November 17, 2012

Show & Tell Participants from November 14, 2012

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Billy Ganun's parents live in Breezy Point, one of the New York City neighborhoods that was hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy. While helping with the relief and clean-up efforts, he found these Mardi Gras beads under his parents' house. They're apparently left over from the neighborhood's annual Mardi Gras party, and they're a powerful reminder of Breezy Point's newfound hurricane-related connection to the city of New Orleans. Billy started wearing them while continuing his clean-up work and got some positive feedback. "An old lady said she liked that I was wearing ’em, so I'm gonna keep doing it," he says. "It's a reminder of where we want to get to, as opposed to where we are now." (Photo by Kirsten Hively)

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Willow O'Feral was walking on a California beach one day when she found an abstract piece of something or other, which she turned into the pendant for a necklace. She originally thought it might be "some kind of weird mask," but an engineer friend later told her that was part of an electrical insulator. "It's always felt talismanic to me, because it represents trash being transformed and the ocean spitting it back," she says. "I don't wear it every day, but on days when I need strength, like when I'm applying for a job." (Photo by Kirsten Hively)

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Adel Souto fell in love with someone over the internet. When they met in person, they sealed their bond and indulged their shared passion for transgressive adventure by trespassing into an abandoned steel mill in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where Adel took this circular sheet from a gauge that measured, well, something. (You can get a closer look at it here.) The two of them eventually lived together for three years. And although it didn't end well, Adel still has fond memories of that day at the steel mill, which he describes as "an amicable break-in." (Photo by Kirsten Hively)

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Faith Rowald was spending some time in Bethlehem (the one in Palestine, not in Pennsylvania) in 2008 when two Swedish friends gave her this mug, which features lots of Dalahäst horses — a Swedish icon. "The horses look magical and happy, which is what Sweden basically is," she says. "It's my favorite mug, even though it got chipped when the shelf it was sitting on fell down. I use it for mint tea and hot chocolate." (Photo by Kirsten Hively)

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Brad Heck's uncle was an engineer who helped build space shuttles for Honeywell. Among his inventions was this differential for the shuttle's autopilot system. (You can get a better view of it here.) His uncle's engineering career came to an end when he found religion and decided to become a minister, which led to the break-up of his marriage. The differential has several moving parts and is very satisfying to handle. Fiddling with it, Brad says, "is a very good way to get your mind in order. I don't find God in this; I find man in this." (Photo by Kirsten Hively)

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Michael George's younger brother, Johnny, is something of an information and culture sponge and likes to share what he knows with Michael — or impose it upon him. For example, Johnny has given Michael six binders (so far) of home-burned CDs containing year-by-year breakdowns of what Johnny considers to be important or notable music, including several CDs' worth of music from 1975. Michael has hinted to Johnny that he has neither the time nor the inclination to listen to all of this, especially since his tastes don't always line up with his brother's. Johnny's response: "Well, how else are you going to learn?" At the end of his Show & Tell presentation, Michael passed the CD around and invited any interested party to keep it. "Johnny's never gonna know." (Photo by Kirsten Hively)

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Diane George — no relation to Michael George, above — took a trip to China some years ago and fell in love with a little dog figurine at a local market. (Here's a better view of it.) She was happy to pay the seller's asking price — $5 — but her Chinese friend was embarrassed by her lack of haggling and insisted on dickering the price down to 50¢. Interestingly, the figurine is stamped on the bottom with "Made in Japan," which is very unusual for something sold in China. It also got Diane thinking about how much ground the figurine has covered: "It's brass, and Japan doesn’t have a lot of mineral wealth, so the materials must have come to Japan from somewhere else, and then it went to China, and now it's in New York." (Portrait by Kirsten Hively; dog photos by Diane George)

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Six months ago, Andrew Lederer had triple-bypass surgery. The doctors sent him home with medicine that was supposed to help his heart get back to normal, but he found that he wasn't feeling much better. After several weeks, it was discovered that they had prescribed the wrong medicine, and that he was essentially taking roughly one-fifth the dose he should have been taking. Fortunately, the error was corrected and he's now feeling much better. He brought the correct and incorrect medicines with him. (Photo by Kirsten Hively)

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Haisi Hu loves the story of Akira Yoshizawa, the man who helped popularize origami in Japan. He lived much of his life in poverty and made, by his own estimation, over 50,000 origami pieces, none of which he ever sold. Inspired by his example, Haisi has learned how to make origami pieces, including this black stallion, which took her about four hours. (Photo by Kirsten Hively)

