Art Birds

I picked up the book 'Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science and Evolution' by David Rothenberg today at the lovely Ben McNally bookshop on Bay in Toronto.  In reading it on the long train ride back, I have learned that there is a little bird called the Bowerbird, that makes assemblage art in order to attract a mate.  What the best part is, each type of bowerbird makes a unique shape, and prefers different colours and materials for decoration.  What a wonderful thing to learn on a rainy Monday.

Book Club Meeting!

So there has been a change in plans... A new book has been chosen. "The Lab: Creativity and Culture" by David Edwards. We will be discussing soon, with the first topic being that of the barbeque utensils on the cover.

If you would like to join us, let me know.

A book club

So I have one of the best of friends in the world - who is also an amazing designer, and sometimes we are so similar it makes me wonder if she can read my mind. The other day when we skyped - and we were both wearing pretty much the same black and white striped shirt (mine had sleeves, and hers didn't - that was pretty much the only difference).

Unfortunately - we normally live a bajillion miles apart (we are currently the closest we've been in years. She's down in the Boston area and I'm a 6 hr drive away in Montreal - too bad neither of us have cars). So with such in common - we often read the same books, and always are looking for projects we can work on together.

We've finally come up with a good long distance project; a book club focusing on our fascination with Design and the Future. The first book we are reading is "The Singularity is Near" by Ray Kurzweil. So if you would like to join in on the discussion, pick up the book, and get reading, further details on our discussion plans will be posted soon.

Book Report : The End of Oil

So I read The End of Oil throughout the past couple of weeks. It was a spur of the moment purchase at the used bookstore at the beginning of February - and I'm so glad the purchase was made. It was published in 2005, and already some of the forecasting in regards to the price of oil, increased production from non-traditional sources (tar sands etc...) have come to pass. It seemed like a relatively well balanced book in regards to its honesty about the future of energy, which I appreciated greatly. I loved it and it affirmed what I knew, and gave me more insight into the politics of oil.

Book Report: something on Nanotech

This is going to be a rather lack luster book report, but I felt I should write it anyhow. I read a book recently on the ethics and pitfalls of Nanotechnology - I think it was an Earthscan book if that helps at all. It was a great series of chapters from many different sources all about the future developments of nanotechnology looking at the ethical development of the industry, and many of the up and coming developments - soooo exciting (I love science) . I found the book - its called Nanotechnology: Risk, Ethics and Law, and overall it was great for an overview of the future of this field.
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Anyhow, the only thing that I can actually remember from the book - is that we should approach the developments in nanotechnology with caution, as the full ramifications of each of the new technologies are unknown, and when we are looking at particles at that scale, it could have dramatic effects on life from the cellular level. That, and that the name for the thing we should be concerned about is AWESOME - 'Free Radicals', I want to be a 'Free Radical' - if I was cool/geeky enough to have a band I would name it 'Free Radicals', I can picture the punk inspired font right now...

Book Report Time!

I know, where the heck did I go? Well, lets just say there have been quite a few changes since June, and I'm back to the reading of the books... design books/sustainability books/theory in general books... YAY!

So I read "The Design of Everyday Things" by Donald A. Norman last week... good book overall, I really loved the section on design frustrations, and how we blame ourselves in situations where bad design is more often to blame. The funny part, was I was in a car accident while reading that section (I wasn't driving and reading I SWEAR!!!) - how fitting. The crash was truly an accident(a small fender bender in the parking lot - we were pulling out and he zoomed in right next to us), and the other guy's car got SOOOOOO much more damage than ours (bad design both in the car and the parking lot)...

Its a slightly older book (originally published under the title of "Psychology of Everyday Things" in 1988 - its interesting to see how many things have changed in the world of design, and makes me wonder if a great deal of change in regards to user centered design, and interface design can be attributed to this book.

Overall - I would say if you like design theory - read it, if you don't - don't bother... But as far as design theory goes - AWESOME... I wish I had read it 10 years ago.

Book Report - The Omnivore's Dilemma

Now, I thought I would read this, and love it - but to be perfectly honest, it was just okay. Michael Pollan seemingly has a problem with Xanthan Gum - he mentions it several times with a bit of an incredulous tone. I ask to that - what's so wrong with it - it holds all of my gluten-free baking together, is not poisonous and even if derived from corn, is not the root of all food evil. I truly love corn and many of its incarnations (bioplastic anyone?), and certainly there are many substantial political, social and environmental issues in regards to corn, but it is not inherently bad, as is insinuated. He also repeats himself often, as if he had forgotten he had said 'insert fact here' before.

Now with my biggest problem with the book. It is truly a man's view of the world with not a single female voice other than his wife. How on earth can I take a book that neglects half of the population and the primary family cooks very seriously. Really did remind me that no matter how much time passes - that I still have to be a feminist first (how sad). Nowhere in this book did speak to the actual dilemma of how we feed ourselves - time vs. quality vs. nutrition vs. money - and does explore the omnivore's dilemma for anyone other than himself and his foodie friends. I'll stick with Margaret Atwood in the future...

Book Report - Payback

Margaret Atwood does it again - her ability to write witty, insightful, and highly accurate prose amazes me every time.

Her newish book - Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, delves into the way debt permeates our lives, and looks at the history and cultural aspects of debt. I will read anything by Margaret Atwood, and this one is particularly timely, and it was nice to hear about more about the background of debt, and its direct association with sin, wrong doing and over all the more shadowy side of society.

