It seems a strange tradition, to bake a cake and light it on fire to celebrate one’s day of birth. But there it is — it’s a widespread occurrence, and one can’t help but wonder how far back it goes or how it came about. Maybe it originated in a busy farm culture, where the…
Tag: Sherpadoo
Bad Table
When considering something you’re going to use, it is usually worth it to spend the extra money to get something of good quality. It’s worth paying a little extra to have that really nice chair, or the comfortable pants, or a warm coat. But while price can be a reasonable surrogate for quality, it is…
BOOKHUNT: Better Book Design
I’m on the 3rd book of Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen Series. The first two books, Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates were rich reading experiences. But the books are long, and a lot happens in them. They are the kind of books where you can figure out what else happened or…
Visual Riddles: Spain – The Tree of Shoes
I had been walking for quite some time. By this point, I’d been walking, through Spain, for about a little over a month. By this point, I was used to walking all day without seeing anyone else. And while I was used to seeing signs of people, I didn’t really see too much of other…
The Salad Bowl and the Drying Rack
If you look for pictures of “salad bowl on a drying rack,” there is a good chance you will find pictures of salad bowls, and pictures of drying racks, but you are not likely to find any pictures of salad bowls ON a drying rack. WHY? Because you shouldn’t do it. Not really. Because people…
Rubber Spatula Design
I am often shocked when I enter another human’s kitchen to find that they do not own a rubber spatula. Growing up, it seemed an essential tool in my mother’s kitchen doings. The rubber spatula, more than any other kitchen item, allowed for the reduction of waste. Perhaps you don’t think that ‘waste’ is an…
my house versus a bus
Life can be full of the unexpected. I was never expecting to work on the tree ambulance, or to be poisoned by a potato, or to get a soup recipe from Mr. T. I was never expecting an egg to dangerously explode by a camp fire, nor was I expecting to almost get a Hungarian…
Meditations on the Role of the Raisin in our Daily Lives
Most people don’t think much about raisins. So long as they are found in the right cookie and stays out of the wrong cookie; so long as they sit in the peanut butter on the celery or continue to be effectively motivate lab animals; so long as their prices to not fluctuate to a great…
The Bonus Banana: Pleasant Surprises, Forseeable Failures, and Growing Up
One day, when I was heading home from work, I was putting my coat on and was surprised and pleased to find a banana in the inside pocket. I’d completely forgotten about it, and now I had a snack for the way home. Then I thought: “This was such a nice surprise… Maybe it would…
Polite Signs above a Toilet
It’s a tricky thing, to take a picture of a strange bathroom situation. You definitely don’t want to be the guy taking pictures in the bathroom. But sometimes there is something so good, it needs to have its picture taken. That piece of graffiti, or that sign on the toilet. Like this one: What a…
Outcast Crayon
There’s no accounting for the things you might find on the ground. And that’s why it’s worth looking. Not long ago I was in Beaverton, Oregon, when I noticed a single crayon at the foot of a park bench. Now that, in and of itself, may be of no great import, but it was the…
BOOKHUNT: Special Sections, Finding Treasure, and Things that Aren’t from Space
Growing up, I was notorious for having bad luck on my brother’s birthday. I usually sustained some kind of damage to my face, which was the result of various things, including cement at high velocity and a golf club to the eye. It seems to be something that I more or less grew out of…