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We conclude, as usual, with Show & Tell host Paul Lukas — me. About two weeks prior to this installment of Show & Tell, I fractured my wrist and forearm in a bicycle accident. I'm on the mend, but along the way I'm learning to deal with all sorts of new limitations. One thing I immediately realized was that I could no longer use dental floss. I vaguely remembered hearing about some little gizmo that has a piece of floss stretched between two prongs, so I went to the drug store and sure enough, there was a whole section devoted to this product category. I was amazed by all the varieties — different shapes, different colors. I eventually chose a 90-pack of Rite Aid Flossups, in part because the curvy handle reminds me of a sperm cell. (When your arm is broken in two places, you have to take amusement where you find it.) Frankly, I have no idea why anyone with two fully functional arms would use this type of product — it's much less satisfying than getting in there and going to work with a real piece of floss — but I sure am glad it exists. (Photo by Kirsten Hively)

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Big thanks to all participants, and extra-special thanks to Kirsten Hively for stepping in on short notice as this month's Show & Tell shutterbug.

Show & Tell will go on hiatus for December, but we'll be back with a new installment on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, in the back room at Freddy's. Hope to see you then.

October 14, 2012

Show & Tell Participants from October 10, 2012

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Drew Valente wasn't planning to participate in Show & Tell, but then his girlfriend, with whom he was sitting in the audience, rooted around in her bag and found this "Get Out of Hell Free" card, which someone had left under the windshield wiper of their car in New Haven a few years ago. (You can get a closer look at the card here.) The back of the card has a series of Bible verses and the URL for the web site NeedGod.com, which features an online survey. Drew took the survey on his phone just a few minutes before presenting the card and reported that the results were, "You are a bad person." (Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Anita Flores has, as she puts it, "a long history of wearing pants with an elastic band." She started wearing sweatpants in high school and kind of got hooked on them in college, where she wore them around campus — a social faux pas she now regrets ("One you start dropping food on them, they basically become a napkin"). She eventually swore off sweatpants altogether but made an exception for the pants she's holding in the photo, which she purchased during a trip to India. "These don't count," she said, "because they're from another country." (Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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For years, Andy Cai only drank wine and had no interest in beer. Then, nine years ago, he tried a pint of Fuller's London Pride, which he liked so much that it turned him into a discerning beer aficionado and home brewer. He hadn't had Fuller's in several years and was surprised to see it on tap at Freddy's, where Show & Tell takes place. So he ordered a pint and used it to tell the story of his wine-to-beer conversion. (Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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When Robin Eisgrau was growing up, she was fascinated by the 1980 film Times Square — in part because of its new wave soundtrack, in part because it seemed to capture the excitement and danger of Manhattan, and in part because it featured the actress Robin Johnson ("It was the first time I'd been aware of an actress named Robin"). She finally saw the movie recently at Anthology Film Archives, after which she went out and made the long-overdue purchase of the two-LP soundtrack — even though she no longer owns a turntable. She also checked in on the career of Robin Johnson, who, as it turns out, went on to become a traffic reporter for a Los Angeles radio station. (Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Mel Daly says she has "a great fear of not having access to food." So she always has a travel fork — or better yet, as you can see above, two travel forks, both of which fit into one case — on her person. She feels better knowing that she's prepared for a "a lifeboat situation," as she puts it, plus she likes that the travel forks are more environmentally friendly than the plastic utensils that typically come with take-out. (Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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We conclude once again with Show & Tell host Paul Lukas — me. Several years ago a friend of a friend heard I was interested in unusual objects and gave me this copy of Martha Stewart Living in Braille. Just about anything in Braille is interesting, because the pages are so tactile and the characters seem so indecipherable. But a Braille version of Martha Stewart Living is extra-fascinating, because it seems like such an unlikely thing for a blind person to be reading. If you want to know more, a fairly detailed examination of this Braille issue of MSL can be found here. (Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Big thanks to all participants, and doubleplusthanks to Cameron Blaylock for the photos. Speaking of which, we need a photographer for next month's Show & Tell, which will be on Wednesday, Nov. 14. So if you'd like to be the official Show & Tell shutterbug for a month (or longer), please get in touch.

September 20, 2012

Behold the New Official Show & Tell Timer

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Show & Tell's format allows anyone to talk about an object of personal significance for up to three minutes. The time limit has never been strictly enforced — there's no gong that sounds at the three-minute mark, no trap door that opens up beneath the speaker — but the idea is to keep things moving, let everyone have a turn, and discourage extended theatrics.

For the first 21 months of Show & Tell's existence, those three minutes were measured by a three-minute hourglass timer that I had purchased in the fall of 2010. It was a handy little device, literally and symbolically, and I liked the idea of each speaker — as well as the audience — being able to see the sands of time slipping away during a presentation.

