After almost a year of living in my “no-longer-new” apartment, I finally got around to checking out my storage unit. Expecting an empty concrete floor, I was disappointed to find it full of junk from previous tenants of yesteryear. Peering closer, I noticed this frame peeking out from the rubble! Time to get a canvas and make a painting…
What are some things that you’ve found among someone else’s (or your own) discarded items?
Some days, putting away type feels like a chore; other days, it’s a meditation, a welcome separation from the rest of the things that clutter the mind and heart. All the little words, little sentences, melt away from the stories they told. One at a time, tiny lead forms drop into their slots, waiting to be a part of words for someone else’s poem. For this hour or two, I’ll forget the world, its etiquettes, and the stories I’ve told, and simply mind my p’s and q’s.
I’m visiting my cousin in Brooklyn this week. I took an early flight out of Santa Barbara and connected in Pheonix. During our descent into JFK I captured this sequence using the Miniatures App on my iPhone.
Here’s a still from the video:
And now I’m off to the MOMA.
My new toy! Anyone have advice on replacing the belt?
And yes, that is my wireless router on the right.
Congratulations, NASA. You just landed a one-ton American-made automotive on Mars.
Photo credit to NASA TV, via the NY Times, via Reuters.
Curiosity, the name of NASA’s nuclear powered exploratory rover, touched down on the Martian surface early this morning. For an amazing video showing just how much it took to stick this landing, check out Curiosity’s Seven Minutes of Terror.
Some may criticize the space program as a waste of national resources. To those dissenting voices, I concede that it is important to think critically about how we use the limited resources available to us. However, I also believe that explorations in science, technology, and the arts are all precious elements of culture into which society ought to continue to invest. I want to live in a world full of beauty and nuance in which scientists and engineers, artists and architects, musicians and writers all strive to discover, create, and share new perspectives on what it means to try to love one another on this little blue planet which Buckminster Fuller once called “Spaceship Earth.”
I recently discovered how much I enjoy having flowers in the house. Even a little guy like this can really brighten my morning!
Finally, I’ve finished fixing up the book press. You may remember her condition from this post back in January.
Here’s what she looked like then:
And after much experimenting with WD40, citrus based cleaners, rustoleum, and phosphoric acid, here’s what she looks like today, covered in two coats of clear satin polyurethane:
The first webisode of Ben Shelton’s “FlipSide” just launched on Rainn Wilson’s YouTube channel “SoulPancake.” It’s a weekly series aimed at making you laugh–and then making you think.
Consider checking it out here.
P.S. I’ve also got a piece of my own work featured in the show. Keep your eye out for it!
The following is the fourth in a series of posts. Consider viewing Parts 1, 2, and 3.
After rebuilding the spine and cover, printing new title labels, and adding new endsheets, this copy of Thomas Merton’s Seeds of Contemplation can one again be enjoyed by anyone who happens to pull it off the shelf.
oxfords and grease 