09/03/09: Welcome Nathaniel Diehn!
Nathaniel (Nate) Erik Diehn entered the world 4 weeks early on August 16, 2009! I’m happy to report that Nate is doing well, which apparently doctors track by how many poopy diapers he makes (answer, a lot). We had to accelerate the plan to turn Erik’s office into a nursery and for the first week Nate shared space with a lot of computer equipment and fishing gear. He still shares space with some semi-inappropriate movie posters looming over his crib. My mom was quick to point out that the 007 Goldfinger poster with a scantily clad woman and a learing Sean Connery was not typical nursery decor. He monitors the crib along with a shadowy Godfather and a smoky illustration of Faye Dunaway in Chinatown. At least he’s got good taste…
Updating this blog has made me realize I am a terrible blogger. I think the point of blogs is that they are updated frequently. I can now say with confidence that this will not be the case as I find I have barely a minute to spare each day. Just grooming myself takes immense planning.
Feel free to check in and see how things are going, and I will do my best to at least post more recent pictures of Nate. Some day I will post pictures of his awesome nursery mural—if I ever get to it…
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08/02/09: A Must Attend!
There are a variety of things that rankle me about this poster. An event indicates something important, monumental even. Hand soap on sale does not qualify as an “event.” Why is it the “Great American” Hand Soap Event? As opposed to those other inferior international hand soap events? I think it’s bizarre that the signage seems to imply something patriotic as well, as if buying hand soap is your duty as a proud American. Forget about Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s hand soap that will bring us together. Peace.
Seriously, the creatives who worked on this project should feel slightly ashamed.
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06/05/09: The Power to Persuade
I have long suspected that cell phones and ipods do not actually interfere with airplane equipment. However, I’m willing to comply just in case and because I’m a rule follower by nature. My guess has always been that it’s a scare tactic to get people to shut the hell up and just listen to the announcements. In that same vein, I feel convinced that this sign at my local laundromat is employing the same technique. I imagine that if you worked in a laundromat, you would want to gag all the people yakking on their cell phones. You’d have to listen to the same one-sided conversation over and over: “Yeah, I’m at the laundromat…. Um, I don’t know, about an hour…” If you heard that hundreds of times a day, you too might plot ways to get people to stop talking on their phones. So you brainstorm as you fold a pile of whites… What if I told them that their phones may jeopardize the machines? They would know that broken machines mean a longer stay here (a powerful motivator indeed). Now, how do I disseminate this message? I’ll make a sign! Who cares if it’s true?
Seriously, as one who owns a washer, dryer, and cell phone, I’ve never noticed any conflict amongst these machines. I have, however, wanted to lie to people to get them to stop talking on their phones. So Kleen Machine: I applaud your bold fear-inducing tactic and might just employ it myself next time I’m in a restaurant. I’ll carry a sign that says “No Cell Phone Use. They will affect the quality of the food.”
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05/09/09: Your Bad Ideas=Art
This is seriously a featured work of art in the MOMA’s current Paper: Pressed, Stained, Slashed, Folded exhibit. I only wish I had a photo with the companion pieces, a framed piece of crumpled paper flattened out and a framed piece of flattened folded paper. (I was reprimanded for taking this photo so was unable to snap the rest of Martin Creed’s “art”.) Seriously the Dadaists were right: anything in a museum can be called art no matter how lame it is. The only comfort I take from this piece is that all the times i’ve ripped up and crumpled bad ideas, little did I know I was making art.
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