In the summer of 1988, my parents bought a Chevy Suburban and drove our whole family down to Walt Disney World (the only time we ever went). My dad worked for GM at the time and so when we got to the Epcot Center, we got to cut in line to the now closed, World of Motion ride. It was a view of the future. Or should I say, a view of a possible future – one that mostly hasn’t happened – but that’s not what this post is about.

Rebecca Murphey, a JavaScript engineer at Bocoup, wrote in her blog about how her dad bought one of the first personal computers:

“In 1982, Timex came out with the Timex Sinclair TS-1000…the computer, a few times thicker than the original iPad but with about the same footprint, cost $99.95.”

My dad bought one too and I remember having to hook it up to a special data tape player/recorder that acted as the ‘hard drive’. It’s what loaded and recorded changes to programs that displayed on the screen. I remember piecing the parts together and waiting for it to appear on the black and white television screen. We could load BASIC and type in commands, but we didn’t do much more than that. This post isn’t really about my early exposure to technology, it’s more about the man who exposed me to it.

While we didn’t have humanoid robots in our kitchen, we had dishwashers who washed our dishes for us – and a furnace that detected a sudden change in temperature and automatically adjusted accordingly. My dad grew up in a house with no running water. He took a bath in a metal tub in the middle of the kitchen next to the fire-burning stove. He used a Sears catalog for toilet paper in the outhouse out back – yet he was the only person in his class to build an automobile from spare parts.

I can only imagine my son re-discovering a vehicle from today, trying to understand this “hard app” (car radio) he found. What is it like growing up with a computer in every room and in every pocket? What is it like to always be on the Internet, always knowing where everyone is and what everyone is doing? What is it like to have your entire childhood documented in status messages, online galleries, and Youtube channels? When I went to high school, we weren’t even allowed to carry beepers.

I can only imagine how no running water, building your own car, learning how to program, and buying one of the first personal computers can shape the way you teach your children about technology. And I can only imagine how growing up with Timex Sinclair TS-1000′s, Atari 2600′s, Nintendo NES’, Windows 3.1, Netscape, Winsock, Windows 95, Nokia Cellphones, College Club, Myspace, and finally Facebook can change how I teach my children about technology. I worry that technology enables too much using and not enough doing. That’s part of what this blog is about – giving back to what I’ve learned from the Internet – and my dad.

I really like the song, Time to Pretend, by MGMT. It has an interesting sound and a playful beat, but when I read the lyrics online, I was a little disappointed in the content. When I heard the lyrics in my head, they sounded much different – so I decided to re-write some of it to be more optimistic, but still keep the same tone:

I’m feeling rough, I’m feeling raw, I’m in the prime of my life.
Let’s make a startup, make some money, have the time of our lives.
We’ll write some code up, get some funding, and dance with the stars.
We’ll make the software, and the website, and drive elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun.
Yeah, it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute?

…

But there’s really nothing, nothing we can do
Love can’t be forgotten, life can be the start up of you.

The original lyrics are tainted with drug abuse and divorce while longing for a time when they used to spend time digging for worms in the sandbox at home. I remember picking cedar berries out of my friend’s sandbox, making highways, and rivers. It was a time to create with little fear of failing. The older you get, the harder life gets so why not fail early, fail often?

I can see why MGMT may want to live recklessly and die young. It’s a cop out to the life intended for us. Life is hard, there is no doubt. But within those constraints, there is fun. Life can be a game that can be beaten. The fear in each of us is the fear of losing – so don’t lose. Choose to win. The only ones way to lose is to stop trying to win. So choose to win.

This is a review of the TBS TV Series, “10 Items or Less”, not to be confused with the movie that came out the same year (2006) starring Morgan Freeman, Paz Vega, and Jonah Hill.

I like watching Netflix because of the ability to find and stream shows instantly. Today I discovered a show called “10 Items or Less” starring John Lehr as Leslie Poole.

The series starts out with Poole as the new manager of “Green and Grains” grocery store who has taken over the store and it’s employees from his recently deceased father.

