Strange Closets

Harbor Country, Michigan’s a tough place to leave, especially on a perfect sunny September Sunday.  After spending two summer’s worth of near perfect weekends in the area, I’ve come to associate New Buffalo and the surrounding towns with stunning natural beauty, amazing antique shops and interesting people.  And frankly I enjoy the delusion, which is [...]

I’ve been getting Direct Auction Gallery’s e-mail newsletter for months, and I’ve been intending to attend one of his auctions for longer than that.  I enjoy the e-mails, which include information about upcoming auctions and links to photos of the goodies (goodies being a word for which I apologize using).  When the e-mail’s good, it’s [...]

Well there’s no easy way to say it, is there?  Danish Modern furniture authority and dealer Andrew Hollingsworth has decided to leave Chicago for California’s sunny shores, specifically San Fransisco, a kind of fairy tale city in my mind where it’s bright every day and foggy every night and the streetcar bells echo through the [...]

This one’s for all you antique lovers out there. Alan Robandt was one of the first antique dealers to invest in downtown Buchanan, and he actually relocated there to spearhead its revival.  I would advise you to drop by the next time you’re in the area, but I actually think it’s worth a special trip.  [...]

I’ll bet I know what you’re thinking.  Buchanan, Michigan?  What’s in Buchanan, Michigan?*  That sounds like a made up name. But it’s not.  It’s a real town, and it’s awesome.  I made the drive last weekend, making my way down back roads cut through vineyards and farms, taking copious notes for this report.  Keep reading [...]

Thanks to Barb at the Mars Gallery for introducing me to the folks at the Catalyst Ranch.  Directly or indirectly, Barb has been responsible for some of my most memorable Open Houses, and I’m very grateful.  If you’d like a musical accompaniment, click on the embedded YouTube player.

I predict that as technology continues to improve, our future selves will increasingly retreat into virtual worlds more to our liking than the one most of us actually inhabit.  Of course, some theorize (Matrix fans anyway) that humans already inhabit a giant virtual reality, which, if true, means we’d simply be creating an escape hatch [...]