“Disdyakis Triacontahedron” aka 120 Sided Dice
I love games, dice, and have been playing and running D&D games for years. The D120 is particularly special because while it might not look it at first, it is an object at the extremes of possibility. Created by the Dice Lab it is a kind of mathematical freak. No larger “fair” dice can be made. It has the greatest number of symmetrical faces possible for an icosahedron. A freak of nature, math, and really fun to roll around.
Turbine Exhaust Stamp
Another passion of mine is abandoned spaces. This is from a particular famous industrial space on the Williamsburg, Brooklyn waterfront that a friend of mine found an entrance into. He was kind enough to bring me along on his explorations. I normally don’t take things from any space I explore but in this case much of the building was about to be torn down and turned into condos so I knew this small piece of history was bound for the trash heap. Holding reminds both of the adventure and of the history of the building and the area. Also stamps are great.
Minke Whale Vertebrae
My wife and I are both collectors, often of natural history objects, and enjoy hiking and exploring the outdoors. We had heard from a friend that a whale carcass had washed up on a Maine beach and been dragged into a nearby swamp. We weren’t able to visit the area until a year later it seemed like nothing remained until we stumbled over this vertebrae submerged and completely covered in moss. You can see where the acidic waters ate away that bone. It is an object like no other. Holding it also reminds me of natural world and the desperate the need to protect it.
Fox and Duck taxidermy aka Virginius P. Foxington and Mr. Beeps
As is evident in our apartment, my wife Michelle and I are collectors of natural history ephemera particularly of vintage taxidermy. Bought a small second hand shop in Budapest, Hungary this was the first piece of taxidermy we ever bought. There is something so playful in the anthropomorphic presentation. Are the duck and fox friends? Is the duck his lunch? I think they are best buds, heading out on a great adventure together.
Puukko the Nordic knife aka a Marttiini Hunting Knife
Bought on a trip to the Finnish Lapland. We stayed with Finnish reindeer herders and saw how they used their incredibly sharp knives to quickly make delicate rolls of paper thin wood off a log and how quickly they could start a fire that way. They could do it in seriously 60 seconds. I was totally enthralled got myself one of these knives. Marttiinni has been making them since 1928 and they still manufacture in the arctic circle. It is a really perfect functional object. I kind of beam with pride every time I use it.
Homemade Pencil Pouch
A gift from my wife, it has a kind of in joke on it. As a teenager I was really big into graffiti and when I was 15 on a class trip I snuck off and got a tattoo of a spray paint can that read “forever.” While I paint less than I once did, I still love to draw and the pouch is filled with my favorite pens and pencils, like Tomboy Mono Pencils and Sakura Micron Pens. Just a joy.
Canon 70D
There are way fancier cameras, but for me, this is a perfect workhorse of a camera. I am most definitely not a professional photographer and more of the spray and pray variety, but this camera (or the 60D before it) has gone with me everywhere. I used it to shoot video of crossing the last Incan bridge in South America, and to take shots of the Clown Motel in Nevada, and everything in between. If I am heading off on an adventure, this is in my hand!
Demploi Backpack
Made by my friend Kyle who has started his own bags, hats and apparel company, it makes me happy every time I wear it! He create these bags from sailcloth from the bronx and hardware from army surplus and they are as tough as they look! This has become my single all purpose bag from bringing my laptop to work, to the single carry on bag I take on all trips. I have literally put 100 pounds of stuff in this bag and it has held it like it was no big thing. Besides it just being an unbreakable object of beauty, knowing the amount of work and care that Kyle put into making this beautiful backpack makes me love using it!