While the first few episodes (okay seasons) had some continuity issues (they skipped ahead four years at one point, then back to one year in season 2, but the kid stayed the same age), it still has the power to keep you wondering if any of the characters will ever evolve. You want them to, you really do, but they do it soooo slowly.

For example, you want Leslie, the manager to be a better manager – and he does get better, but still has his share of mistakes. You want the butcher, Todd, to be less sexist, and while he tries to be more professional at work, the ladies keep him exactly the way they want him. And you want the [manager], Amy Anderson, to warm up to Leslie, but for save some rare moments, she does not (or does she?).

One thing I couldn’t shake was how much John Lehr looks like Jason Bateman in Arrested Development.

And while it may be more of a coincidence that the movie of the same name centers around a grocery store and came out the same year, it may be more strange that, according to IMDB, the 10 Items or Less movie was the first film in motion picture history that was legally available on the Internet while the film was still in theaters, which makes it odd that it’s not available for streaming on Netflix (or Amazon Instant Video), but the television show is.

Joan Collett Oates is an author and antiques collector who has been an adviser to several antique collectible books including Warman’s Americana & Collectibles: 11th Ed., Antique Trader Antiques & Collectibles 2011, Antique Trader Pottery and Porcelain Ceramics Price Guide, The Official Price Guide to Flea Market Treasures: 5th Edition, and Maloney’s Antiques & Collectibles: Resource Directory just to name a few.

Joan Oates is known for collecting Phoenix Bird Chinaware and Erich Stauffer figurines (fake Hummels). In Maloney’s Antiques & Collectibles, she actually gives her phone number and address with this request:

Wants to buy Erich Stauffer child-like figurines; must say “Designed by Erich Stauffer” underneath and give style number, price, describe activity, give height.

And on ArtMLS (Art Multiple Listing Service) she wrote:

Interested in child-like, Hummel look-alikes marked ‘Designed by Erich Stauffer’ and numbered, made in Japan and imported by Arnart Imports.

If you’re asking yourself, “How can I sell my Erich Stauffer figurines?” or “How much are my Erich STauffer figurines worth?”, email Joan Collett Oates at koates120@earthlink.net.

In addition to being an adviser on several different antique collectible books, she has also written her own book on Phoenix Bird Chinaware by the same name.

Joan Virginia Oates was born in 1928. Joan currently lives in Marshall, Michigan. Before that, Joan lived in West Bloomfield, MI from 1988 to 1988. Before that, Joan lived in Constantine, MI from 1992 to 2005.

If you’re interested in an Erich Stauffer figurines price guide, check out The Official Price Guide to Flea Market Treasures: 5th Edition, by Harry Rinker, which Joan Oates advised on. It has a list of 16 different fake Hummel (Arnart Imports/Royal Crown) Erich Stauffer figurine prices.

“You know I always wanted to pretend that I was an architect.” – George Costanza, Seinfeld

Nathan Norris recently wrote an article entitled, “Why Generation Y is Causing the Great Migration of the 21st Century” about ‘under 30′s’ moving into the cities and driving less – the new migration into urban spaces. Norris writes, “At the same time, television shifted from glorifying the surburban lifestyle in the 1960’s and 1970’s (e.g., Leave it to Beaver and the Brady Bunch) to glorifying the urban lifestyle in the 1990’s (e.g., Seinfeld and Friends). These cultural changes have pushed Generation Y to look for more adventure than previous generations, and they are less fearful of cities than previous generations.”

I forwarded it to a friend and he wrote, “Art (used loosely here) imitating life or vice versa?”

I wrote that I’ve been watching the TEDtalks “Building Wonder” curated channel on Netflix, which is mostly about architecture and it’s seemed to correlate with conversations I’ve had with him (in the past and recently) about the desire to be part of a community like Bloomington, Broad Ripple, or Nora. We sort of had that community in high school, now that I think about it, with Benjamin’s Coffee House or even to a small extent at Heiskell’s Restaurant (at the height of our takeover). We also had it at church and at college and we also had it for a time in Daleville (before the breakup began). Community is what you make of it – but physical constraints help.

