Furniture Craftsman Andrew Moe Answers 5 Questions

Andrew Moe and his wife Amanda run Studiomoe, a furniture design company in Portland Oregon, where Andrew handcrafts heirloom modern furniture using sustainably harvested American hardwoods. 

1. One of the woods you use in your furniture is called urban salvage Oregon Black Walnut. Can you tell us about it?

The grain colors in Oregon Walnut are very distinctive, tending towards rich dark reds and purples, as opposed to the browns and greys found in walnut trees grown on the east coast.  Amanda, my wife and the Creative Director of Studiomoe, coined the term "Red Espresso" to describe the appearance of Oregon Walnut, which captures it perfectly.  The Oregon Walnut that we use comes from trees that have died naturally or were dying in the Portland Metropolitan region, or had to be removed for construction purposes.

2. Why is sustainability so important to your process?

Sustainably is common sense.  It's not a grand idea, and certainly not a new idea.  From the beginning of time people have known that it is a bad idea to waste resources, and a good idea to care for the land around you in the best way that you can.  It is simply more relevant now that we have the capability to do greater damage at a faster rate.  As we all know, it also feels good to do the right thing, and conversely... 

3. What has been the single greatest influence on your notion of good furniture design?

Simplicity.  I'm not sure that's an influence, but when I see a piece of furniture that is simple, original, and well made (with some wood in it), it really excites me.  Like anything done at a very high level, it should look easy, but is not.  The wood element is something that I can't explain.  I simply find it beautiful and mysterious, I like to think that it is both humble and honest, and I love to work with it.

4. You’re also a writer, and you appreciate great literature. Stylistically, which writer are you most like when you’re designing and creating furniture?

Many of my designs are fairly pared down, so the easy answer would be Hemingway (hopefully) but in temperament, in terms of working, I aspire to Shunryu Suzuki, who wrote one of my favorite books, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, which I need to read more often.  As the title suggests, it's about approaching things as a beginner, regardless of how long you've been doing them.  Aside from the very helpful content of that book, there is something about the style in which it is written that I find poetic.  It is not trying to be beautiful.

 5. You’ve had studios on both the east coast and the west coast. What is your ideal setting for producing great work?

I don't think there is an ideal setting.  My experience has been that the good stuff comes when it comes (if it comes).  But different places offer different experiences. In New York City, working with wood all day in the midst of an intensely urban environment was very nurturing, and grounding.  Here in Portland, in the heart of the Pacific Northwest, there are trees everywhere.  Every ridgeline is shaped by fir trees.  Many of the city parks have giant Sequoia trees that are hundreds of years old. There is a forest within the city limits.  Trees are a part of this place, and the history of the entire region.  This past year Amanda has encouraged me to make smaller gift size items as we're in the process of expanding the company to include gifts and home accents.  The first thing I made, without planning it, were miniature trees shaped on the bandsaw, from scrapwood in the shop.  The trees have a way of getting into your system.  Thankfully.

About Hope and Optimism

If something has brought you down, remember that a fallen tree continues to be vital to the forest.

On Reaching the Top

The one who takes the elevator to the top arrives more quickly and more easily, while the one who takes the stairs arrives more satisfied.

Atlas Obscura CEO David Plotz Answers 5 Questions

1. What Atlas Obscura place do you most wish to visit?

I'm a sucker for a beautiful library, and this one looks like the most gorgeous room in the world: The Philosophical Hall at Strahov Monastery.  http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/strahov-monastery-me

2. What was the most memorable story in Slate during your tenure there as Editor in Chief?

I'll pick two. For pure pleasure and success, it was the brilliant and hilarious John Travolta name generator, which brought more delight to readers than anything we've ever done. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/low_concept/2014/03/john_travolta_called_idina_menzel_adele_dazeem_what_s_your_travolta_name.html

The article that was most profound, strange, new, and deep was Josh Levin's investigation into Linda Taylor, a woman demonized by Ronald Reagan as the Welfare Queen of America, who turned out to be far far far worse than Reagan ever imagined. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2013/12/linda_taylor_welfare_queen_ronald_reagan_made_her_a_notorious_american_villain.html

3. Where do you get your news?

A huge amount of it from the NYTimes, which is my staple food. I read WP for local, especially sports. I read Slate to have takes on stuff. I track the ebb and flow of the world on Twitter. I read New York Magazine and the New Yorker for pleasure. And always kottke.org, Jason Kottke's blog. And TONS of podcasts

4. How many hours a day do you spend online?

All of it, usually. I rarely go half an hour without being on phone, listening to a pod, or computering. 

