Never say never, but it’s highly unlikely that you will ever see me sporting a purple and green sweater. But when it comes to plants, my tastes take a decidedly different turn. If you spend time in Dumbo, you probably walk by these ornamental cabbages/kale on a semi-regular basis. They are on Front Street in wooden planters outside of a bar and restaurant called Superfine. I always forget that they are there, and always always stop and look at them when I pass. I figured yesterday’s blackout warranted some extra color today. By the way, did you know these are edible?

As an industrial designer, one of those skills in which one should have achieved a certain amount of fluency is the ability to create a three-dimensional object out of a series of two-dimensional shapes…and vice versa. This is something I have yet to master. So, is it any wonder that my attention is fixed on these drawings of disassembled objects? Just from looking at them, I can guess at what their final shapes are. But in order to be sure, I’d have to cut and fold. Of course, from Agence Eureka.

Just to be clear, I’m not trying to be lewd here. To explain: One weekend before the holidays, I went into the local upstate Farm and Garden store to see if I could find some canning jars, and somehow ended up in the farm animal feeding section. There are implements and objects on the shelves that I have never seen before. And, furthermore, have no clue as to what purpose they serve. However, it wasn’t a big leap to guess at what these are. (One of the best experiences of the past couple of years was bottle feeding our friends’ baby goats. OMG!) Anyway, as I did a little more digging, I realized that there is an entire industry devoted to animal feeding nipples. All shapes and sizes. Each suited to a different species. As usual, the range and variation in shape of a single item is what’s got me hooked.

I don’t even really like snoballs. And goodness knows they aren’t exactly part of a healthy diet. But I was somehow saddened to hear that Hostess, the parent company that makes Twinkies, Ding Dongs, HoHos (my personal favorite of the bunch) and yes…the ever nutritious snoballs, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. While the company has enough inventory on hand to keep the product on store shelves for the moment, who’s to say what will happen down the pike. I remember one particular milestone birthday when my friend Carol assembled a care package and had it waiting for me at a hotel in ICELAND! The parcel contained custom party hats, a homemade banner spelling out happy birthday, various small licorice candies, the requisite birthday candles and, you guessed it, a pack of bright pink snoballs.