Minimalism is just another form of conspicuous consumption, a way of saying to the world: ‘Look at me! Look at all of the things I have refused to buy!’
“The lack of critical engagement with the food that we eat demonstrates the extent to which the commodity form has become the primary way in which we perceive the world. We don't go further than what Marx called the ‘exchange value’ of the actual object. We don't think about the relations that object embodies and that were important to the production of that object. [...] That would really be revolutionary; to develop [...] a habit of imagining the relations—the human relations and the non-human relations—behind the objects that constitute our environment."
Angela Davis, in talking about veganism and its ethical extensions
It’s a design for a bar of soap molded into a form allowing worn-down soap slivers to stick into a special groove on a fresh bar. It makes soap easier to use. The bar of soap is infinite.
I never realized how much I’d been struggling to use bars of soap until this moment, and I am proud to give ten dollars to these men who have designed infographics to explain how to use their soap. It is my duty to support such clever and useful things as a young Designer who has ten dollars. I go to sit by the mailbox and await my six bars of soap.
My friend Alyssa tells me “You can do that with any kind of bar soap.”
We found this loose-leaf instructional sheet inserted between the pages of a mid-20th century book shelved for display in one of the pretend apartments at IKEA®. It describes how to initially store and open a brand-new book in traditional leather binding:
How a new book should be kept!
The materials in a new book: paper, cardboard, leather and glue, all contain a lot of moisture. If the book is lying or standing on a table or shelf without support, the covers of the book, no matter how well-bound they are, are prone to bend and become crooked before the book has had time to dry. Drying should preferably happen slowly and with light support.
Therefore place the book on a table or on a shelf
either like this:
Old books New books Old books
or like this:
Old book
New book
Old book
A book that has first been allowed to dry this way will not easily become crooked. Therefore preferebly place your new books as shown for a few months during the time you are not reading them.
How to open a book for the first time!
Place the book with the spine down on the table.
Open the front cover down onto the table.
After that, open the back cover down onto the table.
After that, fold down a few of the pages in the front.
Thereafter a few pages in the back, where after you continue this opening
change between folding the front and back pages down, until you've reached the center of the book.
Do this two or three times to soften the inside binding. If you open the book too roughly or too carelessly, you risk breakng the spine and causing the pages to fall out.
Never bend open a book spine; if it is not opening by itself, it is either too narrow or too tightly bound. It requires a mild touch, the same way a machine requires getting oiled up.
William Matthews, the most famous bookbinder America ever had, tells of the following in his book Modern Bookbinding:
"A connoisseur, many years ago, an excellent customer of mine, who thought he knew perfectly how to handle books, came into my office when I had an expensive binding just bought from the bindery, ready to be sent home: he, before my eyes, took hold of the Volume, and tightly holding the leaves in each hand, instead of allowing them free play, violently opened it in the centre, and exclaimed, 'How beautifully your bindings open !' I almost fainted. He had broken the back of the Volume, and it had to be re-bound."
CONCLUSION: even a well bound book can easily break the first time it is opened.
(Translation courtesy of Sessa. Original Swedish follows:)
Hur en ny bok bör förvaras!
Materialerna i en ny bok: papper, papp, skinn och klister innehålla mycken fuktighet. Ligger eller står boken på ett bord eller en bokhylla utan press, vill pärmarna, oavsett hur välbunden boken i övrigt är, gärna slå sig och blie sneda innan boken hunnit torka. Uttorkningen skall helst ske långsamt och under lätt press.
Placera därför boken på ett bord eller en hylla
antigen så:
Gamla böcker Ny bok Gamla böcker
eller så
Gammal bok
Nya boken
Gammal bok
En bok som först blivit genomtorr på ett av dessa sätt slår sig icke. Placera därför helst Edra nya böcker så ett par månadar under den tid Ni icke läser i dem.
Hur man öppnar en ny bok första gången!
Placera boken med ryggen på ett bord.
Vik ner främre pärmen.
Därpå bakre pärmen.
Vik därefter ner några blad framme i boken.
Seden några blad bak i boken, varefter Ni forsätter vikningen
omväxlande i framre och bakre delen av boken, tills Ni nått bokens mittuppslag.
Gör så två eller tre gånger för att mjuka upp inbindningen. Öppnar Ni en bok hårdhänt eller vårdslöst, kan Ni bryta bokryggen och förorsaka att bladen lossna.
Bänd aldrig upp en bokrygg; om den inte ger efter av sig själv, är den endera för trång eller för stramt inbunden. Den kräver mild behandling, ungefär på samma sätt som en maskin kräver insmörjning.
