Month: June 2013

Nathan

“Hi, my name is Nathan and I brought with me my Tivoli audio songbook.

I just don’t like talking to people. That’s why I think I like my radio…so I don’t have to talk.

I keep the radio on from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed at night. It’s kind of like having another person around the house when I’m just doing my work. It’s not about the radio. It’s about having sound, whether music or talking.

But honestly, it’s not just white noise. I just love information. I love to read, I love any intake of information, and I just find this to be the most passive way to do it. It’s just coming into me while I work. My girlfriend thinks it’s really interesting- she’s never seen anything like it.

This radio has a kind of weird coating on it. It just loves dirt. It sits on my work bench and gets kinda crusty. But I don’t care, as long as it plays.

I wouldn’t hear a voice for days if it weren’t for this radio.”

Jake

“My name is Jake.

This is the first knife I ever bought; its called a Santoku. I want to be a chef and own my own restaurant….someday. I love to see how my cooking can make people happy.

I found it in Tokyo last summer at the giant Tsukiji fish market. Getting it there was extra cool ’cause they engraved my name in Japanese right into the handle and promised me a new knife as a gift if I ever came back and was a professional chef. Of all the vendors, they were the nicest!”

Tidbit:

Jake is only 14 years old but already has two mentors in his corner, Barbara Lynch and Ana Sorun, both renowned chefs in their own right.

Adam

“I’m here today with a collection of cards that I’ve found over the last 20 years on the streets of different cities around the world. On a backpacking trip through Europe in 1995 is when I first realized that these cards generally appear around pivotal life moments, such as changes in career, relationships, breakthroughs etc.

I remember this one card I found in Spain vividly. That same day I had been dumped by my girlfriend at the time. It was a pivotal moment in my life because it opened my eyes to what was in front of me and all that was about to unfold.

I’ve always written the date and location on the cards to track where and when I find them. One day, a mathematician friend of mine recommended that we chart them to see if there were any patterns to be found. Sure enough there was. On several occasions I had found the same exact card on the same exact day years in a row, and in some cases, every other year.

That freaked me out in a cosmic kind of way, but made me realize that for me, this was more than just a random hoarder habit. I stopped charting them, but I do still collect the cards, and now it’s a nice surprise when I find them. It reminds me to slow down, evaluate the current state of my life, and take note of where things are at.”