Dood.
Flying People in New York City (by ChronicleNYC)
via benjaminpalmer
in permanent beta. work in media. ephemeral thoughts on the intersection between design, culture and technology. insatiable appetite for startups, eames, iceland, entrepreneurship.
i've also claimed real estate on twitter, linkedin, and way too many other social platforms where you can usually find me by searching @sarablask or some permutation thereof. email is the most reliable way to find me: sara [at] sarablask [dot] com. let's brainstorm.
• About Sara
• Best of
SARA BLASK
i've also claimed real estate on twitter, linkedin, and way too many other social platforms where you can usually find me by searching @sarablask or some permutation thereof. email is the most reliable way to find me: sara [at] sarablask [dot] com. let's brainstorm.
• About Sara
• Best of
SARA BLASK
![Love this.
theatlantic:
An Artistic Comparison of Paris and New York
As polar opposite as Paris and New York may seem at times, it’s hard to love one city and hate the other. Each is complex in its offerings, diverse in its appeal, and the debate over which city is supreme evidently warrants its own blog. Vahram Muratyan is the author and artist behind Paris versus New York: A Tally of Two Cities, a blog that pits the pride and joy of both cities against each other in a magnificent series of minimalist prints. Through colorful graphics that border on 8-bit simplicity, Paris and New York come head to head, making it harder than ever to choose which city does it best. Read more.
[Image: Vahram Muratyan]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lympc9nGCW1qcokc4o1_500.jpg)
Love this.
An Artistic Comparison of Paris and New York
As polar opposite as Paris and New York may seem at times, it’s hard to love one city and hate the other. Each is complex in its offerings, diverse in its appeal, and the debate over which city is supreme evidently warrants its own blog. Vahram Muratyan is the author and artist behind Paris versus New York: A Tally of Two Cities, a blog that pits the pride and joy of both cities against each other in a magnificent series of minimalist prints. Through colorful graphics that border on 8-bit simplicity, Paris and New York come head to head, making it harder than ever to choose which city does it best. Read more.
[Image: Vahram Muratyan]
“And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”
— John Steinbeck, in a letter from 1958 on falling in love.
Things I learned about Costco from The New Yorker
I highly recommend Patricia Marx’s piece in The New Yorker last week (Jan. 16) about grocery shopping in New York. Not only is it incredibly funny, it really captures the economics of groceries here.
“If Costco were a country, its revenues would make it the sixty-fifth largest in the world, ahead of both the Republic of Microsoft and Applestand and right behind the United Kingdom of Procter & Gamble,” Marx writes in “A Bushel and a Peck.”
The following facts about Costco are quoted directly from the piece, including the figure from ABC News, and should be attributed to The New Yorker:
Last year, Costco:
- Sold 92 million hot dog-and-drink combos at $1.50 each (same price as in 1985)
- Grossed $4.6 billion in meat sales, $855 million in seafood sales, $3.9 billion in wine (it’s the largest wine merchant in the U.S.), $1.9 billion in TVs, $1.1 billion in baked goods, and $3.9 billion in produce
- Per ABC news, Costco sells $300,000 worth of cashews every week, buying more than half the world’s supply of the nut
- Biggest selling items: toilet paper, nuts, and rotisserie chicken excluding tobacco and gasoline
- Last year, Costco pumped 2.6 billion gallons of gas; filled 35 million prescriptions
“Perhaps the calendar, gazed upon from a distance, actually illuminates the miracle and mystery of life. Populated with our personal details, it accompanies us. It is our signpost, our road map, our book of moments. It is available so we can make sense of the days that we remember and, perhaps, a vault of permanence for the days we do not”
—
A poignant essay by Ted Anthony about the power and legacy of a calendar.
As much as I love, use and value technology, you just can’t do this with a Kindle or an iPad. There will always be something really special about books.
“When I was 17 years old, I sent away for a NASA astronaut application, received it and tacked it to my bulletin board. Sixteen years later, the application still hanging, I have finally applied. I have done my part, now let’s see if NASA does theirs.”
— Facebook post from one of the most extraordinary and qualified people I know who has applied for the NASA astronaut training program. Like me, he’s dreamed about getting to space since he was tiny. Unlike me, he studied astrophysics, has spent the last three austral summers working in Antarctica, and actually has the chops to make it happen. Best, best, best of luck to you, Ben. Make it happen.
“Leaving and moving on — returning to a familiar sense of self-reliance and autonomy — is what I know; that feeling is as comfortable and comforting as it might be for a different kind of person to stay.”
— Carrie Brownstein, co-writer of Portlandia, on her previous relationships. Quoted from this wonderful profile about her last week in The New Yorker.
