Happy Leif Erikson Day

October 9, 2009

Reprinted from Wikipedia…

Leif Erikson Day is an American observance occurring on October 9. It honors Leif Ericson (Leifr Eiríksson), who brought the first Europeans known to have set foot in North America. In 1964, the United States Congress authorized and requested the President to create the observance through an annual proclamation. Lyndon B. Johnson and each President since have done so. Presidents have used the proclamation to praise the contributions of Americans of Nordic descent generally and the spirit of discovery.

+ Leif Erikson Day via Wikipedia

Bon Voyage Plymouth Voyager

October 4, 2009

As some of you already know, Paris and I successfully sold our beloved 1992 Plymouth Voyager late last week.

For us it is truly an end of an era. In the future, we will undoubtedly refer to our past with a pre- and post-voyager chronological system. Generally speaking, the early years of our relationship will be synonymous with the “Plymouth Years”.

Good times were certainly had by many in that old van. Though it’ll be missed, we believe the new owner will drive it for many years to come.

E.H. Gombrich

September 22, 2009

“If you want to do anything new you must first make sure you know what people have tried before.”

—E.H. Gombrich

1930–1940 in color

September 21, 2009

Wow! So I made my most prized internet discovery today—completely by accident too. This is no secret stuff, it just happens to be the case that I was entirely unaware of it until now. This find confirms my belief that life in the 1930s and 40s was the most beautiful in all of history. Everything was made by professional designers. Hardly anyone was overweight. If you look at these photographs, literally everything is beautiful in my opinion. Life was full of modern convenience, but the aesthetic was still “Old World”. Everything has a naturalness which stems from a lack of plastic. I hate plastic.

Anyways, I stumbled upon the Library of Congress’ color photograph collection from the 1930s through 1940s. Mostly WPA stuff. Totally incredible! I nearly cried I wanted to live in that time so badly. You can dig and dig for hours and then do it all over again. Really really great stuff! Enjoy!

+ Library of Congress via FLICKR