Urban Ore Ecopark

Urban Ore is largely just neat stuff torn out of homes and businesses. Theater seats, slides, sinks, doors. I thought I’d see what they had in the realm of glass-in-a-frame for a mini salt wall I am building. The last time I went we just stayed outdoors because I had the dog, so it's been forever since I've been inside. They still had great stuff! You even have to move great stuff out of the way to get to other great stuff. It's largely VERY inexpensive although in combing the store I did see three things priced like ebay. 

Urban Ore is part of a warehouse district in Berkeley. We live one town over so we bundled it with a trip to Aquatic Park to save driving. 

The super nice cabinet doors were heavy, and the light-n-cheap cabinet doors were not nice enough for my project. Still, taking a look will make it easier to pay TAP plastics for a custom cut piece of acrylic. 

I've been thinking the salt panel has to be as large as possible- which for me is around 3 feet by 4 feet- for an immersive feeling. Looking at these little doors though it seems like a salt panel that looks like a window would also create sort of a transporting, everyday magic feeling. 

I was very tempted by both of these doors. The one on the left is real wood but is so heavily laminated it doesn't look real. The one on the right is pretty close to workable but I need a lot of depth behind the window to fit my lights in. This one had maybe 8mm. I thought of flipping it. As you can see, the front has enough depth to work with. But the interior trim was just flat so didn't give a nice effect. 

While I was there I had a look around for some of the things on my long term wishlist. I don't need to find them today. I'm looking for the perfect kayak- which would cost around $80, fit in the car or a regular luggage, and be perhaps twice as long as the tucktec. I'm also looking for the perfect bike, which has almost identical specs to the perfect kayak except instead of being 20 feet long, it has tires that never go flat and doesn't look egregiously silly when riding. I didn't find those things but Urban Ore was a perfect place to look. 

I did find this wonderful thing. It's so joyous. We do already have a stationary bike or this might have come home with me. I gave it a try, and, the handlebars also move around so you can work out your arms and core. Sort of like an elliptical but for biking. 

I also took a look at their vintage tech. I am very into vintage tech right now- see how it does ONE THING in ONE PLACE? Although I couldn’t tell what the Philco, here, does. Based on the things around it I suppose it controls theater lights. Another of my long term wish lists is a record player. Or, maybe, a CD player. I'd like to turn it on without screens, without seeing my notifications, and listen to one set of songs straight through. Then when it was over I would know it had been an hour, or however long that record or CD ran. The advantage of a CD player would be that it would be smaller, and I would get the model I grew up with so I know it works well. I found out this week that even my purchased music is not on my phone. It just shows me the song and when I click on it, it streams it to me. I do have the option to download them onto my phone one by one. 

I checked out the typewriters- even though I am not buying another typewriter. What if they had cool stuff, like ink erasing pencils, or another typewriter? Well, they did, but luckily they were the less desirable kind that plugs into the wall, so I wasn't tempted. One said it had "5000 character memory." It has been a long time since that was a selling point for consumer electronics. 

Urban Ore has literal tons of cool stuff for great prices. It also has the advantage over flea markets and garage sales that no one is eagerly watching and talking to you to try and make a sale. However, if you do want to talk the staff is happy to. I put my headphones on so I wouldn't look available. My process of imagining the life I would have that would necessitate a "universal" 7 hole punch from probably the 1940s complete with green felt pad and gray powder coated swing arm, is hindered by someone talking to me. 

My purchases are in the car, getting passively heat treated by the sun so I don't bring anything unexpected home. I can't wait to get them. 

Nooo my items

 

By coincidence a number of packages came available on the same day. I think the carrier got cold (it is cold) and ran out of time to do them and marked them all "no access to delivery location." 

I have recently decided that buying used clothing from all over the US is a little dangerous so I open them directly into the washing machine. Because if I got bedbugs in the house it would be a whole mess. Before I thought of this, I would open the package and put the garment in my dirty laundry, which is in my closet. The packages listed above are coming from Utah, Florida, New York, and Missouri. But, I still value getting to choose between the last fifty years of textiles instead of what is available this season. 

In summer I can use the car as a clearinghouse for new used things since it heats up in the sun. But in winter it doesn't get hot enough. So, I planned my laundry this week around these packages arriving yesterday. I was going to do everything silk- my pillowcases and a few other things- together, and then everything cotton and synthetic together. Instead I washed my cotton textiles without the new pants and new flannel, and my silk stuff is still waiting. 

Minimal watering planting in Northern California

Want to take advantage of the rainfall- it’s a constant process to water the garden in the long dry season. 

Over COVID I was able to stay home in the garden many days per week. But, what if I took advantage of our minimal freezes and the rain falling from the sky to get plants established, so that I would only have to water during the hottest driest times rather than try to get the dirt to take some moisture for the fragile new seedlings?

I started with winter friendly plants that in a harsher climate would need to be in the ground already- garlic, potato, chives. Also inspired by what was in the kitchen ready to go in the ground. Those are doing well and I also tossed out flower seeds which have been sitting for a few years, in the hopes that they could make a better go of it in the earth than on a shelf. 

