KIOSK HELLO

A place to stay, not fancy but nothing run of the mill either. We felt like we were at home, it made us want to relocate to Lisboa. Maria is a lovely host and the neighborhood is absolutely perfect. Perhaps not touristic but we wanted to feel like we were a local and we did, immediately. Each room has a view over Lisbon, as you can see here. Sorry we don’t have any other images. Inexpensive. Great. Go to Lisbon. Do yourself a favor.

Mi Casa en Lisboa

http://www.micasaenlisboa.com/

Calçada do Monte 50, Lisboa -+ 351 91 909 0595

We have had a long-time love affair with Project Number 8 without them even knowing and then we had a long-term love affair with them knowing. How could we not love what they do, beauty! integrity! a bright mind! Rare attributes and even rarer in combination. When they asked us to make a collection of Mid-Atlantic goods for their new location at the Ace Hotel we started right away. Wooly Willy, Wiffle and Johnson’s Popcorn are all represented. Like ants climbing up their hill or Kate Bush running up it, the collection will be added onto as time passes, particularly when we begin on our New Jersey collection next month. (New Jersey being Marco’s location pick for this year.) Oh it is super…! Please stop on by Project Number 8 at Ace and say hi from us.

Yves is working on a new batch of bowls for us, thanks Yves! Exciting…..

It’s about the people, the places, the people… Not forgetting how to make things, how things are made, who is making them and why… showing it to others and wanting to share what we find in the world, it’s about travel and discovering and learning. Now… some images from Portugal… Later… some posts… hopefully these things we share help and encourage you to go and meet and talk and learn and see and show. You don’t have to travel far, you just have to get off the machine and take a walk , look up and around you, beauty is everywhere.

Below is a good example of  life at KIOSK or a good example of why we are NOT in the business… next blog post will be about why we are in the business, promise!

From:     Alisa Grifo <alisa@kioskkiosk.com>
Subject:     Re: Order Update
Date:     February 23, 2010 6:48:13 PM EST
To:     Grand Canyon Community Library <gccl518@yahoo.com>

It must be hard knowing everything about everything…

On Feb 23, 2010, at 5:49 PM, Grand Canyon Community Library wrote:

Alisa,
Please do put my comments on your blog. And feel free to tell the maker of the rack that his work is flimsy. My husband is a woodworker so I know of what I speak. At least refer to it as light weight.
I checked with Fed-Ex and a package of the size I received should cost about $15 to ship “ground” which is the way it was shipped to me.
As a business person it seems you would strive to be honest and polite!

Mindy

—– Original Message —-
From: Alisa Grifo <alisa@kioskkiosk.com>
To: Grand Canyon Community Library <gccl518@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tue, February 23, 2010 2:31:04 PM
Subject: Re: Order Update

hi
do you mind if I put your comment on our blog?
since you are writing to the public I assume it is fine to post the information in a public realm

I’ll let the man who made the drying rack know you think his work is flimsy
also, please let fedex and the US post know the shipping is a rip off , we only pass on what their shipping module calculates

we have no “telephone people” only “people” here, three to be exact

alisa

On Feb 23, 2010, at 4:19 PM, Grand Canyon Community Library wrote:

Kiosk, Please give your telephone people some customer service training!
The Shaker rack is flimsy for $150 and $72 for shipping is a TOTAL ripoff.
Sincerely,
Mindy Karlsberger

—– Original Message —-
From: Kiosk <info@kioskkiosk.com>
To: Mindy Karlsberger <gccl518@yahoo.com>
Sent: Fri, February 19, 2010 10:32:07 AM
Subject: Order Update

Kiosk
——————————————————
Order Number: 3124
Detailed Invoice: https://kioskkiosk.com/account_history_info.php?order_id=3124
Date Ordered: Wednesday 17 February, 2010

The comments for your order are

hi there! your order went out on Wednesday, you should have the drying rack now ASAP! Hope you enjoy it! KIOSK

How my brain feels half the time

Heading to Iceland March 3rd for a week to hopefully wrangle some Icelandic candy over here for Easter-time. If you have any suggestions we are in research mode. Anything, from a place to stay or eat to a hike in nature. People making traditional things too! We will be in Reykjavik, flying to Egilsstader and then driving back on the southern road to Reykjavik, we are on a youth hostel budget- Thanks the suggestions are always interesting!

Hey, could this be the paper balloons?

WPIX “coverage”

I am chuckling at the idea of it….

Oh dear Massachusetts, what you have you become? When we visited your state and saw all of the Subaru Outbacks zipping around we thought for certain we were deep in friendly territory, how were we to know?

It’s a good wake-up call to anyone who voted for Obama… time to get engaged once again and stop complaining that what we are getting from “the Man” is not enough or ripping on the shortcomings of the party. It’s a huge improvement over what we had the 8 years prior and you better not forget it. Sure, I have some problems with the heath care bill, who doesn’t, abortion not being included being one BIG problem I have;  no public plan and my being forced to dance with the big providers being another. However, getting out on the dance floor for the first time in so many years one can not expect Saturday Night Fever moves, you have to develop a good hustle.

From a strictly visual and superficial viewpoint this is what I see: Scott Brown: branding that looks like most crappy generic consumer packaging, ie: familar to the mainstream man, a polished “everyman” attitude, he’s educated and he drives a truck!, a team of daughters, one of which was OMG on “American Idol” surrounding him, as well as a doting wife and the required bunch of red faced white guys standing behind him. Martha Coakley: branding that matches Obama, neutral with just enough design, no cute girls surrounding her but a bunch of stale academics who get their duds at Talbots/Brooks Brothers at best and she looks like she is addressing The NYU Law Review, a valid organization but fairly dry. This is Casting 101. Where is the pizaz Dems? Which angle gives the couch potatoes more to bite into? Who gives the Democrats their style direction? Who are they reaching out to, the academia and the “higher-educated”? I hate to say it but that’s not the majority in any country and it is even less of the majority in the United States where sadly “higher-education” is not for all.–$$$$–(Hopefully community and trade colleges soon come back to life.)

Now, I am not saying an image overhaul will win elections and change public view. But I am saying that becoming part of the image means the image changes. We need to become a part of the image to make it change, to make it current to get it in gear. That’s one of the many ways to tackle changing things from “the same old…”.

Regardless…clearly it’s time once again to get engaged and involved. We have had a year off and we have been resting on our laurels. We are coming back to the States next week and if we get a few people in on it with us we’d like to do more than make combs and posters supporting our party of choice. But we need help to get the ball rolling. So please, let us know if you are in it to win it, not just one election but the big picture too. We have an independent business to run and all we do is work work work but WE and YOU have to find the time TOGETHER to make it happen.

Thanks for listening and thinking and doing. If not something with us do something on your own but please don’t just complain.

In my beautiful balloon…

A friend sent me these pictures from her New Years… our paper    balloon lifting off to space, so lovely.

Listen, 2010, the year of listening. Let’s all listen more. Let’s have less talking, more listening. Less churning, more longevity. Less fluff and more good stuff. Less work and more fun. It’s a good round number to enjoy and roll around in.

Happy 2010 everyone!

Ear compliments of Bordalo Pinheiro, Portugal