I ask, why must it keep raining?

These freestanding educational cutouts were given to my friend Jason, a chicken owner/writer/professor (not necessarily in that order), for his recent birthday. They are part of a much larger collection of farm animals from the newly opened NYC branch of Kabinett & Kammer — a crazy, fantastic heavenly bonanza of a place. Filled to the brim with everything that should be in a modern-day curiosity cabinet… and so much more.

And then there is this — a perforation gauge used in stamp collecting. This is a thin metal plate measuring just under 2″ by 4.375″. Such a weird specialized item. But handy if you’re looking to decipher your collection. Available here.

For reasons that I don’t need to explain, France has been in the news a lot as of late. And so, with Francophilia on my mind, I thought I would share some images of my many many French stamps.

A trip to our local supermarket upstate yielded these three little treasures. Never seen the “One-Pie” can before. Don’t plan on eating the German potato salad. Might give Grandma Brown’s Beans a whirl when the pantry gets low. Odd continuity of color in all three designs.