Quarterly is a company that sells subscriptions to boxes filled with items selected by guest curators (including our friends Veronica Belmont, Joshua Foer, and Alexis Madrigal). They’ve also invited me to be a curator. My first package of objects is called “Fantastic Plastic,” and I’m excited about it!
Here is my statement about my package:
I love small plastic gadgets that do something surprising. You can carry them around in your pocket and use them to delight other people when you see them. Who can forget the scene in Play it Again, Sam when Woody Allen gives Dianne Keaton a plastic skunk for her birthday and she is touched to the point of tears? Or the time Jerry Seinfeld gave Elaine a Tweety Bird Pez Dispenser in the middle of a piano recital and it gave her a case of the giggles? Plastic items are excellent gifts —- precisely because they have little intrinsic value, the love and thoughtfulness of the giver stands out.