More notes from my recent trip to Central Europe. Prague is amazing, but the touristed zones are hard to enjoy due to being heavily overrun. I feel like the real Prague is sort of hidden, would take some further digging to get to.
Berlin Diary
Notes from my recent trip to Central Europe. Berlin is amazing: in a state of beautiful decay and vigorous reinvention.
Prague: Pictures
Took some pictures while in Prague. Left my battery charger at home so no pictures of Berlin. I’m editing my travel diaries and will post excerpts from them soon. Two weeks in Europe gave me a lot to think about.
Ornament in Design
So I have been thinking: what is a kind of ornamentation that is compatible with clean, modern design? Ornamentation is not purely decorative: it has some very important functions. It guides the eye, it highlights certain elements while downplaying others. It communicates certain aesthetic ideas, feelings, and sensibilities.
Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant
I know I’m a sucker for contrast: show me the bleakest depths of the dark night of the soul, and then a glimmer of renewal seems twice as profound. If this is a trick, Port of Call New Orleans does it so well I don’t mind.
SF to Oakland
Whatever city you live in, your experience depends entirely on the neighborhood.
Plastic Camera
Took some pics over the holidays with this new iPhone app, “Hipstamatic” that imitates classic plastic film cameras. I like the results.
Pigeons
The maligned urban vertebrate known for its smoke-gray feathers and runny white spoor. The habitue of telephone wires. The bird who no one loves enough to cage.
Ocean Beach
Sparrows in the pooled water by the storm wall. Graffiti on the storm wall, the long curved smooth concrete.
Voyage With a Voyeur
Late into the night, he played solitaire.
