Saxophone

I married my sweetie fifteen years ago today, so it's a special day indeed. Unfortunately, I'm at work, 464 miles away: so we celebrated last Sunday, and one of my gifts was a pin. But not this one.

The artist is still working on the anniversary pin, but Christy showed me a picture, and it promises to be an absolute beauty - just like her. Given the two absences (mine and the pin's), I was hoping for an otherwise harmonious day, so I naturally turned to the Sax. If music be the food of love, play on - and calm the savage breast while you're at it, if you get my drift.

This little beauty was a birthday present from my friend Anne, who also wears pins on a regular basis. If memory serves, she found it in an antique shop, so it's very realistic, as things often were back in the day. It's finely detailed and artfully combines silver and resin: it's also fully three-dimensional, which you might have deduced from the shadow it casts. There's no room for a name, but I'm guessing the designer's long gone in any case.

Many Hands

I don't know whether this pin's derived from South American mythology, but it certainly looks like it might be. I like to wear this pin when there are too many things going on in my head at once, but I don't feel I can jettison any of them. As a lifelong procrastinator, I'm no stranger to having stuff build up: I've even tried to persuade myself that imminent deadlines help me prioritize. But that's delusional, of course.

Many Hands is etched into a hefty block of steel, and has a lot of fine detail. In addition to his interesting, stylized form, I like that he's holding everything together with six hands and even his feet. He's doing a fine job, and it's good to have such a worthy role model pinned to my chest. The only missing feature is the designer's signature: but I can live without that.

Love this: Cooliris

If you use Firefox, you need the Cooliris add-on. It's a great way to browse sites like Amazon and YouTube - even The Daily Pin - through their pictures. It's free, so install it, explore with it and marvel at how it sets you free.

Repeat: Fisherman

When I posted the Fisherman for the first time, he was new and that was reason enough: I hadn't figured out what he represents. I chose him today because I needed a role model (and this pin is just so unspeakably cool). He's caught his fish, he's got his bucket, and he's purposefully walking somewhere.

That was in stark contrast to my own state of mind when I woke up, so I figured I should have a constant reminder that I had work to do, and should bloody well get on with it. I definitely got quite a bit done today, in no small measure due to the Fisherman's eyeless gaze: but was it enough? Is it ever enough? Aye, there's the rub.

Angry Dragon

I've been attending a training course and had no time to post in the last few days, but hopefully normal service will be resumed now. Though dated Wednesday, this is a Thursday post.

Today's pin is currently the angriest in my collection, and represents another "let the pin do the talking" choice. I'll be watching my eldest son play water polo tonight: you might remember that he was bullied out of the Junior Varsity team, but chose to join the Novice team rather than stop playing. For his sake, I'll remain civil towards the coaches and players concerned, but the Angry Dragon will represent the real me.

Despite (or perhaps because of) his hostile intent, I think the Dragon's a terrific pin. His stainless steel form is delightfully spiky yet organic - an excellent combination of form and material which the flat finish accentuates. There's no signature, I'm afraid: but that might be just as well. If I knew who designed him, I'd shop 'til I dropped.

Rockhopper Penguin

There's something odd about this penguin, which I can't quite put my finger on. It might be that he's kinda cute and cuddly, but simultaneously knowing, even sinister, like a dwarf from Lord of the Rings. Whatever it is, the duality made him a good choice for today's mixture of thinking and doing.

As you know, I like thinking, but I'm not keen on doing. For a working stiff, this would be a crippling handicap: but as a privileged knowledge worker, it's not quite as serious. Nonetheless, even knowledge workers have to get shit done sometimes, so I did the thinking then got on with the doing while the Rockhopper looked on.

The pin's made of silver, and has a subtle level of dimensionality to him. He's not fully 3D, but he's not 2D either, a very pleasing result which speaks well of the designer. The initials "BPMW" are stamped on his back, but a quick search revealed that a marketing agency called BrandPimps uses those initials: as you might expect, they don't design pins.

Warrior

I had a lot of meetings today, some of which I could have done without. Rather than be combative, or play the "poor me" card, I grasped the nettle and made the best of them, allowing my Warrior pin to brandish the spear of resistance on my behalf. And doesn't he do it well?

The Warrior's another fine example of "less is more". His dynamic form and stance are all that's needed to evoke strength, purpose and a "don't mess with me" attitude. Additional details (like a face) would only detract from the statement, I suspect.

He's cut from a single piece of steel, which could easily have made him flat. But the enamelling definitely adds dimension: I particularly like its asymmetry, and the way it makes his hair almost flame-like. There's also a richness and depth to the colours which the iSight couldn't capture (as usual). There's no signature on the back but, for once, I don't mind. The anonymity seems to add to the Warrior's force.