29 January 1950 “My Handy Kitchen and The Death of the Blog”

I know I am a bit heavy handed with video posts of late, but I really feel as if the daily post needs to be my main goal. In the old days, I would spend large parts of the day researching and composing and editing for my longer posts. I know they were appreciated and I always felt good when they had been done. But, all in all, I feel that the world of blogging is really changing. Even the format and devices one uses to view such things are changing.

I read an interesting little article the other day about the death of the blog. That it is moving away from what it once was. The increased use of more fast paced and easier means of communication i.e. twitter tumbler et al, is better suited to the low attention span of the user as well as their need to have constantly new things to “look at”. I have given up my idealism and hope that one day we would see that this ease of modern technology would lead to more people being self sufficient and enjoying the good old ways with the new easy things. I know that is not the case. I see those around me simply move with ease from one modern thing to the next, as I suppose is the norm of social/technological evolution.

Now, don’t think me embittered about that view. I know what I like and still enjoy seeking it out. But, I feel less like I need a soapbox upon which to stand to try and point out the Emperor is not wearing any clothes. I’d rather be in the crowd saying, “Yes sure he looks great”, then wandering off to my own home and focusing on what I like to do and how much of those likes I wish to share. The Emperor is not going to listen to lil ole me and I am ok with that.

Thus, as my blog became more and more involved and intertwined into my life, I began to sometimes feel a slave to it. I enjoyed it and felt a responsibility to it. And, maybe if I was getting paid in some capacity, like a job with a paycheck, that would have continued to be a mix of passion with reality so I would have the time to continue putting more and more into it. But, like the blog world seems to be realizing, things get outdated quickly in the 21st century. There is no staying power. And our continued love for things Vintage is a sort of anchor it this turbulent sea of rapid change and eddies and swirls of this new device, that new technology. And I am fine with that.

So, my blog is going to evolve, if it can, into more of a touchstone of little moments. A daily drop of a tiny little raindrop into a vast sea of information and entertainment. I continue to find and wish to share old vides and images and books that I think relevant for us to use as branches to hold onto as the current pulls us ever forward towards the future. A few seconds to click and look and think, “hmmm cute” or “whatdya know bout that?”

In some ways the future is bright. I think amid all the turmoil of the unknown situations that we are heading into: continued bad financial times and increasing unemployment (despite what we are actually told), the ever reaching arm of the military and the wars and conflicts that seem just a part of our lives, the pointless items we are sure to need and must have being put before us, are a part of a dying system. 3-D printing, Changing climate of self-sufficiency, a need to connect, while we can, with others in the world before the ‘firewalls’ begin to go up that utterly changes the freedoms of the internet for the little guy like you and me. In its very uncertainty and the mish mash of control and out of control is an interesting path none the less. And, rather we like it or not, we are all going to be going there, the Future. So, until I can manage a Real time machine to get me outta dodge, I have to look more brightly or at lest with more studied vision to that future.

And again I have rambled on. My point is I am going to keep evolving this blog into I don’t know what. But, I want to keep sharing things daily even if it is just a picture or a film or even one sentence and a shot of a darling vintage woman at work. And in that hope there is some relevance to whatever this 2014 shall turn out to be.

Today it is the great little film about a perfect little 1950’s kitchen. It shows the layout and has great simple really common sense ideas to make a small kitchen a great place to function. I love, too, that in this part of the days chores are shared by the children. I often see modern people talking about how much they need to do to try and have some ‘old fashioned’ things in their life and it is always they alone working away while their children do nothing. Helping with the chores and running of the house must be an outmoded form of child care? I don’t know. I have no children and therefore can’t ever give real advice for it would be worth nothing. But, from an historical perspective, it is interesting to note that once we considered it important for children to learn to work. And before the last World War we even treated children like adults in that we expected them to learn and do and that play was a treat or reward that happened sometimes but not always. A good lesson for the world in which they would live as adults. But, today, I suppose with our own endless fun and amusement a lesson in play and constant praise and diversion is a good lesson to teach as our current adult populace seems to be rather good at that as well. But, I digress.

The film and the cute kitchen: Enjoy and Happy Vintage moments, if you can get em.