it's autumn in stockholm

Because I cannot afford the real Stockholm, I awoke this morning and embarked on a pilgrimage of sorts, to the lovely little town of Stockholm, Wisconsin, population 97. The fresh fresh air blew through my hair as I drove down winding roads, and the vibrant hues of mid-autumn were out in all their glory...
There were racks of blue bikes to ride, but considering the town's size, I chose to meander on foot.
The storefronts were garnished with hand-painted signs, and everything was covered in lady bugs (or asian beetles...apparently they are considered as pests). I especially liked this piece of pie, because it looks like a face who has just lost its cherry nose.

I happened upon a cozy cottage filled with old-world delights and cotton candy floors, wherein I purchased this beautiful antique tin for tea.
I also met my fairy grandfather, who sold me squashes from the back of his truck and let me wear his hat for a time.
Stockholm was discovered by a certain Eric Peterson back in 1851. It was settled by Swedish immigrants. Hence the name. There was even an Ingebretsens! 
Goodbye Stockholm! The drive home was filled with ideas and introspections, and some fairly unfortunate roadkill. Poor little possum, you had so much life ahead of you.

of remembering

I attempted to recreate a moment from my childhood in a symbolic effort to remember the moment better. An old photograph was broken down into 862 pixels, and I then set forth to recreate the image, pixel by pixel, in three sections, using only my memory of the original photograph as a guide. The inaccuracies of the final outcome are a reminder that time forever marches on, clocks continue to tick, and those carefree days of my childhood will continue to overlap and distort, until the day when they all blow away...I cannot dwell in my past, yet the dwelling seems important now as my days get older and darker, for these memories serve as souvenirs of what was once happy and carefree. 

After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the artist William Utermohlen attempted to understand the losing of his mind through a series of self portraits. "The paintings starkly reveal the artist's descent into dementia, as his world began to tilt, perspectives flattened, and details melted away." Read and see the series here. 

symmetrical cicadas

Two dead insects from my collection, just hanging out and shaking their groove things (yeah yeah). 

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?