This “art” reference he mentioned made me wonder if I haven’t been yearning after that ‘public living room’ that Friends had in that apartment or Jerry’s apartment. People came and went as they pleased. There were four locks on the door, but they were never locked. They also had that other space, the coffee shop down below – Seinfeld had it with the diner. In Daleville, we had La Hacienda and Starbucks. We knew the people working there and they new us. Remember when George found the rubber band in his soup and playfully sprang it back to the cook who left it there? I think we all long for that sort of community where we all know each other on that level.

Another friend wrote in reply, “I think it has to be ‘art’ imitating life. It isn’t like Seinfeld or Friends glorified New York as the central scene where all things are happening – that had already been the prevailing public opinion since at least the 1920′s. Although, I don’t think it is “imitating” so much as it is a broadcast company’s calculated offering of what the public will find interesting or novel. Green Acres wasn’t about the country, it was about the voyeuristic experience of someone foolishly leaving the wonders of the big city for the country – adding in the tension of the couple having different perspectives.. Beverly Hillbillies was about the opposite – people who don’t. belong in the wonderful urban/suburban area and the comedic tension. Andy Griffith played on the mundane and simpleton of the small-town, where previously there wasn’t any television that was centered on a “watch the paint dry” town. By and large, I think TV producers expect there to be curiosity and reverence for NY and LA from outsiders and appreciation from those who live there. Other than a few shows who are using the difference in location as a position separator or as central to the theme – shows and movies have generally been based in NY/LA/Other large metro.”

Here’s the list of TED Talks for those of you who don’t have Netflix:

1 Bjarke Ingels: Three Warp-Speed Architecture Tales 18m

2 Thomas Heatherwick: Building the Seed Cathedral 16m

3 William McDonough on Cradle to Cradle Design 19m

4 Cameron Sinclair on Open-Source Architecture 23m

5 Joshua Prince-Ramus on Seattle’s Library 19m

6 Liz Diller Plays with Architecture 19m

7 Alex Steffen: The Shareable Future of Cities 10m

8 James H. Kunstler Dissects Suburbia 19m

9 Kamal Meattle on How to Grow Fresh Air 4m

10 Jane Poynter: Life in Biosphere 2 15m

11 Anupam Mishra: The Ancient Ingenuity of Water Harvesting 17m

12 Mitchell Joachim: Don’t Build Your Home, Grow It! 2m

13 Rachel Armstrong: Architecture That Repairs Itself? 7m

14 Joshua Prince-Ramus: Building a Theater That Remakes Itself 18m

15 Magnus Larsson: Turning Dunes into Architecture 11m

16 Michael Pawlyn: Using Nature’s Genius in Architecture 13m

17 Ellen Dunham-Jones: Retrofitting Suburbia 19m

I’ve compiled all of my writing on the history of Erich Stauffer, Erich Stauffer figurines, and Arnart into one volume, which is available exclusively on the Kindle at Amazon. It’s not just a copy of the content you’ll find here, but more has been added for clarity and it’s been arranged in a way that makes sense to the reader. Don’t have a Kindle? You can still read the book on your computer, mobile phone, or tablet by downloading the Kindle software for your particular device.

Learn who Erich Stauffer was, find out more about Arnart Imports and Erich Stauffer Figurines. What is an Erich Stauffer figurine worth? This isn’t a Erich Stauffer figurines price guide, but there are some ranges and metrics of evaluation you can use. Learn how to Identify fake Hummels and other Arnart figurines based on crowns, crossed arrows, and porcelain marks. There are no pictures in this book, but there is lots of information about Erich Stauffer figurines and Arnart Imports that you might find useful in identifying and verifying your porcelain figurines.

