Image via Juanjo Valverde
You’ll never catch me donating my precious homegrown tomatoes to La Tomatina, a giant food fight that’s held in Buñol, Spain on the last Wednesday of every August. Still, it must be a pretty bizarre and amazing experience, and I’d certainly rather be pelted with relatively soft, ripe tomatoes than with oranges, as they throw in Ivrea during Carnival.
Raw tomato sauce, anyone?
Ooh, this looks interesting: the Sharpie liquid pencil. Made from “liquid graphite” and introduced on the company blog earlier this month, it’s been making its way through the Internet at a fairly rapid clip.
The idea, one gathers, is that it’s initially erasable, then becomes permanent with time. How much time is unclear; some sources are saying 24 hours, others give you up to three days. (“But unlike a Sharpie permanent marker, you will always be able to erase it to some degree,” according to a company update.)
The liquid pencil will be available in the US in September, though there’ve already been a couple of sightings at Office Depot. Have you tried it?
Welcome to my new favorite office supply: shredder scissors.
I had no idea such a thing even existed until I went to the MoMA store to pick up a Muji file box and saw this pair among the desk accessories. In the end, I opted for a cheaper model on Amazon, and I am very happy with the purchase.
The idea is pretty straightforward — there are 5 parallel blades that cut thin strips as you close the scissors.
Obviously, it’s not something you’d want to use to shred a 60-page document. But it’s absolutely ideal for shredding things like credit card solicitations and whatever other scraps of paper you want to keep private. (Which is great if, like me, you’ve chucked your big electric shredder deep into your basement since it takes up too much space in your office.)
I imagine there are also plenty of crafting applications if you wanted to fringe the edge of a card, or even make your own confetti.
Whoa, this is pretty incredible: the Telegraph has a new picture gallery of Brazilian-born carpenter Dalton Ghetti’s remarkable pencil sculptures. From a boot, a button, and a saw to an entire miniature alphabet, the sculptures themselves are mind blowing. Even more amazing, according to the accompanying text:
Dalton uses three basic tools to make his incredible creations – a razor blade, sewing needle and sculpting knife. He even refuses to use a magnifying glass and has never sold any of his work, only given it away to friends.
Dalton, if you’re reading this — any chance we can be friends? I’ll ply you with Rhodia pencils, and send you all the notebooks you want…
Via BoingBoing.
I’ve long had an inordinate fondness for X-Acto knives. Partly that’s because I love the design of the cheapo one I’ve owned since high school, whose serrated blade tucks into a green plastic case and can be nipped off whenever it’s dull:
Partly it’s because of how well-suited the X-Acto is to its tasks. I don’t do anything particularly fancy with mine, but it’s still satisfying to own an instrument that can cut through heavy paper with such ease. I recently bought a more expensive one to cut a mat for a vintage lithograph I picked up in Austria and wanted to give to a friend.
The print, in case you’re interested, is a 19th-century reproduction of a 16th-century poem (whose first two lines seem to date back to the middle ages) called “Der Fischer,” or the fisherman. (Click through to see a larger version.)
After I matted and framed it, I had a lot of fun trying to track down the names of all of the fishes. I grew up in a land-locked state, and I’ll admit that “Gudgeon” is as foreign a word to me in English as “Grundel” is in German, but I did enjoy learning about the Huchen, or Danube salmon…
I confess: I am an inveterate yard sale, junk shop, used bookstore, antique store, tag sale, estate sale, flea market shopper. I am forever on the lookout for the lost treasure–hidden from all eyes but mine. I have often wondered what attracts me…and with no other outstanding answer, have put it down to the love of the smell of old paper; an appreciation of objects and people that have been a part of history; and a hopeless hope to find at least one piece of the family silver. My uncle sold it decades ago, and I have always mourned its loss.
Each year the Orient, NY Congregational Church (founded in the early 19th c.) sponsors a yard sale featuring old books in excellent condition. Working for a stationery company, I am always on the lookout for old agendas, diaries and journals. On Saturday I went home with my latest find: The Wanamaker Diary 1937. My book is unmarked. There’s a mystery – someone kept it all these years.
