These Swedish handmade metal combs are indestructible. Each tooth is individually hand machined out of high grade aluminum. No burrs, no frizz. And they meet the magic standard of a once in a lifetime purchase. I have had these two combs for at least 25 years, if not longer. And it was really only today that I noticed their extreme precision and good looks. I mean look at those radius corners! And then speaking of trademarks (yesterday’s post), Swedish Crown Combs was granted registration in 1968 and let it lapse in 2008. Which is really too bad, because these are very fine tools indeed. I think these are the same combs, but I can’t be certain.

From the very wonderful Reanimation Library. For a bigger image, click here.

I think my mother wrote shorthand. I remember her scrawling, at a breathless pace, what appeared to be unintelligible marks on stenographers paper. It was gibberish then, and it is gibberish now. But stunning in its economy and gesture. These two pages are a perfect example of Pitman Shorthand, popular in the UK, and second only to Gregg Shorthand in the US. Gregg Shorthand is far less compelling, and even a little boring, because of the uniform thickness of the line. For more information on the Pitman method, go here. Images from here.

Photo taken by my husband. Those are paws (and a little bit of a tail) sticking out. I see this image, and all I want to do is crawl under the covers.

I went to art school with Scott Kelley. We lost touch a long time ago but, today, in my search for rope, I accidentally came across his obsessive paintings of these warp lines, which are traditionally heavy ropes used for anchoring, towing or mooring a boat. In this case, the warp is called pot warp, and it is specifically the line used by lobstermen to secure their traps. Scott does, after all, live in Maine. For more go here. And Scott, sorry for the crop here and there. Just wanted to get up closer to the detail.