How much better is the experience of using a rubberband when it is brilliant orange rather than putty tan? I’ll choose the orange one every time.

A number of years ago we decided we really needed a classic picnic table. I found none that met the standards of durability and craftsmanship that I was after, and I didn’t want to buy something, only to have it fall apart after a year or two, or even three. So we decided we would just build one ourselves. Fine. No big deal. However, given that I like design details and silly things like measurements and angles to be worked out ahead of time (makes the execution so much more enjoyable — this truth can be applied to almost any design project), I felt it necessary to make up a plan to work from. And since I often enjoy the process of design more than the finished product itself, I decided the best approach would be to make an accurate scale model, and then drawings. Can’t find the drawings, but here is the model. The table itself, after 10 or so years, is still remarkably sturdy. So proud.

I’ve seen a lot of press on these low energy compact fluorescent bulbs designed by Sam Wilkinson for Hulger. And up until now, they were incompatible with our voltage here in the US. But yesterday, the Future Perfect in (NYC and Brooklyn) sent out an email saying that they would be carrying the bulbs come end of May.

This thing has been up on a high shelf hiding behind some old photographs and a couple of plastic horses. I love that the name of the product is incorporated into the physical case. And in orange.

These USPS stamps won’t be available until July of this year, but they are worth getting excited about.