Here’s an excerpt from the introduction of the book:

If you’re reading this book, you’ve probably purchased or inherited a porcelain figurine with a strange inscription on the bottom. You look closely and faintly make out the words, “Erich Stauffer” and if you’re lucky, some hand-drawn crossed-arrows. Some figurines have stickers, some have paper labels, some are numbered and others not.

You probably did a web search to see what your figurine was worth or who made it. You might have found some eBay listings or an antiques web site with a few figurines for sale, but you probably still have questions about who Erich Stauffer was, what they are worth, and why the figurines were made. This book seeks to answer those questions.

It’s amazing how a name and a little bit of context can allow you to find someone you met once over 10 years ago.

In 2001 I was a student at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and one day in the beginning of the Fall semester there was an art sale where I picked up this painting by Matt Dobson named, “The Sky is Falling.”

I hung it on the wall in my apartment, in the house my wife and I rented shortly after getting married, and then in the house we both live in now.

Yesterday I was painting the room where it was hanging and I noticed the author’s name was on the painting so I wondered if I could find him online.

I initially searched for: Matt Dobson artist the sky is falling. This was a poor choice as it didn’t assume the “Matt” and “Dobson” should always be together and that he would be talking about the painting, “A Sky is Falling” in any sort of manner online.

I realized that I knew more about the artist than just his name and the name of his painting. I knew he went to Ball State, just like me, so I switched my search term to: “Matt Dobson” Ball State artist. I used “artist” as a qualifier against other Matt Dobson’s from Ball State.

This worked.

I was able to find Matt’s blog bio where he talked about graduating from Ball State. After all that work of searching I was a little let down to find his blog located at mattdobson.com, which a cursory search for “Matt Dobson” lists as the #1 search result. Any noobie search user could have probably found him much more faster than I did, but that’s why Google is a level playing field. You don’t have to be a librarian to find what you need on Google, but it can help.

Since Matt had a contact page, I decided to email him a picture of his painting and tell him the story of how I bought it and what it’s been doing for the last 10 years:

Matt,

I’m pretty sure I bought this painting from you in the summer of 2001 at the Ball State Art Yard Sale and I’ve had it hanging in my home for about 10 years. I just wanted to share with you that it’s still around and wanted to let you have a picture of it in case you wanted it for your portfolio or something. Not everyone had a digital camera in their pocket back then.

And Matt wrote back:

Erich,

Wow. Thank you. It is really great to know you have enjoyed that piece for so long. I didn’t remember that particular piece it is very strange to see it after so long.

I don’t know if you had a chance to see the design work I am doing now on my website but I am also still pursuing art and you can see some photos of my most recent show here: http://mattdobson.com/Stirring-Art-Show

Thanks again for sending that my way.

Best,
Matt

I encourage you to check out Matt’s art as he’s doing some really great stuff. It highlights the amazing talent we have here in the Midwest.

My wife recently pointed out how similar some of the other Eric(h) Stauffer’s in the world are similar to me so I thought I’d highlight some of them here. If you’re one of them and you want me to take your info down, just contact me or leave a comment below.

Eric Stauffer – Entrepreneur, Payment Solutions Consultant, SEO Ninja, and Business Development/Content Creation

•  CardPaymentOptions.com
•  twitter.com
•  facebook.com
• Google +

I’ve added this Eric(h) Stauffer I found on About.Me because he’s an entrepreneur, is interested in payment solutions, SEO, and business development. On all of those things we’re a complete overlap. It’s a little odd actually. I currently do SEO and content marketing, but also run blogs on items processing and digital wallets.

Erich Stauffer - CEO bei Starbusiness

Located in Basel Area, Switzerland, this Erich Stauffer does Management Consulting, which is also something I have both done in the past as a business analyst and something I currently do. I’m also CEO of my company, but I know that’s a stretch. My mom is CEO of her company and my friend, Jason Cobb, is CEO of his company too. Everybody’s a CEO nowadays.

If Starbusiness is anything like the .SU website, then it’s a multi-level marketing (MLM) business that’s currently expanding into Russia. Good for them! I’ve done my share of MLM (and so has my mother – we have so much in common!). I did Amway and sold Tri-Star vacuums (one to – again – my mother). She sold Tupperware in her day (when she was my age).