William Matthews, den mest berömde bokbindare Amerika någonsin haft, skildrar földanje händelse i sin bok Modern Bookbinding:
"För många år sedan kom en av minja bästa kunder, en kännare, som trodde att han visste allting om hur man behandlar böcker, in på mitt kontor, när jag just fått en dyrbart inbunden bok färdig, så att (i stället för att låta dem falla upp av sig själva) öppnade han boken häftigt vid mittuppslaget och utropade: — Så lätt Edra inbundna böcker går att öppna! Jag höll på att svimma. Han hade knäckte bokryggen och den måste bindas om."
SLUTSATS: Även en välbunden bok kan lätt förstöras, när man öppnar den första gången.
“as someone with a bad memory, objects become keys to trigger what has been. it is possible to store one's past in things, in a way. still, these are objects without any intrinsic value. unassociated...”
This is part two of some rocks I got from the beach. Part 1 is here. You can see rocks Shelby found here—some of them are incredible. All the other rocks I have are here. I know it’s bad to take things from nature, but I must. Rocks follow:
Super Thin Flat Rock (medium): This rock is so good I could scream. What happens is, see, at Illinois Beach State Park (and probably many other beaches) there are big boulders put there by humans(?) to help preserve the beach somehow. The tide washes rocks up to the boulders, and some of the rocks get jammed in place, held there for a very long time while water shapes them thinner and thinner. I saw several rocks like this; the one you see here is the best one. It feels nice and sparkles. (image is animated)
Many Holes Rock (small): Self-explanatory. If you don’t like the rock just keep it to yourself.
Small Triangle Rock (very small): This is possibly a fragment of ceramic, but I’m really not sure because it has so many layers.
Hell Rock (small): This rock looks somewhat like a piece of volcanic rock, but it’s heavy and has rusty red/orange marks throughout. Seems like some kind of industrial waste.
Propeller Rock (medium): Looks kind of like a propeller blade and has lines in it that accentuate its shape. Nice.
Green Gems Rock (medium): This rock is an even mix of pinkish-white stone and flashy green crystals. It’s not my usual fare, but apparently very persuasive.
Saturn Rock (small): This rock looks distinctly to me like a piece of Saturn and its rings. It is small but contains over 40 layers. A good shape too with several impressions and edges.
Honeycomb Fossil (small): Probably another kind of coral, this fossil has a clear pattern of hexagonal, pentagonal, and occasionally quadrilateral cells. On one side, these cells are all filled in with a quartz-like material. On the other side, many of the cells are pitted, partially hollow. It is a pleasant yellow, sparkles, and I am going to eat it for power.
There is also a phenomenon at this beach (maybe around the whole lake) of an unusually high amount of manufactured ceramic debris, big pieces of concrete pipes, tiles, bricks, and more (?), all washed smooth by the waves. I love this, but they are not rocks i.m.h.o. so they do not belong in a Rocks post.
Anyway, rocks:
Big Layers Rock (large): This rock has 21 striped layers of roughly equal width. I don’t know if this means it holds 21 years or 21 million years. It is about the size of a big scary fist.
Black/Red Rock (medium): This rock has a very good deep red color blotted throughout, otherwise gray-black with lighter flecks in its many scars.
Double-stripe Spade Rock (medium): This rock has two parallel stripes curving around it. The rock is a very good shape. It has a slight point to it, and feels almost like it was intentionally shaped.
Egg Rock (small): rock which is in shape of egg. Nearly perfectly balanced, but not quite. Can be spun vertically w/ powerful finger move.
The First Rock of the First Camping (small): This is the first rock I found at our campsite, not on the beach, but just beyond the dunes, of our first time camping together. It’s small and triangular and deep red-brown and smooth. This rock was difficult to capture, with a camera i mean not like with my hands. I believe this photo is slightly out of focus. Nice.
White Marbled Lamb Rock (small): This rock looks like the shape of a small farm beast in a restful pose.
Extremely Ancient Rock (small): I know most rocks are ancient, but this rock seems very ancient. It has a vaguely spiraling, mottled depth one can peer into although it is opaque. Egg shaped. Maybe fossilized material.
Sea Sponge Fossil (small): I’m afraid I don’t have the ability to describe this rock in words. I’m pretty sure it’s a fossilized sea sponge. It has some sparkly bits in it.
Coral Fossil (small): This rock also mostly speaks for itself. Some kind of coral fossil. Very gentle blue-gray color with beautiful detail in white. Super dead, about as dead as you can get.
baratheonpilled
blakekathryn
jacobvanloon
vaporwave
romaincrisis