Tuesday January 1, 2002
By the way, welcome to 2002, the year which looks good both directions. Now you can say things like: "I remember way back in oh-two..." or "...back in double ought two". 2002 has a rustic, old-timer feel to it even though it's brand new.


I like the idea of making art from garbage or objects which are otherwise completely useless (like coffee stir sticks...most offices are buried in these). I'm not sure if he's cleaning out any office kitchens but George Hart created some geometrical marvels using plasticware. There are other fantastic creations on his sculpture page including the not-to-be-missed Gonads of the Rich and Famous. [link from blackholebrain]

Here are links to folks who truly use garbage for art:
Trash Culture
Plastic Fantastic
Augart Gallery

Do something with all of those coffee stir sticks/straws:
crafts

Ok, I didn't find much...better yet...use a spoon fer crying out loud! Stir with your finger and lick it off. When the coffee supply delivery guy shows up hand him back the forty five boxes of stir sticks and tell him that large mouth bass are dying daily from ingesting cast off straws mistaken for anemic nightcrawlers and that innocent birds are being impaled on them while trying to land in garbage dumps and a careful analysis of the organic magnetic structure of the typical stir straw/stick sets up a sympathetic harmonic distortion field which eventually renders the stick stirring male user impotent and sterile with a slight lisp and an inability to enjoy vacation time without checking email every six hours and an annoying laugh that they try to hide by not opening their lips which turns it into a desparate snort and clues everyone into their desparate addiction to using a long, thin anemic earthworm looking stick to stir mildly soporific non-milk based chemicals into an otherwise tasty beverage.

Don't get me started...



If you know what this is then most likely you are missing chunks of knuckles, have annoying puncture holes in fingers (maybe buttocks) and have done some of your own home repair or installed home networking cables under the carpeting.

This is a carpet tack board, which gets nailed to the floor around corners to keep the carpet from pulling away. Cheap, nasty and effective, that's what it is. Ripping it up and disposing of it is like trying to get porcupines to breed: slow and careful. Woe to the poor soul who accidentally sits on one (me!).

The more I rip up and try to re-finish our home the more I can liken it to programming. It looks innocently simple at first glance. Once started you become mired in nasty mistakes left by the last person, compromised to use things which don't quite fit, and chasing completion dates that skurry ahead like the White Rabbit.

And, just like with code, no matter how nice the finished project looks and works you can't help but to wince, knowing where each and every messy bit lives and knowing that the next person (not you, that's for sure!) will have their hands full.