Eric M. Stauffer – Eric M. Stauffer

According to his Twitter account, this Eric(h) Stauffer is an “Instructional Technologist, Consultant, Creative Problem Solver, Runner, Husband, Comedian . . . Not always in that order.”

I’ve often tried to be a comedian, am currently a husband, and creative problem solver; and I’ve called myself a technologist and consultant. This guy looks like he travels more than me, but that’s okay. We need different types of Eric(h) Stauffer’s in this world, even if we all have a lot in common.

Then of course there is the guy I’m named after (who was also a designer like me, even if he was designing fake Hummels).

After having several people email me about the prices of Erich Stauffer figurines I attempted to make an Erich Stauffer Figurines price guide, but it was way more complicated than I thought.

I knew that the price varies by how clear the mark on the bottom is, whether a number exists or not, if there are any chips or cracks in the porcelain, and if it has a sticker. But I didn’t know exactly what metrics to use or what the official names of the figurines were or if the numbers on the bottom under “Designed by Erich Stauffer” were unique to each porcelain figurine or if that ID number tied it to a set.

What I found out by researching the completed Ebay auctions from the last 6 months was that:

• Not all Erich Stauffer figurines had paper tags glued to the front, some used tags on a string
• The ID numbers seem to correspond to groups of figurines, meaning they were meant to be sets – making collecting all of the figurines to a set more valuable than the individual figurine
• Some of the Erich Stauffer figurines have the same name, even though they aren’t part of the same set
• Some ID numbers are also re-used, even if they are not part of the same set
• If the number has a division symbol (/) it may be a limited run or made to look like it was a limited run
• I don’t know what the S or the U at the beginning of the ID stood for/stands for
• The prices of Erich Stauffer figurines ranges from $1.86 to $20.89 each with this limited sample:

Official Names	ID	Prices			Average
Autumn Time – Boy	S8218	$    6.67			$    6.67
Autumn Time – Nun	8316	$   15.00	$   10.50		$   12.75
Backyard Harmony	8213	$    6.67			$    6.67
Barnyard Frolics	8248	$   17.00	$    6.67	$    9.99	$   11.22
Country Outing	u8517	$    1.86			$    1.86
Farm Frolics	S8396	$    6.67			$    6.67
Harvest Time	8218	$    2.40			$    2.40
Life on the Farm	8394	$    6.67	$    1.99		$    4.33
Little Maestro	u8588	$    1.86	$    2.99		$    2.43
Mother’s Helper	u8588	$    1.86	$    2.99		$    2.43
Open Laces		$    8.00			$    8.00
Photo Play	U8543	$    3.95			$    3.95
Picnic Time		$    2.40			$    2.40
Rainy Days	8343	$    6.67			$    6.67
Spring Festival – Girl	S8262	$   19.95			$   19.95
Spring Time	8316	$    9.99	$    6.50	$    5.24	$    7.24
Summer Time	8316	$   28.77	$   13.00		$   20.89
Winter Time – Nun		$   13.00	$    3.25		$    8.13
Work Time – Boy	u55/26	$    1.86			$    1.86
Work Time – Girl	u65/20	$    1.86			$    1.86
Young Folks	8515	$    4.99			$    4.99
Girl with Umbrella	8218	$    9.99			$    9.99

Why do it for the lulz?

“Sign Lulz” was a web site dedicated to capturing funny signs wherever they may be. The term “lulz” refers to the plural form of “lol”, which stands for “laugh out loud”. Sign Lulz was published by Cost Publishing, a division of Watershawl, Inc.. I’ve since moved all of the funny signs to a category of The SDN.

The logo was from a a sign that hung on the Wan Shi Da Bakery across from the Pui Tak Center in The Armour Square area of southern Chicago, otherwise know as Chinatown, Chicago. The picture in the logo was taken in 1997, but you can see a more recent version of the sign on Flickr, which was taken on April 8, 2006.  However, according to what we can see on Google Street View, the sign has been removed (but no signs have been posted!).

