VT (for all of my design-obsessed peeps)

photocourtesyoflulalola.com Peeps, This week's peep-show ends today with the clothespin; if you do not recognize this object, it may be for a variety of reasons.  Chances are that you have never shopped at an old-fashioned hardware store(s) (like Cherrydale Hardware in Arlington, VA or Brown's Hardware in Falls Church, or a variety of others where the mom-and-pop business model is real/nurtures community spirit/provides individualized service unmatched by the big-box stores where help is generally non-existent, and the few good employees who show up after the training period is completed, usually crumble from over-exhaustion and excessive responsibility so that at the first chance they leave for greener pastures; yes, in spite of the so-called benefits and retirement plan.  Only a 501 or 601K could have kept them coming back week after week). Another reason for not recognizing the humble clothespin may be that you are not truly a design-addict like some fashion and inte...

phorocourtesy3-dArt Peeps, The theme of this week's visual treat is 'Everyday Objects of Extraordinary Design,' and the spoon is our featured object today.  It seems that yesterday's posting which was devoted to the mirror (or looking glass) surprised many new visitors to our blog, as well as some veteran peeps who may have been wondered at the quite liberal creative license I took in composing the narrative.  I sincerely believe that acknowledgment and inclusion of our differences ultimately shapes the manner in which one's image in the mirror is initially perceived and then embraced. In addition to being creatures of habit, we communicate and construct our world through our senses, of which vision/sight is critically essential (or we learn to depend on the other senses which for our continued survival must be honed to a finer degree of sensitivity for receiving and transmitting information to the brain).  If we see someone like us, that makes us more comfo...

photocourtesygilygily.com Peeps, Today's visual treat, of a boy examining his reflection in the mirror, says so much .  For some at 11 or 12, maybe 13 or 14, the person staring back at you from the mirror is not the person you had expected to see, or wanted to be.  The body starts stretching itself, as well as adding bulk to a frame which will gradually evolve into the man or woman whose chances of being smart, pretty/handsome, successful, passionate, disciplined, talented, and so forth are a combination of genes, environment, and pure luck.  Equally possible are the chances of being a slouch/sloth/slut/spud/spade/ sod and so forth; however to mitigate and prevent this unwanted personal development which adds very little to the quality of one's life, most concerned parents usually step in and do the wonderful and sometimes thankless job called parenting which they vowed to undertake somewhere between conception and your birth.  Yet some kids regardless of th...

photocourtesythealteredartstore.com Peeps, Last week's visual treats devoted to Haute Couture inspired by flora elicited many responses from readers.  This one was particularly moving:  We had a tiny old lady seamstress that would make clothes for us in Lebanon, it gave me a chance to be my own dress designer for lots less than off the rack. Sadly, Rosa was hit by a shell during the 20 yrs. war & died. She was such a cute little old lady, & made her living with her ancient talented hands! Today's visual treat is the brown paper-bag, an everyday object of extraordinary design, and hopefully an object which will be utilized in even greater numbers as we question our actions  and values, more closely examine our decisions, and become more socially and environmentally conscious.  Can we ask more of ourselves, our systems of commerce, transportation and production, as well as task our elected and appointed systems of governance and representation with p...

photocouresyaimmission.org Peeps, The humble lead pencil can be used in many ways other than to which it was originally intended, such as: chopstick(s), garden stake, sundial, a measuring device, instrument of torture/hypnosis/pleasure/ hygiene, a door stop, etc etc, but most importantly it is the primary writing instrument or art medium in the world, and its surprisingly simple construction is a  narrow, solid pigment (usually graphite or charcoal or  crayon)  core inside   a protective casing (usually wood).    Invented sometime around 1550 in Cumbria, England.  The design of the lead pencil (called lead, however it is graphite) has remained virtually unchanged, other than the addition of a eraser at the end in 1858 by Hymen Lipman.    As children, we all learned our alphabet by copying, memorizing, recognizing the sounds that corresponded to symbols that when compounded in a string of two, three, or four clumsily drawn ...