Archive for Place
May 21, 2008 at 8:34 pm
· Filed under Place
After years of begging, I finally made it to Maya’s house in Vieques this week. Luckily fifteen years of anticipation didn’t spoil the experience, and the island delivered relaxation in a way that only sun, humidity, deserted beaches, a best friend, and a welcoming home can.
There are three stores that I encountered on the island, my favorite of which was La Tienda Verde, where we went most days for 10 oz. cans of Medalla for sipping on the beach. The Green Store also carried other essentials, like this cute denim notebook.
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May 14, 2008 at 8:58 pm
· Filed under Place, Uncategorized
I had the fortunate pleasure of going to see the Philip Johnson Glass House in New Caanan recently. He had the good fortune to be wealthy and to live, add to, and perfect the same property for 50 years of his life. And perfect it was.
This is a picture of his desk, in a secluded library without a bathroom where he was said to work every afternoon. “Work” meant such a different thing then — uninterrupted, without a computer to socialize or procrastinate on. How did you get started “working” without checking email?
The mission of the Glass House as museum is to keep it “living” in the same manor that the house was used — a worthy goal, in my opinion. I do wonder, though, if Philip Johnson really kept things in such neat piles. If so, I’m impressed.
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April 27, 2008 at 6:43 pm
· Filed under Object, Place
During my time off between jobs, I’ve kind of felt like I’m on maternity leave, but without a baby. When I’m not working, I lunch around the neighborhood, go to yoga, all the things the moms do. I feel like once I finally do have a baby, maybe I’ll be that much closer to having the hang of it (though I bet most parents would say the baby is the hard part…).
In contrast, this week Alex and I took a vacation to the Cape that felt like retirement, without retiring. Everywhere we went, everyone was ruddy-faced and over 70. Nowhere was this more true than the golf course, where we spent more time than I’m comfortable admitting.
Though none of us knew it in the 20 years before Alex came along and pointed it out, my parents’ house is 5 minutes away from two great public golf courses. I am nowhere near good enough at golf to understand the mysteries of what makes a “good course”, but I do know a good golf pencil when I see it, and Dennis Pines and Dennis Highlands delivered.
Note the lovely primary colors, the lack of eraser (pointless because they never work on the glossy golf cards, and ugly on such a short instrument), and the bold, Gotham-y type. Perfect (unlike my game).
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April 17, 2008 at 9:51 am
· Filed under Brand, Place
They are well gussied up and according to Shin, will be sold in Japanese in design stores, not your average Bob Slate down the street. Japan is certainly one country which gives office supplies their just due as objects of desire.
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March 2, 2008 at 8:40 pm
· Filed under Object, Place
This past week in California I stayed in five different hotels. During the night after night of packing and unpacking, I set out in a quest to see whether any of the otherwise nice hotels I stayed in would distinguish themselves by leaving a halfway-decent giveaway pen in the room. Often these are the crappiest of ballpoints, and I leave them behind.
What I found instead was four instances of spare, earthy-seeming black pencils. They solve the problem of a giveaway that is both cheap and nice-looking, but the resurgence of the non-mechanical pencil (which I welcome) raises a long-forgotten issue: that of sharpening.
The conference I went to, which also jumped on this bandwagon with its giveaway, offered electric sharpeners in the lobby for use between sessions. For that and for many other details that make their machine so well-oiled, I applaud TED for their thoughtfulness.
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January 14, 2008 at 10:29 pm
· Filed under Brand, Place
I spent this weekend in Los Angeles, hearing stories from a generation of designers who know a bit more than I about life. Their stories from the past and optimism about the future was as welcome as the sunshine I found there.
I had a present to drop off with each of them, and I found gift bags made from Japanese newspaper at my favorite shop: Soolip in West Hollywood (the bird above welcomes you to their Web site). The natural wood shelving, sunlight serenity, and vaguely Asian styling has LA written all over it. Among the many gems there I found notebooks with Hugo Guiness poppies on the front, by Marie Papier.
I returned today to the snow in Boston; a cold, messy January day that had me out of the house for only a minute. I spent this evening thinking about how I want my home to look, and found that many of the pictures I’d noted in magazines over the past year were of homes in Marin County.
I think I’ve brought home more of California than I thought.
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December 15, 2007 at 3:13 pm
· Filed under Memory, Place
[[Age 20]]
Was when I studied in Paris, and spent class hours coveting Sarah M.’s filofax, only to find this beautiful store where I could buy my own. The best part about Filofaxes is all of their inserts — maps, timetables, pockets. It gives the illusion that, given enough time to build up the appropriate collection, All The Answers can be found in one book.
In the end, the Filofax proved too much of a commitment for me; it’s sturdy leather designed to last a lifetime didn’t allow me enough chances to buy new planners. But it was fun while it lasted.
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December 5, 2007 at 9:31 pm
· Filed under Memory, Place
[[Age 31, and also 8]]
I’d like to add myself to the many who have blogged about the gem called Au Petit Bonheur La Chance in the Marais, in Paris. Though I am neither a lover of antiques nor of kitchen collectibles, I do have a huge heart for anything French, and was delighted by their collection of old stationery.
Especially this “While You Were Out” pad, which now sits by my phone at work.Back in the days when I would go to Woolworth’s and buy carbon paper receipt books to play store, pink While You Were Out message pads were another “form I wish I had reason to fill out for real” favorite. Now that I have a real job with real voicemail, I can celebrate my legitimate need with this lovely pad.
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November 3, 2007 at 3:15 pm
· Filed under Place
This summer we went to Scandanavia for a wedding of Rhode Islanders. Most of them were a bit dismayed that we weren’t in Newport, but they managed to drink their way through it.
There were a million pretty design stores filled with housewares everywhere. Since we just bought a new house, it was fortuitous timing. Yet most of them didn’t include any paper, office supplies, or stationery. Only Ordning & Reda, my one and only, the inspiration for much of my paper-bound passion, calls itself “Swedish Paper and Design”.
It got me thinking about whether paper and office supplies are truly part of the world of “design”. I’d like to argue, “yes”.
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October 28, 2007 at 8:45 pm
· Filed under Place
This week I had the pleasure of visiting the Shibuya branch of Seibu’s Loft, a true contender for my favorite stationery store in the world. The first time I discovered it, Alex and I were on our first big travel adventure together in 2000. I was so overwhelmed I felt like I was on acid; he had to leave me there by myself and come pick me up later.
This time I kept it together a little better, but still managed to pick up and put down almost every item in the store.
The picture is of the pen aisle; one of the best I’ve ever seen.
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