Lego Reware

Yesterday's estimate for replacing our heating and air conditioning came in under five figures, which was a huge relief, so I pulled out the Lego Reware this morning. This pin is pure fun, so I hoped it'd influence my day accordingly. I got a lot of work done and nothing bad happened, neither of which equates to "fun"... But they're not to be sneezed at in these troubled times. Let's call it a fair to middling performance.

Emiko Oye designed the pin, bringing together salvaged materials to create a vivid, graphical statement. The six Lego bricks (yes, they're real Lego bricks) are overlaid with an engraved, sterling silver strip, which I think was cut from another piece of jewelry. The bottom brick is pierced by a silver stud (bottom right).

I'm afraid I disagree with Emiko's assertion that "...reware bestows upon the wearer a sense of uniqueness and self-assurdness [sic] in our fast-forward culture": but I admire her own uniqueness and self-assuredness in making it. My pins don't define me: I define my pins, as regular readers know.

Repeat: Sash Window

The last time I wore this pin, I wrote about my aversion to 'self baring', and how you can see only a little of me behind the net curtains - which is just how I like it. I'm wearing the Sash Window today from the other side, so to speak: it represents me looking through the window to the future, but I can't see enough to feel comfortable.

We're getting an estimate for replacing our heating and air conditioning today, which is bound to be in the five-figures realm of pain, and might entail a lot of disruption while the work's done. It'll take a couple of hours for the contractor to figure out what's needed, and to suggest what our options are: and we'll have to get three or four estimates before deciding which contractor to go with.

The system's 20+ years old, so we don't have much choice in this. But it's certainly one occasion when I wish the curtains were pulled back a little. Bugger it.

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