5. Do you ever go an entire day without going online?

Once in awhile I 'll have a screenless Saturday or vacation day. But it's very unusual

5 Questions for the Very Funny Helene Ellford

Helene Ellford is a writer/producer at The Peoples Improv Theater. I asked her 5 questions.

1) What can you tell us about "QSN with Helene Ellford?"

"QSN with Helene Ellford" is a super cheesy home shopping parody where I play the host to a series of oddball "entrepreneurs" who come on the show to sell things.

2) Have your experiences in the comedy world led you to believe that being funny is something to be developed or something people have in them from birth?

I think you have to have a sense of humor and be able to laugh at yourself, however the skill of "developing a comedic idea" must be learned. Just like writing an academic paper, you learn a format, and then the ideas you develop should be all your own. That's sounds like such a boring answer but I feel like structure sets you free!

3) Is the "window of funniness theory" true? In other words, do funny people stay funny forever, or is being funny a fleeting phenomenon?

Great questions! I think (at least I hope) a person's spirit and sense of fun and play stays the same throughout life. The only thing that has ever made me feel "unfunny" is just personal stuff I am going through, and that's just usually because it's draining (fighting with boyfriends etc.). So largely, I am gonna say yes: funny forever!

4) Who is your favorite comedian of all time?

Joan Rivers. Incredible on stage and screen. 

5) Do you plan to go see "The Interview?"

Some Thoughts from the Author Richard Brink

In 1839, the English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote one of the most quoted lines of all time in his play 'Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy,' and I believe it to be true, and you also will become a believer. He wrote, 'Beneath the rule of men entirely great the pen is mightier than the sword.' The line itself expresses the essence of Democracy, for it offers a process of achieving goals through written words, which in itself implies a civilized approach to governance through the mutual exchange of ideas as opposed to through violence and brute force.

While it's true that our current Democracy is flawed, it has produced the strongest and healthiest society for its people as well as the Earth in all of human history, and this success can be attributed to the laying down of blunt objects as tools of manipulation by a few in favor of the law of many through words and debate. While it's true that this land was first taken by force from the Native Americans, it has come to be the view of the vast majority that those early violent events should be viewed as injustices rather than as accomplishments. Although Native Americans have not always fared well in modern American society as a result of the wars waged against them, all are now full citizens of the United States, a right that was won through law and debate, and have the equal opportunity to pursue the fruits of our great society.

What you have suggested is a re-establishment of the boundaries and use of this land to pre-European standards. You would like to see this land as the Native Americans once did -- forests teaming with game, plains engorged with massive herds of buffalo, waterways overflowing with fish. For sure, the nostalgia for such abundance and natural wonder is great, but we can never return fully to those days, except in our imaginations. What is done is done, for better or for worse, and we move forward as a nation, just as other great civilizations did before ours.

Although our civilization may not be most remembered for preserving the Earth's natural beauty, centuries from now our ancestors will recall that it was we who created a more just society for women, children and people of color and paved the way towards equality by making it law that no person should be oppressed or discriminated upon by another. This recognition of the value of all human life makes our civilization the greatest to have ever walked this Earth. There is no going back on this. We have come too far to return back to a time when the fanciful ideas of a few should be foisted upon the many. Modern dictatorships with their threat of the use of force, which is what you have suggested, have always built short-lived and flimsy societies.

My greatest power comes from the words that I produce. I have built a small empire of my own with my writing. I value this power above all else, for all that I have can be attributed to it. I live and die by the pen as it were and from my own ideas put to paper. To allow the vehicle of my own writing to be driven by another would result in my own demise, just as surely as lack of food and water would lead to my death. At least if I should succumb to the latter, my body may wither and crumble, but my inner self shall remain intact. You can go to Hell because I won't write a line for you.