Practically sold with scabies and grime already applied
One’s first airplane trip clarifies the reason for such an unusual trend. There is no other situation that involves paying a $25 penalty to delegate critical belongings to a stranger who is very likely to damage them, rifle through and steal them, or simply lose them entirely. We are so happy to get our luggage back at all (even with the contents only partially intact), that any new exterior damage is considered irrelevant. Maybe I’m being a bit negative, but if luggage handlers are so shameless when in full public view, imagine what happens to your baggage when it is out of sight?
I can distinctly remember my father looking outside the window during our first airplane trip (around 1991?) and being in shock, absolute SHOCK, to see his guitar being literally tossed into our plane’s cargo door below. Luckily there were a half dozen large red “fragile” stickers on the case, else it may have been drop kicked into the plane instead, or perhaps gleefully run over a few times with one of those weird miniature baggage vehicles out on the tarmac.
One’s first airplane trip clarifies the reason for such an unusual trend. There is no other situation that involves paying a $25 penalty to delegate critical belongings to a stranger who is very likely to damage them, rifle through and steal them, or simply lose them entirely. We are so happy to get our luggage back at all (even with the contents only partially intact), that any new exterior damage is considered irrelevant. Maybe I’m being a bit negative, but if luggage handlers are so shameless when in full public view, imagine what happens to your baggage when it is out of sight?
I can distinctly remember my father looking outside the window during our first airplane trip (around 1991?) and being in shock, absolute SHOCK, to see his guitar being literally tossed into our plane’s cargo door below. Luckily there were a half dozen large red “fragile” stickers on the case, else it may have been drop kicked into the plane instead, or perhaps gleefully run over a few times with one of those weird miniature baggage vehicles out on the tarmac.
Yes, someone who drives around in a tiny grey clown truck is exactly who I want managing my toothbrush and undergarmentry
Anyone who has traveled on airplanes frequently over the last ten to fifteen years can tell you that the experiential quality of air travel has fallen drastically from what was rather fun and relaxing to being only a notch above Greyhound Bus travel or hitchhiking. Ask any older person about air travel in the 60’s and 70’s and they get a wistful look in their eyes.
Anyone who has traveled on airplanes frequently over the last ten to fifteen years can tell you that the experiential quality of air travel has fallen drastically from what was rather fun and relaxing to being only a notch above Greyhound Bus travel or hitchhiking. Ask any older person about air travel in the 60’s and 70’s and they get a wistful look in their eyes.
Who says pink, red, and orange can't be hot? Yowza!
Clearly, if you want a unique suitcase (and you like having an extra $25 around), you can’t EVER check your bag, lest risk suspicious stains, dents, or complete loss. Thus, smaller carry-on sizes are a must. A while back I started to look outside the domain of black, taupe, olive, red, and leopard print nylon rolling bags and indeed found some extremely nice options; Globetrotter is very stylish, Gucci even more, but my god, the prices are insane, even for leather. The market for stylish luggage seems to be aimed toward the very rich, I suppose because 99% of us normal people have historically stuck with the $100 Walmart special (and certainly aren’t going to pay ten times that or more for a carry-on suitcase). I have occasionally come across something cool (and not insanely priced) like The Indiana Leather Adventure Duffle:
I know I’m being manipulated, but as soon as I read any combination of “Indiana”, “Jones”, or “Adventure”, I'm frothing at the mouth to get it, even searching Amazon.com for a matching cowhide whip… but I eventually passed it up. A bag of that size is best for very short trips, maybe one or two nights, which I don’t often do. Even on medium length trips, I pack very light but not quite that light. There is ONE company that makes gorgeous “vintage style” luggage for very reasonable prices called Steamline Luggage:
One of several gorgeous styles
Fun logo!
Very decent prices, quite stylish, a bit of modern design mixed in with the vintage look and definitely something I’ll consider in the future. (Killy just informed me that Design Sponge did a roundup recently of some other good options, notice that the best ones are none other than Steamline Luggage). But if you really want something really unique and very cheap, vintage is the only way to go. I’ll admit I’m a bit particular… I have yet to find the perfect one for me, but they always catch my eye and I like to poke around when I see one. For example, Killy and I were visiting our lovely friend Suzanne Fiore recently (we’ve been doing a bit of interior and graphic design work for her). When I first entered her apartment, I noticed a new decorative object sitting by the window, a rather large vintage suitcase:
I asked her what the story was with it and she said something about it belonging to her mom. I would’ve indulged my curiosity a bit more if we’d been in a thrift store, but I respectfully refrained from hassling Suzanne’s nice little suitcase. Shortly after talking some shop and chatting about this or that, she informs me that the suitcase is, in fact, a present for me. Well, not the suitcase exactly, more importantly the contents of the suitcase:
I won’t bore you with the details, but long story short, I really like accordions. They can be rather fun yet most people find them quite odd (this is how I would also describe myself as well). In general, I am mesmerized by complex mechanical devices, particularly devices with lots of buttons and able to produce unusual sounds, like this contemporary modular synthesizer called a Serge Creature:
Hours of fun! (Killy does not concur)
We had an amazing accordion player at our wedding ceremony, Will Holshouser, and his performance was one of my favorite parts of the entire day. I’ve watched a lot of online videos of people playing accordion music, from french musette (love it!) to video game theme songs (yay!) to classical music (amazing!)… at some point, it occurred to me that anyone could own one of these things and most people seem to teach themselves - why not track one down and try it out? Well, as it turns out, they are surprisingly expensive! Since they are complex instruments, it’s risky to just go for one on eBay, who knows if it’ll even work? Thus, you can imagine how surprised and excited I was to have one bestowed upon me:
Looks like the front grille of a 57’ Chevy!
I wasn’t even sure how to get it out of the case, never mind where to start with all the buttons. Believe it or not, there are a ton of “teach yourself accordion” videos out there, which, among other useful tips, quickly informed me that I’d been holding the accordion upside-down for the first day or so of playing with it.
I finally figured out how to hold it correctly
It is WAY harder than it looks, which of course makes it even more fun. I’ll try and post a song or two, once I figure it out… but it might take a while!
No comments:
Post a Comment