ghost Bus. It was like a bad boyfriend - it promised to be there and then wasn't, always letting me down at critical moments. But like a bad boyfriend, I still romanticize it a little. The Ghost Bus was quieter, faster, and hobo-free. It was a natural gas bus, not one of the electrics that rely on those antennae, so it swept along with no trouble.

I take the other buses now, looking out at the buildings whose facades I memorized long ago before I tried the Ghost Bus. I listen to people try out all of the ring tones on their phones, testing each one to make sure they are choosing a ring that matches their personality. The faces here are sometimes familiar, but there are no regulars. I am not even a regular on these buses, now that they come with greater frequency. It makes me think about the way people in other areas wait for trains or buses - do they take the same comfort in seeing familiar faces on their commutes?