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Archive for the ‘curiosities’ Category

Delivery is all about Finding the Right Transport

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Written by kirkistan

February 21, 2014 at 10:10 am

All social behavior is reciprocal

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My basic argument [is] that social life is partly economics and partly theater…. There are few cultural universals, but anthropologists agree that all societies are stratified and that all social behavior is reciprocal.

–Edgar H. Schein, Helping (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008)

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Written by kirkistan

February 18, 2014 at 8:49 am

Darling, let us now speak of love (Jacques Derrida)

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Or shall we speak of death?

Allow Mr. Derrida to dampen any small flicker of emotion you may still retain.

Oh, philosophers: You romantic…bunch.

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via Biblioklept

Written by kirkistan

February 14, 2014 at 1:23 pm

Posted in curiosities, philosophy

Tagged with ,

St. Paul: Still Cold

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Written by kirkistan

February 10, 2014 at 10:04 am

Turn Up the Heat

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Written by kirkistan

February 8, 2014 at 11:33 am

“Nothing Cheers Me…Like a Great Pair of Ears”

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I like reading blogs because…detail02072014-6a01053560de5d970b01a51161bf2d970c-250wi

In regular life you might never hear the word combinations that people reveal in blogs. Bloggers can answer questions you’d never dream to ask—and suddenly you are enriched by some comment outta nowhere.

Like this quote (above) from Roz Wound Up.

I recently started following Roz Wound Up, a Minneapolis artist/sketcher/writer (designer/illustrator/teacher at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts) because of the detail she includes about how she practices her craft. A few days back she wrote a fascinating post about the ethics of sketching people in public. Hint: wear a large duck-billed hat so people cannot see your eyes. Today’s delightful post fixates on ears:

I’ve been watching tattoo shows again—Best Ink is the one that’s on right now. It was late, the day had been a complete wash up. Then this kid was standing there being judged on the show and I simple fell in love with his ears.

Read any of her posts and you’ll find in yourself a growing affection for pens and paper and seeing. Specifically:

  • Pentel Pocket Brush Pen
  • Fabriano Tiziano (8.5 x 11 inch sheet of cream)
  • And this: the way the pen feels going across the paper. Especially that.

I once thought a pen was a pen and paper was just something you grabbed from the drawer on the copier (and money’s just something you throw off the back of a train—thanks for sticking that in my brain, Tom Waits).

No longer. Sketching is a sensual art. Maybe seeing is too. The focus of Roz Wound Up has piqued my interest. And with the little sketching I’ve done I’ve started to have a sense of the way my pencil graphite feels across the fine tooth surface of my sketch pad. Now seeing has a sensual element—it’s something I do with a pencil and paper in hand.

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Seeing rocks. I hope to do more of it.

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Image credit: Roz Wound Up, Kirk Livingston

Yesterday’s Future Looked Tippy

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Written by kirkistan

February 4, 2014 at 9:09 am

Posted in curiosities

This Weekend: Superb Owl

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Will you be dancing to the rockabilly stylings of…

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Oh. Wait. I misread my calendar.

Super Bowl.

Of course you’ll be there: Commercials!

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Image credit: via semilost

Written by kirkistan

January 31, 2014 at 8:50 am

Now #SOTU is a Spectator Sport

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My Friend, With Whom I Disagree

Listening to Mr. Obama’s speech last night while following Twitter was a brand new thing for me—and much invigorating (so tweetful). To respond to phrases and gestures in real-time, and to see other responses, felt like I was hearing the speech in a room crowded with passionate and at times silly people.

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GOP friends got all huffy and defensive and exercised:

While the other side went self-congratulatory:

What pleased me most was the rapid-fire dissenting opinions and funny stuff happening right before my eyes—in a way that actually helped me pay attention to the words. I like hearing both sides in real-time.

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Image credit: @nick_pants via latimes

Written by kirkistan

January 29, 2014 at 9:25 am

Too cold for school. Just right for fishing.

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What to do at -15 degrees F.

It's not playing hooky if they call school off.

It’s not playing hooky if they call school off.

Lovely plywood.

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Image credit: Kirk Livingston

Written by kirkistan

January 27, 2014 at 7:17 am