Skyfaring
I don’t think I’ll ever become a commercial airline pilot but I’ll admit its tempting after reading Mark Vanhoenacker’s pilot memoir Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot. Some of my favorite parts of the book were descriptions of how the author’s understanding of the physical world has changed from being a pilot. I had never…
Shop class
One of the biggest mistakes I made in my educational career is not taking shop class in high school. I was fortunate in that my school had well outfitted metal and wood shops, yet I never set foot in them. Honestly, I think I was even a bit afraid. The kids taking shop classes weren’t…
Network
When I take public transit to work I typically pass through South Station and exit up the stairwell just east of Summer and Atlantic street. On the wall is a gorgeous tiled mural showing the region overlaid with waterways, railways, roadways, and the deep blue ocean stretching out to sea. The only splash of color…
Futurist
One of my favorite short story collections is The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. Its a classic combination of Bradbury wit, fantasy, and poeticisms and wonderful all the way through. You should read it for all sorts of reasons, but make sure to at least check out The Rocket Man if for no other reason,…
A big man
Henry Hobson Richardson was an influential architect active in the late 1800s and based in Boston. I learned about him by reading Architects of an American Landscape by Hugh Howard which I originally picked up because I thought it was going to mostly be about Frederick Law Olmstead but turned out to be more of…
Big Things
As a rule, I stay away from self improvement books. I often find them not that helpful and the lessons are useless if you don’t have a plan to implement them anyway. I made an exception for “How Big Things Get Done” by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, though, since it came recommended by a…
Pillar Arc
I’ve begun to appreciate public art more and more as maybe is evident by the theme of some recent posts. While in Seattle recently for a conference, I frequented a little plaza outside of the downtown courthouse. It was a block away from the conference center and was a nice respite when I needed it….
Black vessel for a saint
I recently wrote about a pedestrian bridge at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden that caught my attention. Another installation in the park that has stuck with me is Black Vessel for a Saint by Theaster Gates. The piece consists of a statue of St. Anthony, the patron saint of libraries, inside of a black brick cylindrical…
To Hell with Hitler
I work regularly out of an old warehouse building in the Seaport district of Boston. My company is storing some hardware in an adjacent building and I got into an interesting conversation with the longshoreman who was helping us out. It turns out he was very proud of the building and, of course, new of…