Blog Lovin': The Burning House

Brett Ragowski via The Burning House

I recently stumbled on The Burning House - a blog that has definitely caused me to think. The idea behind it is, "if your house was burning, what would you take with you?" People send in photographs of the things they would rescue from their burning house, all gathered together with a few details about them, and voila - a wonderful way to waste time online!

It's a great idea because it makes you think about what really matters to you - what you would be devastated to lose and what you could really live without in you life. What's more, a person's answers can tell you a lot - what matters to them, their priorities, interests, and even their backgrounds.

As the blog says - its an interview condensed into one question - and a conflict between what's practical, valuable and sentimental. Check out a couple of the submissions...

Abbey Gantt via The Burning House

Name: Abbey Gantt
Age: 16
Location: Connecticut
Occupation: Student and camp counselor

List:

• Harry Potter wand from Harry Potter World at Universal
• Pink Buddha figurine (he’s always helped me keep my balance)
• My favorite books: The Harry Potter Series, The Prophet, and All Quiet on the Western Front
• My purse (car keys, cell phone, and wallet)
• My blankie (Had it since the day I was born, sleep with it every night, and always will)
• Dream Catcher handmade by Lakota Sioux Native Americans on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota
• My parent’s wedding picture
• My two grandmothers
• My maternal grandparent’s wedding picture
• A photo album my best friend gave to me, filled with photos of family and friends
• My favorite sunglasses, and my regular glasses
• My sketchbook
• The watch my father gave me, 3 necklaces from 2 very important people
• My great grandma’s engagement ring, and a ring my maternal grandmother gave me
• My camera charger
• My maternal grandpa’s Polaroid camera
• My lucky hat

Name: Pier Paolo Passsarelli
Location : ROMA
Occupation: Student

List:

• first pair of converse i bought
• moleskine and pencil for sketches architectural
• dictionary ,because i don t know well the english
• toothpaste and toothbrush (and condom)
• flip flops
• t-skirt and underwear
• book : “l’eleganza del riccio”
• cd limited edition “confession on a dancefloor”
• book “sex” (Madonna)
• sunglasses H&M
• eye mask (because i can ‘t stand the light at night)
• digital camera
• straightner and comb
• leather bracelet
• iPhone 4

 

Name: Laura Pritchett (IG: @shepaints)
Age:24
Location:Southern Delaware
Occupation:Artist

•  The unglamorous but practical galoshes that I wear most often
•  A painting I am (almost) satisfied with
•  An irreplaceable blouse which has no tag and I have no idea who made it, but love
•  The wooden clothes hanger from my grandfather’s closet
•  The perfectly weathered belt I am rarely without
•  Candid shot of grandfather and his car
• The last remnant of family plaid my grandmother brought back from Ireland
• Keys from my childhood scavenging
• 1957 edition of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook with my grandmother’s and mother’s recipe alterations handwritten in the margins
• The bit I trained two horses with
• Klein bag with my well broken in sable brushes
• The hatchet my great grandfather used to build his house
• The Ball jar that I keep all of my flash drives in
• Family Bible
• Moleskine journal I kept while traveling in Uganda
• First fabric sample produced by Tukula.org with my design for Ugandan tailors
• iPhone

A lot of people actually list their iPhones, which for some reason surprises me...although it shouldn't - I would definitely grab mine. What else would I grab?

-My photo albums from when I lived in Italy
-My journals from middle school, high school, and when I lived in Italy
-A framed sketch of our family cabin
-My pug, Luna
-An antique jewelry box that was a gift from my mom
-A vintage compact that was a gift from my dad
-A painting a friend made for me in college
-A vintage camera that belonged to my Grandpa
-And old VHS tape, made for me by an old boyfriend for my high school graduation, with all my friends saying something to me on it
-My external hard drive for my computer
-My Louis Vuitton bag

What would you take with you if your house was on fire? I am interested to hear what you guys say! Please share with me. 

xoxo

Latest Cool and Clever Finds...

With all of the hours I spend tweeting, facebooking, blogging and researching articles on the internet, I have to keep a little file with all of the fantastic finds and clever things that I find online. Here's some of the latest...

Ok, so first up, when I saw this, I nearly died. I have got to find out where this is and if it truly exists, because if it does, I am so there!

From www.ten-thousandfireflies.tumblr.com, photo by Louis Psyosos

Tree camping, people! How incredible does this look? I am starting to get the feeling its not for real, but oh, if it were!

Next up, an amazing calendar from designer and artist Oscar Diaz...

From www.oscardiaz.net

I am not sure how well this would really work, time-wise, but its a really cool concept. Using the capillary action of ink on the paper, the calendar uses the timed pace of the ink spreading on the paper, to indicate time. The ink is absorbed slowly and apparently, the numbers on the calendar are "printed" daily. I love how inventive and different this idea is.

Another amazing piece of art I stumbled on recently, is a giant installation at the 21st Century Museum of Art, in Japan, from artist Leandro Erlich.

It's a fake pool! 

The top surface is filled with 4-5 inches of water, so it appears from the top, to look like a realistic pool. The people underneath the swimming pool, can look up and see a realistic water effect above them, but the water layer is only about 10 centimeters deep and is suspended over transparent glass. Viewers enter the empty pool space beneath to experience the effect. I gotta say, I kinda love it. 

Finally, this last find makes me wish I worked for National Geographic, because its just such a cool thing to try. Just last month, they tried to create a real-life version of Pixar's animated film, "Up". 

The whole thing was apparently filmed for a series on the National Geographic Channel, called "How Hard Could it Be?" - set to premiere this coming fall. National Geographic got a team of scientists, engineers and two balloon pilots together and they successfully launched a 16x16 foot house that was 18 feet tall. Using 300 eight foot weather balloons, they sent the house up from a private airfield outside of Los Angeles.

Wouldn't that have been fun to see in person?

All images from www.mymodernmet.com

And off it goes...it was up in the air for about an hour. I have to remember to watch the actual episode when it premieres this fall!

All very clever and cool, no? 

xoxo