stuff i think

OK, so it's late July, 2003....I'm hanging out poolside at Kelsey's uncle's place in upstate New York, when my cell rings. It's some guy who wants to hear more about our Burning Man trip. Yes, he's been there. Yes, he's from the Bay area. Turns out he's a pretty hip dude....hip enough to have been one of the founders of Wired. We chat for a while and we decide to keep in touch, which we still do periodically.



I don't know Kevin well...We've never met in realtime, but we exchange email a few times a year, and I bequeathed him our sweet spot at the Burn this year - he pulled in a few hours after we left. He has, however, what is probably the coolest personal website I've ever seen.



My favorite spot on his site is the Cool Tools section, where he suggesteds the neatest (and strangest) purchases to be made. My favorite so far:



Silly Putty By the Pound!






Kevin writes: Silly putty -- even the newer varieties like the thinking putty here -- has long been sold in small amounts in the classic plastic egg. But this stuff is best enjoyed in bulk. The technical name of this now generic substance is Dow Corning Dilatant Compound 3179. Five pounds of it is.... well, pretty silly. Ten pounds of the stuff is enough to transfer a whole page of comics, or to make a humungous superball, or to lighten up the dour faces in a boardroom after being parcelled out. The surprise for our family has been never ending amusement of watching a huge ball of this compound slowly melt over whatever you set it on, like the blob from outer space. Hand out some at your next birthday party. Don't ask why.

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Point. Click. Purchase. And then toss a pile in your neighbors' yard and make them wonder.