#tchotchkes — Public Fediverse posts

#FotoVorschlag

“Warenauslagen” / Product displays

This is a timely theme for me! I’ve just come back from visiting friends in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where we checked out a lot of marketplaces and antique and artisan shops. Here are a few displays I saw (and I’ll post more).

#photography #tchotchkes #merch #storedisplay

#FotoVorschlag
“Einmal ordentlich Kitsch bitte” / A good dose of kitsch, please

I think I have a problem with the idea of “kitsch.” It seems to be an elitist term: something that’s popular but that “should” be looked down on, or that we can only enjoy in an ironic way to show that we’re smarter and know better. Um, no thanks? Anyway, here are some Funko figures I acquired recently, because I love “K-Pop Demon Hunters” fully and unironically.

#photography #tchotchkes #kpopdemonhunters

Currently showing three paintings from the 1970s in our living room. #oilpainting #painting #paintings #1970s #twentiethcentury #midtwentiethcentury #tinyhome #tinyhomeliving #smallhouse #smallhouseliving #art #artist #tchotchke #tchotchkes #nicknacks

Once upon a time, I went on an entrepreneurial journey. I designed and built a mobile app for bowling leagues. This is a promotional coaster that was a big hit with folks.

#Design #Tchotchkes #Retro #Bowling

@shockwaver

Forgive me for being Devil's Advocate for a moment...

The major difference between these cases is whether a given #public #service benefits the public as a whole (not "each individual separately, but all of them") or if they benefit the #individual(s).

Military or police spending? That's benefiting #society as a whole - you can't really say "Hey, Fred used a whole lot of police last year and cost me $X" (though some people try). It's even dafter in the military case.

But the post office ... well, if Fred sells and sends out 10,000 #tchotchkes at public #expense, he individually is solely benefiting from that, and the rest of us are picking up the tab. Or if some fundamentalist religious group decides to send "Chick tracts" to every household in Canada, should the #taxpayer really be picking up the #millions of dollars that those bible-thumpers cost everyone?

It's a tricky issue; there is no good solution.

But it pisses me off that they still aren't doing the *obvious* stuff to save money. For many years it's been bloody #obvious that eliminating legacy home delivery, installing community mailboxes for those just like every house built since the mid-80s, would save huge amounts of money.

And they still haven't done it, because the #politicians are afraid it'll cost them a few #seniors' votes.

#ChickTract #BibleThumper #PostOffice

Apropos of nothing at all...

#tchotchkes Things I have on my desk right now that are not electronics:

• tiny and medium screwdrivers
• a nice pen
• a mediocre pen that I haven't thrown away because it works
• a remote control for the fan halfway across the room
• a bottle of ibuprofen, about 90% gone
• a locking, retracting measuring tape
• the knife I keep on my desk
• an old knife that I ought to clean and put away
• a cat comb
• glasses cleaning cloths
• a wooden gecko
• a nice green stone
• water mug
• 6.35 to 3.5mm stereo jack adapters that I haven't put away yet
• A NancyButton* that says "UNIX wasn't designed to keep you from doing stupid things because that would stop you from doing clever things."

*https://www.nancybuttons.com/