As I was preparing for this month's Show & Tell event on Sept. 12, however, I couldn't find the timer. I probably left it behind at Freddy's back in August, or maybe it just fell out of my bag at some point, or whatever. In any case, it was gone. There was no time to procure a new one, so the digital timer that I use in my kitchen was pressed into emergency Show & Tell service. It was fine from a functional standpoint, but it lacked the charm of the old timer.

So the other day I went out and got myself a new three-minute hourglass timer (along with an extra one, in case I lose the new one). As you can see in the photo shown above, it has the added bonus of matching the color scheme of this web site. It will make its Show & Tell debut at Freddy's on Oct. 10. Hope to see you there.

September 14, 2012

Show & Tell Participants from September 12, 2012

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Andrew Linderman was training to be a stand-up comedian when he was told "the secret of comedy," which is that every comic must carry a Joker on his or her person. If someone asks you for a Joker and you don't have one, you have to pull your pants down. Andrew dutifully went and purchased a deck of cards, removed one of the Jokers, and put it in his wallet. He later found out that the whole thing was a hoax, but he keeps the Joker in his wallet anyway, as a reminder of his training. (Photo by Deb Klein)

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After years of wearing cheapo sunglasses that she invariably lost, Sarah Lasko felt she was ready for expensive shades that she wouldn't be able to afford to lose. "I saw it as a symbol of becoming a grown-up," she said. So her father bought her these designer sunglasses for her birthday — and then she promptly lost them while traveling. But then she got them back! She says the sunglasses cost about $300, making them "the fourth-most expensive thing I've ever owned." You can see her wearing the sunglasses here. (Photo by Deb Klein)

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There isn't a whole lot to say about this peach that Lisa Madison got from her CSA, except that it's one of the most stupendously gigantic peaches ever. It was grown by "Farmer Phil" in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Lisa also brought a bunch of CSA peppers, which she generously gave out to the Show & Tell attendees. (Photo by Deb Klein)

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A few years ago, Heather McCabe had to get some paperwork certified by a city agency, which meant she had to show her I.D. to a clerk at a window. But instead of providing her own I.D., she gave the clerk an I.D. card for Jesus Christ (with the eye color listed as "Heavenly"), which she had purchased at a novelty shop. The clerk nonetheless approved the paperwork. (Photo by Deb Klein)

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Faith Rowold was involved in a relationship with a journalist who frequently traveled for work and sent her love letters, which she kept in books, in her purse, and so on. Unfortunately, he recently broke up with her, and now she keeps finding his notes in the various places where she'd stashed them. She brought one of them with her to Show & Tell. (Photo by Deb Klein)

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While Elana Haviv was backpacking in India, several people told her she "looked like Krishna." Hoping to find the connection that people saw, she purchased this baby Krishna figurine. (Photo by Deb Klein)

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We conclude with Show & Tell host Paul Lukas — me. I inherited my grandmother's toaster when she died in 1980. It's an unusual toaster, because it doesn't have a knob to depress. Instead, you just drop the bread into the slot and it trips an internal lever that activates the toaster and causes the bread to "float" down. I love toast, I love my grandmother, and I love that I think of her every morning when I use this toaster. It was made in the early 1960s, which means I've now owned it longer than she did, but I still think of it as hers. (Photo by Deb Klein)

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Big thanks to all participants, and extra-special thanks to Deb Klein for handling the photo duties this month. See you all on Oct. 10.

August 28, 2012

Show & Tell Participants from August 22, 2012

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Emma Williford holding a zebra tooth that she found in Africa.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Barbara Lynn Cantone holding a shiv disguised as a comb.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Pete Wagner holding a cast iron skillet that had once belonged to his grandmother.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Rebecca Short holding a Swiss army knife given to her while she was in the Girl Scouts.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Noa Cooper holding a personal massage device that's often mistaken for a sex toy.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Danielle LaSusa holding a pair of sunglasses given to her by her fiancé.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Jill Yoe holding a piece of folk art that reminds her of her home in Mississippi.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Daniel Short holding a broken compass given to him by his father.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Heather McCabe with a cigarette box holding her cats' fallen whiskers and claw casings.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Jeff Long holding a reproduction of a 1982 Nike sneaker he was once obsessed with.
(Photo by Cameron Blaylock)

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Big thanks to all participants and attendees, and extra-special thanks to Cam for taking the photos. The next installment of Show & Tell will be on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 8pm, at Freddy's. Hope to see you then.