Microglass
September 30, 2010
The Rakow commission this year went to Luke Jerram, a most interesting choice, and he’s about to unveil it.
I’ve liked Jerram’s work for some time. It’s beautiful, but that’s not hard to do with glass. It’s merging science, technology and art, but that’s not hard to do with glass (or metal), either. At least two artists I admire do something similar, (Andy Paiko and Julian vos-Andreae) and if you’ll check around you’ll find many more.
Jimmy
September 28, 2010
The look Jimmy gave me was both resigned and calculating. “Almost closed…but if you just need a fill, wait ten minutes, OK.” And I meekly took a seat, knowing I’d delay him by a half hour. But this was the only time I had this week, traffic had been awful and my nails were worse.
Obviously, there was a big apology tip in Jimmy’s future.
Fake fingernails are kinda like heroin: Once you’ve got them, you’ve got ‘em for life. Get sloppy on maintenance, and it’ll look like brightly colored beetles are chewing off your fingertips. Or, if you pry the fakes off your real nails, like the beetles finished off the good parts and went looking for dessert.
Handwove
September 25, 2010
Fifteen years after Laurie Herrick died, a bunch of artists are going to try to take up where she left off.
Laurie Herrick was a handweaver who stuck to the traditional loom-and-fabric path even when it was no longer fashionable, becoming one of the finest handweavers of her generation. She made geometric pieces that became part of the op art movement, wove tapestries with landscapes that incorporated wood and whatever else she could find. [Read more]
Blammomones
September 23, 2010
That’s what I’m calling those mysterious, deadly vapors that cause technology to explode. Some people send out blammomones like a skunk sends out stink, and when they do, you can kiss your gadgets goodbye.
Apparently I’ve been infected. It’s my 11th day on a new job and two computers have died horrible deaths in my office.
So far.
“What,” said Lloyd-the-IT-guy, wonderingly, “do you plan to do on Day 12?”
DroidX vs. iPhone: The decision
September 21, 2010
I’m not into suspense today, so I’ll get right to the point: The DroidX (on the left) is now my sole mobile phone, which frankly surprises me.
I thought about posting a bunch of feature comparison charts to show why I chose DroidX over iPhone, detail the myriads of ways that the winner offers a better, more cost-effective smartphone experience. But honestly? It really doesn’t.
In the end, I based my choice on just two words: Better network.
Whooda thunkit?
Backstory
A few weeks ago, disgusted with AT&T once again, I window-shopped at a Verizon wireless store and came home with a DroidX named Derrick. I had a 30-day return warranty from Verizon, so I decided I’d pit DroidX against iPhone and keep using whoever won. It was to be a two-week contest, but AT&T informed me that my contract was actually 30 days longer than I’d thought (long story). Dumping them early would cost big bucks, so I extended the trial to six weeks.
Cupcake supremacy
September 18, 2010
When two blogposts collide, this is what you get. Yum.
Remember awhile back when my friends and I did the cupcake shop review? And when the watermain down the street from my house blew up (literally)?
Guy thing
September 16, 2010
“It was like that when I got it,” he said defensively.
I’d borrowed a keyboard from a colleague, just until mine arrived. Normally Mac keyboards are snowy white things of beauty. This one looked like it had been steeped in an oil well. It was covered in humancrust, and I didn’t want to touch it.
“How long has it been since you got this keyboard?” I asked politely, gazing at the collection of lint, muck and pizza stains peeking out from under the keys.
He flushed. “A year.”
My colleague is sweet, incredibly skilled and smart as a whip. He is also a guy.
Bedbugs? Please say you’re joking.
September 13, 2010
You’ve gotta be kidding. I’m already on the lookout for silverfish, ants, earwigs, yellowjackets, spiders and the occasional mouse. Now I’m supposed to worry about BEDBUGS?
Gimmea break, already.
(I want to HASTILY add that, to the VERY best of my knowledge, my house has never met a bedbug…just in case you were thinking of visiting.)
Lemme ‘splain.
Color the hard way
September 10, 2010
There are perhaps ten cameras, or camera-incorporating devices, in my house right now, from Darius-the-IMPORTANT-camera to the oatmeal box pinhole sitting under my desk. They shoot pretty effortless color–in fact, shooting black-and-white takes a lot more work.
Which tends to make me forget that there was a time when a color photograph was a big honkin’ deal, and it wasn’t all THAT long ago. Nor was it necessarily a cut-and-dried process, i.e., “stick colored film in slot, shoot.” [Read more]
Pop goes da weasel
September 8, 2010
Ever had one of those moments of sheer, utter astonishment, where your mouth drops open all the way down to your ankles and stays there?
That was me on Monday, thanks to the artwork pictured above. The rightmost panel quietly separated itself from its hanger and came off in my hands…while I was rehanging it. Since it’s been hanging perfectly well on that same wall for more than three years, I was, uhm, kinda taken aback.