More from the NYPL digital archives. I’ve successfully worked my way through 1021 pages out of 2478. Don’t think these need much commentary beyond the fact that the colored badges represent the various regional/local football clubs in the UK. If you need to see which colors correspond with which football club, go here.

Sometimes I wonder how we get any work done at all. I have been searching sporadically for some early patent drawings of vacuum tubes (something to do with a tattoo for my spouse) and am on high alert for the beauty and elegance of those drawings. And then Flavorwire has the nerve to post a story about Stiknord, the tumblr blog curated by the Kolding School of Design in Denmark. The site celebrates a Northern aesthetic. And they do it really really well. Anyway, one thing led to another and, before I knew it, here I was. This 1958 patent drawing is for the earlier iteration of Lego toys that I grew up with…and loved. Except for when the flat plates got stuck together. Then I hated them. As a footnote, one of my early freelance gigs was to design a full Lego stadium and all its details (right down to the hot dog vendor and the hot dogs) for the Major League Baseball licensing division. And imagine this, it was during a pre-computer era. Eeek.

The best presents are the kind that betray one person’s deep understanding of another. My friend David gets me. And when it comes to gifts, he’s spot on. He’s clearly been paying attention all these years to who I am and what makes me happy. Anyway, David recently came back from an extended trip to South Africa, and the other day he presented me with an envelope containing these Sawzall blades. I think he said that he found them on the street in Cape town. Just sitting there. Who wouldn’t want them? I mean really, they are practically new for crying out loud. Well, I love them. The patina, the use, the fact that he just found them by the side of the road. All of it. Thanks Dave.

Nature has us all trumped. It’s hard to disagree on this one. Today’s vegetable — the watermelon radish — is brought to you by the good folks over at Willow Wisp Organic Farm in Damascus, PA, right across the Delaware River border from NY. They are amazing and smart and grow vegetables that make you remember how food is supposed to taste.

I could go on and on with these photos of dashboards. All the little dials and shapes and switches and levers are like honey to a fly. Found all of these images on a site called team-bhp.com. The tagline under the name of the site says Redlining the Indian Automotive Scene, which pretty much tells you where these cars call home.