obama, out and about

"Our destiny is not defined for us, it is defined by us."

-Barack Obama, 

during yesterday's speech

 in La Crosse, WI.

That and these just made by day. 

it's autumn in gothenburg

Autumn arrives, and I realize I must never neglect to appreciate the changings, the endings, the beginnings...The crisps of red beneath my racing feet echo in the pulsing of my heart. 

She said it was all make-believe, but I thought she said maple leaves, and when she talked about the fall, I thought she talked about the season, I never understood at all...Oh Jens. 

of loss

Dusty spines, basemented and boxed away, are rediscovered by their owner, And suddenly the memories come like the tides, A flood of pastimes now idealized, The driftwood of childhoods lost to the cruelty of time... 

I long for a time that was never there, As my ear melts into carpet, listening for the tiniest voice, Of my lost little self, of any hope for the present, So that I may rise above this torrential stagnation, And actually believe that the strings of a tin-can telephone still work.

But I cling to these inanimates because often humans are inadequate. And when weathered bones start to crumble, I'll reach for the void of a chicken soup human, But instead end up buried, Drowning in spines.

Life is of loss and let-downs...I guess this is growing up.

what is good?

Outside the windshield of the mini-van, on our way to the AGI conference in Chicago. Gradient type. Helvetica? This was gooood. 

Is this good? no. Is that good? maybe.

Travelodge's signature Sleepy Bear luscious lathering body wash. This is SO good.
A page of my notes from a day of design lectures. Now I'm not so sure what's good. 
Money shots, spotted on the mean streets of Chicago. Now these, these are GREAT.

ethics and ethnospheres

Dear president/miss/mister/lady/ lord/son/daughter/brother/ sister/mother/father: please consider for a moment the universality of the ethic of reciprocity, and please allow me to introduce you to this man:

Ethnographer, photographer, writer, filmmaker, and official National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Wade Davis! He is truly one of the most thought provoking characters I have cyber-met in a while. Watch his TED talk above and listen to his recent interview on MPR, wherein he discusses zombies, his travels, and the beauty of humanity's commonalities and diversities...

Humanity's greatest legacy is the "ethnosphere," the cultural counterpart to the biosphere, and "the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions, brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness." -Wade Davis from TED

a toast to martha & friends

Ah, Martha, how I do admire your khaki safari outfits and your unwillingness to accept anything less than perfection. Special thanks to DJ Manwich for making off with these amazing VHS's for me. This thanks is long overdue.
Oh! And on the subject of toast & friends, Miss Ellie Reynolds is blogging! Check it out, yo. Good Things are sure to be a-brewing in the Toaster Oven. 

i want to

Dont you want to?Say you want to.Don't you want to?

ambient awareness

One of the most beautiful spreads I have seen in awhile, with illustrations by Peter Cho and a corresponding article that made me feel like a total friendless loser for refusing to get a Facebook account: "Social scientists have a name for this sort of incessant contact. They call it "ambient awareness." It is, they say, very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood through the little things he does–body language, sighs, stray comments–out of the corner of your eye..."
"In 1998, the anthropologist Robin Dunbar argued that each human has a hard-wired upper limit on the number of people he or she can personally know at one time...psychological studies have confirmed that human groupings naturally tail off at around 150 people: the 'Dunbar number,' as it is known. Are people who use Facebook and Twitter increasing their Dunbar number, because they can so easily keep track of so many more people?"

If I had a Facebook, would I be less shy? Are we losing our appreciation for the simple joy of conversation? Face to face with another human, over steaming cups of tea? I feel guilty for being too busy to enjoy moments such as these...

hanging in there

In a quiet corner of the MCAD library, I find these enchanting remnants of hobbies past. Apparently mobiles were big in 1966...

The most important thing, they say, is finding the balancing point, because if one side is imbalanced, the whole mobile is disrupted, and even the gentlest breeze can walk by and the mobile is thrown into tangles. A mobile waits, suspended, on the lookout for a breeze, its limbs hanging from such transparent strings. They say a mobile must be fully dismantled in order for true balance to be achieved. But for now it seems best, to let it rest, and try to find some thicker strings, or perhaps its best to have no strings at all.

the puppy post

The Four Little Puppies story book, kindly lent to me by Ms. Kindra Murphy, reminds me of a Grand McNally Elf Book classic, the adventures of Yip & Yap! After some grasstime & storytime, I promise Otto that I will never make him dress in such ridiculous costumes.