Fall Reading List

You might know that I read quite a bit (I think a profession as a 'reader' would be quite appropriate for me)

For the fall, I've decided to put together a specific reading list (separating out the 'must reads', from my reading list on the sidebar) - so here it goes...

Design is the Problem
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Buckminster Fuller: Anthology for the New Millennium
The Archaeology of Knowledge
Silent Spring

I'll start with those... As I usually take notes, check back here for book reports...

Pondering

How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when on is fully aware of blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some mof the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light."
- Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams

Thank you to Paul Hawken's book Blessed Unrest (of which I am in the middle of reading) for this quote.

Book Report

I read a book! It felt nice to just sit and read something on sustainability. So here's the book I read... Mid-course Correction by Ray C. Anderson. Good book - more like a giant case study - but simply written and all about the success of greening his company Interface (they make carpet). One pearl of wisdom I wanted to remember is to always ask "And then What?", when it comes to the byproducts of any design and its end of life.

Another Book Report

Well I just found my notes on a book I read awhile back... In The Bubble by John Thackara. I have TONS of notes on this one. They were lost for awhile (they got tucked in with souvenirs from Romania). Really an amazing book. I would have to say, its one of the most well rounded and thoughtful book that I've read so far. If you are thinking about reading something - I suggest this one. I'm not posting my notes, because there are way too many of them. I'll give away one thing, solutions will become about interconnectivity - which I'm coming to realize is extremely important. He talks about schools and colleges not just being a 'teaching place' but more a of a place that is a network of organizations - a hub at the center drawing connections between things that are seemingly unconnected. Just re-reading my notes, makes me want to read the book all over again (it was that relevant)! If you want more of his musings - I have a link to his blog on the sidebar "Doors of Perception".

Half of a Book Report

So I read half of a book and thought I would share what I got out of it. I read Utiltity Reassessed: The Role of Ethics in the Practice of Design. I thought it was going to be entirely different - I thought it was going to be about Ethics... but it wasn't, it was about Utility Schemes and rationing by the government, focusing on war-time Britain. For that topic it was really good... There was one paper that I enjoyed the most and that was about the idea that consumerism as we know it was created quite deliberately by post-WW1 manufacturers. Makes me wonder if we can deliberately take it back, to turn people back into citizens instead of consumers, because we're not going to be able shop our way out of what we are in the middle of. All in all, very interesting, and I'm glad I picked it up.

Book Report - Biomimicry...

Just finished reading Janine Benyus' book Biomimicry.  Its a great book filled with all sorts of things I don't understand (something about tubulin dimers in the brain had me a bit lost).  Nevertheless, it was an amazing read and was full of really great inspiration to look at nature as a model.  Its wonderful to think about all of the places where this can be applied for greater efficiency and innovation - I know my focus is design, but I've also been thinking about how social networks can be based more on a natural principles, dealing more with locality and balance.  I'm not going to give too much away, because I want you to read this one.  I'll give you her tips on how to be a good biomimic.  There are four stages.  1. Quietening  2. Listening  3. Echoing  4. Stewarding.  I think I might still be at the Quietening stage, but I'm certainly working on it.  You can watch Janine Benyus' TED talk here as well... 

Best Reading List in The Whole Wide World

I have this reading list from Unit One, its Stephen Hayworth's list so I definitely cannot take credit for it... I really wanted to digitize it, just in case I lose it, then I decided I should share it (I'm all about the open-source knowledge sharing junk). So here is the link to my scans. Its insanely huge - so maybe if we split it up we'll get it all read! Let me know if you've read anything from the list and we can set up a mini-book report list!

Book Report Time!!!

So, I'm guessing you are surprised at my book choice for review.  No seriousness or huge amounts of data - fiction, and children's fiction at that! But I couldn't resist, The Giving Tree is such a wonderful book on nature, friendship and giving - it just cannot be forgotten!  We use our trees on a daily basis for so many things, and I love how this wonderfully simple story shows a lifecycle of a tree in relation to our own lifecycle.  I'm sure other people have more poignant things to say about this book... but it makes me remember to pause to appreciate everything we take for granted from nature.  Don't forget the trees, they'll be sad and lonely!!!  Thank you Shel Silverstein, for such a wonderful story that I can appreciate even more 20 years on. 

book report time!

I think the book review might become a somewhat regular feature, depending on how often I read a whole book. Anyhow this week I read 'Green is the New Black' by Tamsin Blanchard. It was a pretty good book, the tone was not so great, it read like a London tabloid magazine (basically assumed little to no intelligence from the audience, and sounded very gossipy). The information that it held was great, but only if you live in London. It might have been more aptly named - Green Fashion for the High Fashion Twits of London. Some of the wording and referencing wouldn't make sense to anyone who doesn't live in the UK, I wouldn't have had a clue 3 months ago what half the book was talking about, or who. Maybe there needs to be a follow-up that is less Londoncentric, and deals with the issue as a whole, and gives global sources. I haven't checked out Tasmin Blanchard's blog yet, maybe that's going on over there... I guess I would have to be compelled to find it first, and I'm not really all that compelled. The resource list in the back is fantastic if you live in London or are visiting. All in all I wouldn't really recommend it, unless you are looking for a book on finding environmental fashion in London.

Book Recommendation

So... as you all know I read a lot about sustainability, and I've read quite a few lately. I wanted to let you know that I highly recommend "Eternally Yours - Visions on Product Endurance" (there's a link over in the side bar). Its a book on Emotional Sustainability (in all its horrible glory), but it was a book of different essays, so there were lots of really great opinions all in one place, which was wonderful.