Anticipation

A few weeks ago, I flipped open my ancient cell phone, to the worst possible effect...

It literally busted apart, springs and hinges propelled out of the thing, and one piece even hit me in the forehead! The whole scene was like something out of a cartoon.

So I've been without a cell phone for a few weeks, and it's very disconcerting, if only for safety reasons. I'm not constantly nattering on it, but I like being able to reach Mr. Spandrel in a pinch.

We'd been mulling new phones for about a year, now. It was all very three bears, with this one too small, this one too big, yadda-yadda.

Perhaps you've heard, but there's a new phone coming out today. We are going to see if we can snag one. For some reason, Mr Spandrel is convinced that in our area, iPhones won't be a big deal. That getting ours will be a cinch.

So we have a plan, you'd think it would involve military-precision timing so we can avoid any long waits. But no.

Let's see if it works!

Bend It Like Bendant

A friend (thanks, JC!) recently informed me of MIO, a green design company located in downtown Philadelphia.

Besides MIO's aesthetic - which makes me want to paint the entire downstairs white like a gallery so a swath of their textured wallpaper on one vacant wall would make a visual/texture statement - I like what they stand for.

What drives them is creating sustainable innovation that uses recycled materials. A local milliner makes their felted bowls and lampshades. They've already garnered the attention of the design world, and have received a lot of press.

I am head-over-heels in love with their Bendant lamp (pictured, left), which would look just smashing over our dining room table.

Also? A part of me wants to work for a company like this some day.

Modernity

Yesterday, I visited the new Perelman Building at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and while the architecture itself was something to see, for me the most interesting was the Collab exhibit, Designing Modern: 1920 to the Present.

All those Saarinen and Eames chairs remind me of my great-uncle's house, a mid-century modern affair in Northern New Jersey. The first time I stepped inside and spotted the furniture, I was enthralled.

In the living room, there was a Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona chair. Upholstered chaise lounges shaped like the letter S. And wire Bertoia chairs. They could have been reproductions, but who cares? To me, they were like stepping into another world.

My own family's living room had pseudo-French Provincial furnishings, practically roped-off from the younger set. So know that someone in our family understood this modern design was riveting.

It was an introduction to modern lines, textures and colors that I had never seen before. I remember thinking that this is exactly the kind of furniture I could feel content to live with. Maybe I was five years old at the time?

And now, every time I see a collection of modern furnishings, it just feels like home. My own home.