Rawr! I used to love making wooden dinosaur skeleton models when I was a kid. I had Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, Brontosaurus, and of course, my lovely little companion to the left: Chomposaurus MAX!
Lis and I did a QOL today, ambling around Granville Island for a couple of hours and just soaking in the sun, water, mountains, and uber-crafty aura of the place. A QOL, for the uninitiated, stands for a "Quality of Life" and is used as a noun in place of "constitutional", "afternoon off", or "I gotta stop working or I'm gonna snap break."
On our little jaunt, we came across a part of the Island called the Kids Market, an area that I had previously mentally nullified but that now, suddenly seemed relevant. Attuned to this strange and secret zone, we decided to take a little peek inside, and found a collection of possibly the coolest kids stores I'd ever seen. Each forewent the raucous and intrusive popular capital brands in favor of obscure and clever little toys for the ages -- all sorts of tiny plastic animals, wooden train sets, die-cast toy trucks, science toys, puzzles, and, yes, wooden dinosaur models. It was like the proprietors actually cared about what they were selling rather than just how much. It was lovely.
(Cyndi and Vince be forewarned: When you come here, we're going to the Kids Market).
One of the many ambling topics we covered on our QOL was the speculation that there is now an entire market for parents who want to introduce their kids to the same simple toys that lined the shelves years ago. Seeing a model such as the one pictured above practically breaks my heart, and I can guarantee that when I'm faced with the choice of buying junior a nifty dinosaur model that improves both manual dexterity and curiosity vs. a mass produced, plastic, smack-you-in-the-face-with-advertising, latest greatest whateverthefuck (or, for the initiated, a MPPSYITFWALGWTF), I think the simpler, more refined option will win out. Call me old fashioned, but I think there's something to be said for value and quality.
Lis and I did a QOL today, ambling around Granville Island for a couple of hours and just soaking in the sun, water, mountains, and uber-crafty aura of the place. A QOL, for the uninitiated, stands for a "Quality of Life" and is used as a noun in place of "constitutional", "afternoon off", or "I gotta stop working or I'm gonna snap break."
On our little jaunt, we came across a part of the Island called the Kids Market, an area that I had previously mentally nullified but that now, suddenly seemed relevant. Attuned to this strange and secret zone, we decided to take a little peek inside, and found a collection of possibly the coolest kids stores I'd ever seen. Each forewent the raucous and intrusive popular capital brands in favor of obscure and clever little toys for the ages -- all sorts of tiny plastic animals, wooden train sets, die-cast toy trucks, science toys, puzzles, and, yes, wooden dinosaur models. It was like the proprietors actually cared about what they were selling rather than just how much. It was lovely.
(Cyndi and Vince be forewarned: When you come here, we're going to the Kids Market).
One of the many ambling topics we covered on our QOL was the speculation that there is now an entire market for parents who want to introduce their kids to the same simple toys that lined the shelves years ago. Seeing a model such as the one pictured above practically breaks my heart, and I can guarantee that when I'm faced with the choice of buying junior a nifty dinosaur model that improves both manual dexterity and curiosity vs. a mass produced, plastic, smack-you-in-the-face-with-advertising, latest greatest whateverthefuck (or, for the initiated, a MPPSYITFWALGWTF), I think the simpler, more refined option will win out. Call me old fashioned, but I think there's something to be said for value and quality.
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