The Wanamaker Diary was issued by Wanamaker’s Department Store, Broadway & 8th Street, in Manhattan. Intended as a recordkeeping book and souvenir, it is crammed with information, advice, and facts about New York, including seating charts for theaters and stadiums in the city. It has whole sections on astronomy, astrology, legal holidays, receipts and payments pages. Ads, of course! Each page is numbered. The binding is perfect and the pages have a slight tinge of yellow. Only its charm betrays its age.
I particularly enjoyed this piece of trivia on the page for January 19/20: “The paper on which Bank of England currency is printed is made from white linen rags, formerly obtained from English shirts when discarded. Today, however, practically every Englishman wears colored shirts. The result is foreign shirts, mostly from France, where white linen is still genteel, are relied upon in the making of bank notes. The worn out shirt of a French peasant is sent to the Laverstoke mill and turned into Bank of England notes.”
Wanamaker’s Department Store was founded in Philadelphia in 1887. Wanamaker’s sent buyers overseas to Europe to scout for the latest trends and luxuries. They expanded to New York City in 1896. News of the Titanic’s sinking was transmitted to Wanamaker’s wireless station on the roof of the New York store and given to anxious crowds waiting outside. A famous landmark in Manhattan, the store was razed by fire in 1956, 34 years after the death of its founder, John Wanamaker.
The Wanamaker Diary was printed by Cary Press Corporation, 406 West 31st Street, New York. That’s just two blocks from where I work at Exaclair. I’ll have to walk over this week and see who’s there.
Another thing I came across in the woods last weekend: a 9-inch long feather from a Canada goose. I’ve got no experience with knives outside my kitchen, but I’m nonetheless very tempted to try to make a quill pen with it. Have you ever made one? My last experience with a quill pen — a precut J. Herbin set — wasn’t positive; the line kept splattering and I had to re-dip every two words.
Still, the lure of DIY is strong… I found some pretty detailed instructions online, and I’m thinking about giving it a try.
If you’ve made them before, I’d love to hear your experiences. Did you use a pen knife? Were you handy with knives before you began? How long did it take before you felt comfortable with the whole process?
Thanks!
It’s hotter’n hell in New York, but before the heat wave struck Sunday, I went for a holiday hike near the Monksville Reservoir in Ringwood, New Jersey.
First, we saw a wild turkey running hard in the opposite direction. Then we saw a pile of dung on the trail. Finally, we spotted this beautiful black bear eating blueberries from a nearby patch. She (or he, not that I could tell the difference) didn’t seem to mind being photographed, so I took a couple shots to document the experience.
Afterwards, we even managed to pick a few berries for ourselves… at a safe distance, of course.
Image via Sam Howzit
As we hit beach and barbecue this weekend, here’s a fun bit of trivia to keep in mind: July 2 is really Independence Day.
On July 4, as we all learned in school, the Declaration of Independence was ratified and adopted by the Continental Congress. But it was on July 2, 1776, that we declared our independence; as “research maven” Lisa Gold explains:
On July 2, 1776, the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain when the Continental Congress finally approved (with twelve colonies voting yes and New York abstaining) this resolution:
Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion between them, and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.
To learn more, check out the links and resources at the bottom of Lisa’s post.
Every once in a while, I find something in my office that I can’t believe I still own… this time, it was a box of Caran d’Ache colored pencils from 1991, a commemorative set that was created in honor of the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. I can’t remember if it was a present from my father (who often traveled to Europe for conferences) or something I acquired on a trip to see my German relatives (I think we may have gone for Christmas that year).
I do remember thinking that these pencils were way too special for everyday use — I was 12 or 13 when I got them — so they’re in great condition now, though the case is a bit dinged and scratched. The wood, which I’m guessing is cedar, also smells amazing. The only thing I’m puzzled by is the painting on the front of the box, which depicts a medieval battle scene that in retrospect is perhaps a bit gruesome for product that’s sold to children?
Though it obviously didn’t phase me at the time.