Kaweco sport clip on Wancai Mini

Lovely to shop in person for little bits like these. I was able to see that the gold suited the pink acrylic of my moonman wancai mini best, and the clip that looked utilitarian online looks elegant in person. 

Flax is a great spot in downtown Oakland. 

I love this pen with or without a clip. Without, it works well as a wallet pen as I never set it down. 

Had to fight the clip on since the wancai is 2mm bigger than the kaweco sport the clip is intended for. I lined up the clip so it doesn't touch my hand while I write. I've also ordered a new feed assembly since this one has cracked. 

An acrylic pen may not last forever but I can get some years out of it. 

Two at a time ankle socks

You can get by without swearing socks if you wear your shoes for a short time and then air them out. Nothing has a chance to make a fungal or other problem since the shoes are dry and resting. You can see this with climbing shoes- you are not supposed to wear socks with them for the best traction, you work out in them for an hour, and then the next time you get them out they are good as new. 

I have gradually phased out the annoying little half socks I used to have to wear to get a full workday's wear out of my dress shoes. All my socks are handknit or otherwise wool. And there are no, no show socks remaining. No problem except now I love these platform sneakers and wear them every time I leave the house. 

I am a lofty, alpine, almost airborne 5' 5" everywhere I go, now. And although it is deep winter in northern California I can feel my feet sweating on hikes and similar. So, time for a hand knit pair of no show socks. I read online that these shoes break in to a larger size- and these have- so a nice bulky pair of socks will be ideal. That also means that these hand knit socks won't go with my other shoes since those fit me properly. 

 

And that means I can dye these socks to match the shoes and hopefully achieve a no show effect even with a little dyed-to-match sock showing and thus circumvent the irritating issue of reaching into a sweaty shoe to grab a little twist of sock and smooth it back over my heel. 

Knitting these two-at-a-time because otherwise all bets are off as to when I'll have the urge to cast on and complete a second sock- as a bonus, you can change anything you want on the fly and not worry to much about making a note since both socks already have the change. 

I straight up can't start two pairs of socks on two circulars, only tried once but it was very uneccessary. Since I have double pointed needles I just cast on and knit each toe then transfer to circulars. If I only had access to circulars I think I would do the same thing, cast on one then set it aside, cast on the other, then put both on the circulars to work. I strongly recommend using two different circulars. Then you just knit every stitch from one type of needle, then drop that needle and work every stitch on the other type. So here I am knitting nickel to nickel.

Dog intermission

Now I knit bamboo-to-bamboo. I would like if this needle was a little nicer so I may pick up a wooden size 3 to replace it. 

Because I'm knitting two at a time this is going very slowly. Every round is 120 stitches or so. I'm just about done though since after I make a spot for the heel and work a little 2x2 ribbing it will be time to cast off. 

The Private Library- minimalist edition

 The Private Library

What a mind altering book. First of all the book starts way, way before books. It takes you along for the ride- when will people think of binding pages together into codexes? Oh, not yet?

By the time you get to books you are so ready to read about libraries but there is still a thousand years to wait for bookshelves. 

As well, I'm at a part of the book physically where it is clear I need a lectern. Like, a book stand. It's not very big but each page is heavy. And also a book weight, to hold the pages open. Not having those things, I've paused reading for now and am building my library. 

I give away books I've read and don't need for reference. This means I have a tiny number of books and they are either in a foreign language or completely sentimental. I don't believe in keeping books I am not going to reread. I also read mostly on my phone and computer. This is practical because it is free, so I can try books I might not like, and also the timeline from hearing about an author to reading their work takes only a few minutes. 

So, how to have a library- maybe a bookshelf or a wall of books- when these are my natural, minimalist parameters?

I mulled this over for around a month before I realized I could display the reference materials as though they were books. I'm going to try putting them in springback binders so they look good on a shelf, and can come out of deep storage in the closet. This led me to the idea of displaying my completed sketchbooks in the same way. I keep them for reference and just have to dig through a box where they are vertically filed if I want to see my old ideas. This works fine but it is a box on the floor so bookshelves are a bit nicer. Of course I choose sketchbooks based on what I want to carry and not on what I want to keep on a shelf so these are staplebound and skinny. The spines are so narrow they couldn't hold a title. If I kept them several in one binder then I would only have one set loose at a time, when I needed it for reference. 

This also led me to the idea of keeping my little projects in book looking containers. These are on order from Japan. The thought is they will look nice on display compared to the plastic tubs and wooden boxes I use now, while still being extremely close at hand. 

Cabled Sweater

Lovely squashy thing. Acrylic yarn from Lion Brand- heartland in the color sequoia. Will knit in pieces. Maybe back, left front, right front, left arm, right arm, hood. Pick up edges for trim. Hoping it can be a workhorse. 

The thing is, I have a handful of gorgeous (store bought) wool sweaters but I live in fleece. Polyester fleece. It's extremely warm, cute, and when it's trashed after a year (they eventually stop getting clean in the washer) I get a new one. 

It's funny to work with textiles all day every day and then put on a store bought fleece over whatever I've made. Hoping this can bridge the gap and be an easy, effortless layer to grab.