Hello David, Northern Liberties

recipient:

T.Rowe Price Investment Services/ PO Box 17630/ Baltimore, MD 21298-9313

sent:

Philadelphia Inquirer article “Philly’s Light Fantastic” by Architecture Critic Inga Saffron

reasoning:

to the man of Rittenhouse Square (one of my favorite places in the city b/c it attracts all sorts of people: business, blue collar, hipster, canvassers, homeless, old & married, young & with kids) David Rittenhouse was an astronomer, clock maker, and land surveyor. he was also the first director of the US Mint. he built one of the first telescopes in the US, and traced the path of Venus across the sun. Ray King is a Philadelphia-based installation artist whose primary medium is light, and manipulates it into a sort-of holographic image. he was buying material from a supplier one day and learned that David Rittenhouse was also interested in light diffraction into a color spectrum. while King created work on university buildings and airports, this one is right in Philadelphia, on the side of his studio building, facing south as a gateway introduction to the neighborhood and in tribute to the man. I love the name of the installation – that both men are in conversation with each other, exploring their curiosity of light, one for art, the other for science. but with the telescope, and this installation of Hello David, who’s to say they are not one in the same, highly interchangeable, or at least complementary projects. i have not yet seen it in person, but from this video and the images on King’s page, it looks breathtaking, like a lightshower or mirrors inside a telescope magnified by X100000.

ex-boyfriend jewelry

recipient:

American Express/ P.O. Box 31511/Salt Lake City, UT 84131-9934

sent:

Philadelphia Inquirer article “Bye-bye to boyfriend and bling” written by Frank Visco

reasoning:

better than setting up a bonfire in the woods by yourself and throwing all of the stuff he gave you that was “cute” into it. here at Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry: “You don’t want it, he can’t have it back”, you can sell the jewelry given to you from previous relationships and tell the stories or reasons of why you are no longer together. unlike the pawn or consignment shops, the website does not take a big chunk of the profit for itself. Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry is almost like a support group for the broken-hearted. it’s almost comforting to know you aren’t the only person who has been cheated on recently, though it may feel like it.  mostly geared towards women in heterosexual relationships, there is a section where men can sell jewelry remnants of old loves, as well.

these Tiffany Elsa Peretti Open Heart earrings for $150 seem particularly covetous. it also comes in a pretty Tiffany teal envelope! why is she selling? “he pretty much promised me the world and didn’t come through for me. But now I have a fantastic new boyfriend… So, I’m selling the old jewelry to make room for the new jewelry!”Other memorable lines: “he was lazy, cheap, and a piece of crap, obviously he must go”, “same old same old”, “all my exes have been idiots”, “need to pay the bills…”

the section on engagement rings is particularly heartbreaking.