Across from the Wan Shi Da Bakery to the north is the Pui Tak Center on South Wentworth Avenue, which is a great community center. It is run by the Chinese Christian Union Church and have lots of programs to offer. Many student fellowships are held in this center. Volunteers tutor reading and math after school and on the weekends in addition to the English as a second language classes for adults.

Further south on South Wentworth Avenue is the actual Chinese Christian Union Church, which is one of the few Christian churches in the Chinatown area. The church serves as a preschool center as well. The children there love to play with the toy Godzilla. It is their favorite toy.

These may not be the most popular, but these are the ones I listened to the most. What are your favorite Christian bands, songs, or albums from the 90′s?

Eli Sixpence None the Richer Starflyer 59 Petra Juliana Theory Danielson Joy Electric Dogwood POD Slick Shoes Charlie Peacock Steve Taylor Chris Rice Stavesacre Dakota Motor Company Sonic Flood Delirious Rich Mullins Burlap to Cashmere Big Tent Revival Five Iron Frenzy Pedro the Lion Black Eyed Sceva Out of Eden Satellite Soul

Seven Day Jesus Poor Old Lu Audio Adrenaline DC Talk Plankeye PFR (Pray for Rain) Prayer Chain Supertones MxPx Michael W. Smith Johnny Q. Public Steven Curtis Chapman Third Day Smalltown Poets Pax217 All Star United The Waiting Switchfoot Bleach Caedmon’s Call Geoff Moore and The Distance Skillet Jars of Clay Plumb Amy Grant

In art class they will teach you to never use black as black rarely occurs in nature. Instead, when a dark hue is needed, purple is used. Even in web design, a dark gray is used instead of black as black itself is harsh and unprofessional.

What is Black?

If black is never ‘black’ then what is black? Black is brown, gray, and purple. It’s dark and contrasting. It’s bold, but much the same way any solid color is when used appropriately. But how often are solid colors found in nature? Almost all colors are mixed and changing, just like the definition of ‘black’.

Today I saw two men wearing purple shirts. One man was my elder and the other my younger. I didn’t like either application of the color and wondered if my age or my micro-generation was somehow biased against it as it reminded me of purple silk shirts from the early 90′s – but those days are over. Aren’t they? Or is purple the new black?

A couple of years ago I wrote a post entitled, “What Happened to CollegeClub.com?” It’s still one of my most popular posts so I thought I’d do a follow up to see where CollegeClub.com is now.

If you type ‘http://www.collegeclub.com‘ into your browser you will be taken to Teen.com, which is, according to their web site the, “ultimate online destination for teens on celebrities, entertainment, music, and fashion.” I think what they mean to say was that they are a ‘destination for teens’ that covers ‘celebrities’, not “teens on celebrities,” which has an entirely different meaning.

Teen.com is owned and operated by Alloy Media, LLC, which is a New York based media company that is partners with Alloy Marketing and Alloy Entertainment. Alloy Media also owns Channel One News, which most know is a 12 minute news program for teens broadcast via satellite to middle schools and high schools across the United States.

For those looking for other ex-CollegeClub.com members, check out ExCollegeClubbers. The ‘tribe’ is “for everyone who wants to meet new friends, but in particular for ex members of Collegeclub.com…It used to be cool like Tribe and we have all lost contact with each other. So non-ex members and ex- members alike are invited to join.”

When You Say Yes but Mean No: How Silencing Conflict Wrecks Relationships and Companies…and What You Can Do About It

In 2003, Leslie Perlow wrote a book called, When You Say Yes but Mean No: How Silencing Conflict Wrecks Relationships and Companies…and What You Can Do About It. In that book, Leslie does a case study on the demise of CollegeClub.com in the chapter, Nine Bad Endings. Pages 141-156 cover the merger with Versity, the talks about the IPO, and the eventual bankruptcy. Overall it’s also a good book on management as one reviewer called it, “A Management Must-Read”.

