Archive for March, 2008
March 14th
When was the last time you wrote with an actual pencil—the wood-and-graphite variety, not mechanical—the kind you have to sharpen? If you’re anything like me, it’s been a while, perhaps since middle school, even. (I don’t even use mechanical pencils very much anymore, for that matter.)
Well, Karen sent me a couple of Rhodia pencils the other day, and it’s more fun than you might imagine, all thick lines and nostalgia. The bright orange exterior and black wood (it’s dyed linden) were pleasingly distinctive, and the softly triangular shape fit perfectly in my hands.
Unsurprisingly, there are pockets of pencil enthusiasts on the Internet—at the excellent blog Pencil Revolution, for example, Pencil Talk, or at Pencil Pages, a website run by pencil collector Doug Martin.
March 12th
Randy Pausch, the CMU professor whose inspiring “last lecture” became an internet sensation last fall, recently posted the transcript of another talk he gave about time management.
“I think at this point I’m an authority about what to do with limited time,” said Pausch, a 46-year-old father of three with terminal pancreatic cancer.
The talk, very broadly, is about setting goals and priorities to make sure that every minute counts: “Anytime anything crosses your life, you’ve got to ask, ‘This thing I’m thinking about doing, why am I doing it?’” You can read a transcript of the lecture here, watch the video online, or even download it as a podcast.
March 10th
Have you heard that incredible story about the severed, sneaker-clad feet that’ve recently begun to wash up on west coast beaches?
It’s an ominous tale, to be sure, but Canada’s Globe and Mail took the opportunity to write a light-hearted article about some devoted flotsam collectors and the strange things they’ve found over the years. Brian Gisborne, a former fisherman, says he’s found whale harpoons, aircraft wreckage, and a “25-year-old message in a bottle that was tossed by an 83-year-old cruise ship passenger.” In one particular region of the Pacific Ocean just north of Hawaii (known as the “garbage patch”), beachcombers have found hockey gloves, rubber duckies, and running shoes (without feet), many of which have fallen off shipping vessels.
There’s also a fascinating timeline of noteworthy beachcomber discoveries… Read the rest of this entry »
March 7th
Here’s an email we recently received:
I have been a loyal customer for 10 years now. I am becoming more aware of the environmental issues relating to paper use and deforestation, and will be rethinking my purchase of next year’s planner if recycled (not “recyclable”) paper isn’t used in producing it. Please let me know your plans for moving to recycled paper. This would be a major selling point for many customers as well as likely to be highlighted in the media, so a win-win-win solution for the company, customers and our environment. Thank you.
– Emily S., Berkeley, CA
Thank you, Emily, for prodding us to include planners made entirely from recycled paper. This new line - “Equology” - will be available in the U.S. for the 2010 calendar year, possibly sooner.
But Emily, not all recycled paper is good for the environment. Actually, recycling papers can be very toxic when chemicals are used to de-ink the paper. There are a lot of questions we need to ask manufacturers of recycled paper products. It is not enough to say “recycled!”
Read the rest of this entry »
March 6th
I’m taking a last-minute mini-vacation in Montreal this weekend—I’ve never been before, but I’ve heard it’s a really fun city. Anybody have any suggestions about what to do, see, or eat while I’m there? Please let me know in the comments!
March 5th
The San Xavier del Bac Mission, often referred to as the “White Dove of the Desert,” is located near the Santa Cruz River nine miles south of Tucson, Arizona. A Jesuit missionary named Father Kino visited the site in 1692, and would commence construction of the mission seven years later. The Mission was finally completed in 1797.
The mission is a wonderful polyglot of 17th century Spanish, and traditional and modern Tohono O’Odham sacred art and symbols.
Every time I go to visit, like I did this past January, I spend a moment by the entrance looking for the cat and mouse. I squint at the facade to see if we’re any closer to the end of the world.
Carved from a mesquite wood, right by the front door of the church is a small carved frieze of a cat chasing a mouse. It is said that when the cat catches the mouse, the end of the world will be at hand.
March 4th
Brooklyn based artist Katherine Hubbel spent a year photographing everything she threw away “in an effort to better understand what—if anything—our trash says about the way we live.” The photographs were published in the June 2007 issue of Good magazine and are still available online. (I found out about them recently when they were reprinted in Edible Brooklyn.)
Sure makes you stop and think about all the stuff that’s in your own trash, doesn’t it?
March 3rd
Like many people who like to write on paper, I own and use a number of different fountain pens. I go back and forth from my Soennecken, S.J. Dupont, Dunhill, Sailor, Parker 51 and Parker Duofold. I bought a number of them at the fabulous International Pen Show in Washington, DC, Art Brown, and from Sam Fiorella of Pendemonium.
My current favorite is a Yard-O-Led Viceroy. Based on designs from the 19th and 20th centuries, each sterling silver pen is coded to show unique information on its manufacture. Slim, elegant, it feels great in my fingers. I feel like my words and thoughts matter just using it.
If you are interested in all things pen and ink, a wonderful resource is the Fountain Pen Network. Some other resources: Pendemonium, Art Brown, Bill’s Pens, and of course the Yard-O-Led website.
March 1st
The 20th Annual Ostrich Festival will be held March 7-9, 2008 at Tumbleweed Park, near McQueen and Germann Roads in Chandler, Arizona.
Ostrich ranching was once a prominent part of life in Chandler. Chandler and Maricopa counties lead the nation in raising ostriches for their stylish and expensive plumes. To celebrate the city’s rich history as well as provide a first-class community event, the Chandler Chamber of Commerce created the Ostrich Festival in 1989.
The festival served as a backdrop in the 1995 Whitney Houston film, “Waiting to Exhale” and has received international media attention. The festival was also portrayed in a the Harlequin romance title, “Lover Boy.”
The Ostrich Festival will offer a place to experience, eat and purchase all things Ostrich. “Ostrich Alley” has carved ostrich and emu eggs, feathers, stuffed animals and other souvenirs. Visit with Ostival and TuTu LaPlume, the festival mascots. Try an Ostrich Burger, Ostrich Jerkey and fresh Emu Eggs.
