Rocket

I haven't worn the Rocket much in the past, because it resides in my second box of pins, and I don't look in that one very often. But it's a really appealing pin, with an optimistic, '50s sci-fi feel to it. I'm wearing it today because it nicely represents my imminent flight home and the end of the countdown to the four-day Thanksgiving weekend.

Like some of my other pins, this one's meaning can be varied by changing whether it's ascending, in level flight or descending. Today's steep climb reflects how cheerfully I'm marching towards home, four days of leisure, cocktails and too much to eat, of course.

The Rocket is made of hand-cast pewter, and was designed by Jim Clift, who does lots of things with pewter (though not all of them are to my taste). He has a site dedicated to pins, and there's a keychain version of the Rocket there, but nothing about my pin. Lots of his stuff is cheap and cheerful, which is handy at this time of year...

Repeat: Owl in the Tree

You've seen this little beauty before, so I won't get into the details again: but surely nobody could tire of this pin. It always attracts attention, and people always ask what it represents. I should get Daily Pin cards printed, so I don't have to repeat myself: but I suspect that would be churlish.

I was running a design workshop and reviewing a lot of stuff today, so I picked the Owl in the Tree to help me out. Call me old-fashioned, but the "tree of knowledge" and "wise owl" metaphors worked for me, let alone all those other tree metaphors involving roots, branches, growing, and all that stuff. And privately, as I dealt with the hordes of people, I could picture myself taking the owl's place: and closing the curtains.

Angry Dog

I love this pin. Christy bought it for me when we were living in Eindhoven, NL (1990-94). We were spending the day in s'Hertogenbosch, and saw jewelry being made in a small store: we popped in to watch the craftsfolk at work, and walked out with the Angry Dog.

I'm wearing him today to signify my how fed up I am of my bronchitis, which has stopped the presses at The Daily Pin for the last few weeks. The cough has pretty much gone, but my feelings of malaise and fatigue linger on: they're improving, but oh so slowly. "Grrrr", as the Angry Dog would say. Or rather growl.

The Angry Dog is a hefty, solid silver pin, with lots of sharp edges, and a powerfully skewed perspective to him that I like very much. I particularly like his bulging eyes and sharp, gritted teeth - features I'm sure many of us can identify with, depending on how our days are going. I can't remember who made him, unfortunately, but he remains one of my all time favourites. "Geweldig!", as the Dutch would say.

Service Interrupted

I have to apologize for the break in posting (and not for the first time). I've had the flu for nearly 3 weeks now, and my doctor tells me it's evolved into bronchitis. There's a lot of it about, apparently, so if you're worried you might have it too, diagnose your condition here. I have all of the listed symptoms.

I'm still wearing pins every day (use Cooliris to view all my posted pins simultaneously), but I'm rarely in a condition to photograph or write about them by day's end. I started a course of antibiotics, and hope to resume normal service soon.

Les Bon Mots

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight... change has come to America."
--
President Elect, Barack Obama