I have been searching for the name of this triangle-shaped, red seated toy that has a handlebar underneath that you move back and forth to go forward with, but because it existed prior to the Internet, I haven’t been able to find it – until now*.

The Original Roller Racer

It’s called a “Roller Racer” and Amazon defines it as a scooter. I suppose it is, but it’s not like any other stand-up scooter. You sit very close to the ground and instead of using your feet to push you forward, you have to move the handle bars back and forth, kind of like a snake.

One Amazon commenter said it was good for preschool children with disabilities because even, “Kids with splints or whose legs are too short can ride with their feet on the T-bar connecting the handlebars and, again, enjoy a great ride.”

According to Wikipedia, the Roller Racer was originally sold by WHAM-O brand name, but is now sold by the Mason Corporation and is available on Amazon.

EDIT: I’ve recently setup a whole new website for these ride-on toy scooters with one post dedicated to Roller Racers and Flying Turtles.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vicente Lladro, the famous porcelain figurine artist from Valencia, Spain, is releasing Divine Love, a limited edition of 2000 pieces worldwide. It measures 12” x 10”. The artist drew his inspiration for the piece from the Hindu literary and artistic traditions staying true to the nature of Indian art, mainly the drawings and etchings depicted in traditional Indian folk stories.

Lladro, the company, was founded in 1953 by three brothers, Juan, José and Vicente Lladró, in the village of Almácera near Valencia. Starting with items such as vases and jugs, it wasn’t until 1956 that they started producing the sculptures for which they are now most famous. Enthusiasm for the items produced by the Lladró brothers saw their small workshop expand several times until eventually they moved to Tavernes Blanques, Spain in 1958.

This piece in particular, Divine Love, captures the timeless romance between a romantic couple sitting by the banks of the river Ganges, look lost in each other’s love. The young man must bid her farewell for he must go in search of fortune that he needs to marry his love. As a sign of the riches they will share on his return, the young man offers her his crown, a symbol of love that will keep his memories alive in her heart while he is away.

The piece is detailed in every aspect. Bedecked in traditional Hindu jewelry and costumes, the coloring is a new departure for classical porcelain pieces. From the blue used for the man’s skin to the orange and saffron color used in the skirt which is associated with celebrations, happiness, and optimism. The enamels used in the crown and jewelry is unique that lends a stunning realistic effect. The flower garland draped on the young lady’s shoulders looks real and detailed.

At one time in your life you’ve probably made a to-do list.  I still use them, but in the form of emailing myself.  But lists have expanded their scope lately as technology, as in the form of me using my email as a notebook proves, enables us to expand our love of making and using lists.

Lists of Lists

If you’ve ever shopped on Amazon.com, you may have noticed a book cover on the sidebar, with the heading, “Listmania.” This means that someone has included that book on a list of their favorites, and they posted that list to share with other Amazon customers. If you’ve ever used Apple’s iTunes you know that you can create playlists of songs and share them with other people. These are both examples of companies harnessing the power of people to help cross-promote products. Another term for this is crowdsourcing. Social bookmarking sites like Delicious, Reddit, or Digg rely on users to submit content, which are essentially lists of things people have found on the web.  Then other people come behind them and use them, vote up or down, or share more links.  People like making lists so much that they have even created books of lists of books to read, called ‘reading lists‘, but one site has gone as far as to make lists of reading lists. Yes, you heard right. People are obsessed with lists.

Top 10 Lists

Late Night with David Letterman probably has the most popular top 10 list, but there are many more examples and in different ranges from people obsessed with the top 500 albums of all time to the top 10 Twitter trends of 2010. Watch the following video made by Google on the top news stories of 2010:

Skylines, rooflines, and
antennas replacing crosses
Television the new religion,
Reception the new bosses

In the morning we rise and fly,
Leaving our home to give our best
We tune the dial and tweak our lives
The sun, it sets. We climb to rest