Cathie Toshach

Very cool real-time map of wind systems around the country.

“Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale, using audience participation, at the event “Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus”, from the 2009 World Science Festival, June 12, 2009.”

By worldsciencefestival

Google Analytics In Real Life - Online Checkout (by googleanalytics)

The Internet’s incredible ability to align people with similar interests makes it very possible for normal people to make big things happen, and that’s something that wasn’t possible at any other time.” ~ Yancey Strickler, Kickstarter

Art in the Era of the Internet by PBS Off Book

What is Curation? by Percolate

Wise words for better, more purposeful curation.

This Is My Home from Mark on Vimeo.

Designers have broad knowledge that spans multiple disciplines; they serve as a guide to engineers who are specialists in a very specific and deep area. Together they can design systems that benefit people and and society.

Don Norman on Engineering Design Education (by illinoisfoundry)

- Theodore Roosevelt

Courtesy of Konigi

“David Shiyang Liu has captured Glass’s now-legendary interview on the art of storytelling in beautifully minimalist and elegant kinetic typography.” - via Brain Pickings

Sarah Prevette, Founder, Sprouter

via GigaOM

Eames diagram representing the intersection of interests between society, client and designer. I especially like point #4, “It is in this area of overlapping interest and concern that the designer can work with conviction and enthusiasm.”

via Daily Dose of Design Articles - Quora

This presentation is a couple years old, but I’m just meeting Hans Rosling for the first time. Not only is his data amazing but his insights and presentation make the data easily understood by anyone.

US in a converging world, Hans Rosling on CNN (Fareed Zakaria GPS) (by Gapcast)

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately - having a firm stance, declaring passion for something and striving to see that something realized. I’ve spent too much time in the middle ground, that grey fuzzy place that is safe but not terribly fulfilling.

via TheMrTire

Tech Trends 2012 by frog design

I’m especially interested in the emerging technology and services focused on the quantified self. I use Fitbit to track my steps and Foursquare to track my activity. Momento, an iPhone app, aggregates my activity from multiple feeds like Foursquare, Facebook, Tumblr and more. Having a historical record of my activity, even if only partial, provides with a way to look back, remember and reflect. Not only is it a new way to “journal” it also has practical applications like remembering a restaurant from a year ago or, in the case of Fitbit, encouraging walking, rather than busing it, to work.

A Taxonomy of Ideas, Work in Progress by David McCandless of Information is Beautiful

Pinterest is a top 10 social website and ranks third for time spent on the site. As someone who pins frequently, I am not surprised that the average visitor spends 88 minutes!

via GigaOM)

Studio portrait of a woman looking away from the camera. Appears to be the same woman shown fishing with her children, here and here.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Studio portrait of a woman resting her head against her arm, which is propped on the back of a chair. She is looking away from the camera. Appears to be the same woman shown fishing with her children, here and here.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Studio portrait of a woman wearing a hat and fur-trimmed coat.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Glass negative image showing a group of young men waiting, with luggage in tow, for a train. Presume to be from the same summer camp series and to have been taken in the early 1900s.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Glass negative image depicting a group of boys at a summer camp along with their camp counselors. They appear to be engaged in some sort of exercise or activity. A camp counselor is holding onto a rope tied to a tree while many of the boys are kneeling looking intently at something out of view from the camera. Presumed to have been taken in the early 1900s.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Glass negative image showing a group of seven young boys peeling potatoes. All but one is wearing a cap. They are huddled around tin buckets holding knives and sitting on crates or wooden benches. Presumed to have been taken in the early 1900s.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Glass negative showing a group of young boys and camp counselors in their pajamas doing morning stretches. Presumed to have been taken in the early 1900s.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Glass negative image of the Washington Monument presumed to have been taken in the early 1900s.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Studio portrait of a man.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Studio portrait of a man in a suit wearing a hat and a pair of round spectacles.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Group of young men, presumably students.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Studio portrait of a girl. Presumably the sister of the boy in this similar studio portrait.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

A group of young boys posing with their baseball gloves.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Five young boys standing outside a white tent in the forest. An American flag flies behind the boys. The glass negative has been hand tinted with the flag being colored in with red stripes and blue stars.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

A mother with her two young children, presumably on a fishing trip. Each child is holding a fishing rod as they stand near a creek.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Mother with two young children enjoying a picnic by the creek.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Studio portrait of a boy.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Boys in canoes.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Young men in queue for a swim.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Young men gathered around a creek.

This glass negative is a part of a set I found at Michiana in Michigan several summers ago.

Old Couple in San Francisco, December 11, 2010

Celebrate 365 has three exclusive ornaments from the Italian workshop of Soffieria De Carlini. I’ve always enjoyed the whimsical style of their ornaments and the prices are quite reasonable compared to some more well-known designers.

Celebrate365

One of the many perils of collecting fragile, shiny objects is the hypnotic effect they can have on cats. Here, Clio, my mischievous and unapologetic cat, enjoys her latest kill - a grandfather clock ornament by Old World Christmas. Lucky for her, this time, it was not much more than an easily replaced decoy.

All That Glitters: The History of Shiny Things from Etsy on Vimeo.

As with many of you, no doubt, I have been enjoying the world of pinning for several months now. Pinterest is a website where you create pinboards of things that inspire and interest you. I’ve created a couple of tinsel + trim pinboards.

The first one includes ornaments and holiday decor, the second is things that could be adapted for the holidays, and the third is do-it-yourself holiday decor. Now that we’re in full swing for the holiday season, I’ll be posting all the great finds I come across online and in person.

I invite you to follow my pinboards and to share your holiday inspired pins.

The White House has sprung to life with plenty of tinsel and trim for the holidays. The Obama Family welcomed the official White House Christmas Tree and hosted military families for a day of activities, including ornament crafts and treats.

Here, the first dog, Bo, presents a remarkable replica of the White House made of chocolate and gingerbread.

Source: NPR.org

Gump’s in San Francisco has set up their annual holiday shop. It looks amazing. Now, if I could only find an excuse to go there.

If you appreciate handcrafted artistry or a more authentic alternative to mass-produced, plastic ornaments, then consider these hand-painted, clay ornaments from Peru. You can find these and other variations on sites like La Fuente Imports. Prices range between $11.95 and $14.95.

I love this clever wall collage made of found objects and formed into a Christmas tree. It could be really fun to collect objects throughout the year–possibly as a family activity–and then bring them together in this unique way around the holidays. [Source: the style files]

Inspired by the furniture and architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, these ornament sets can be found online at Maclin Studio, Inc.

I’ve always been a sucker for tradition, though it hasn’t always been a part of my life. Tradition comes in many forms but more and more these days it seems to get passed over in the hustle and bustle of modern life. Who can be blamed, really? There are so many things to juggle in daily life that tradition can easily be moved to the backburner, a “nice to have.” I, myself, have not been terribly successful in exercising tradition but I do have a hobby that gives a nod to one particular tradition and that is the holidays.

For the past several years I have been collecting holiday decor and ornaments. As my interest and pursuit grew, so did my knowledge of ornaments, leading to this new endeavor, the tinsel + trim blog. I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned as well as learning from you. Along the way, I hope my hobby–and now this public forum–will nudge me towards acting out the holiday tradition of decorating, entertaining and being merry.