On My Mind: Anti-AI Ceramics
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In mylast Strategist Brain, I wrote about a mysterious ailment that had me feeling like a puppet with the strings cut. Turns out it’s been hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome the whole time, a genetic connective-tissue disorder with a slew of ramifications across systems, from poor circulation to joint pain to sudden allergy flares. I feel like my body is a haunted mansion and I’ve just started opening doors. I’ve spent decades ignoring it because I knew, on some level, that I was living in a way I couldn’t sustain, but I was scared that my needs would be too inconvenient to accommodate. On the other side, paradoxically, I’m finding that the opposite is true: You gain so much more power from knowing your limits than ignoring them.
I lovebuilding furniture with my partner, but the physical demands became too much, and I took a long break. Now I’m dipping a toe back in with a few projects — a drop-down kitchen counter and a new desk — and letting my body set the pace rather than treating it like an uncooperative piece of machinery. It takes ten times longer, but I can sustain it. I’ve been thinking about thedesigner Eileen Graystudying “a thousand and one tiny hand movements” to create the furniture in hercompact house. To me, this is good design: studying the way your body moves to find the form it wants, normative or not. The drop-down counter is also a perfect spot to lean and look out the window. You don’t know until you build it.
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I’ve tried a lot of products for EDS — compression socks;the Visible band— but hands down the most transformative has been taking a Claritin and a Pepcid every day. I don’t fully understand why this works except that Claritin is anH1 antihistamine and Pepcid is an H2 antihistamine; either way, it has stabilized a constant fuzzy stress feeling and reduced my brain fog significantly.
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Another big win has been using asex pillow off-label as a floor seat. Sitting upright is the bane of my existence — I don’t think straight when I’m vertical for too long — but spending a day fully supine is not great for my mental health. It’s a Catch-22: The best way to avoid pain is to keep moving, but moving hurts. This is the best solution I’ve found. Would you believe that this sex pillow offers a highly flexible range of positions to relieve pressure on my joints and is easy to reposition? If it’s good enough for the sex nerds, it’s good enough for me.
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I’ve learned that my sensitivity to loud noises is higher than most people, another EDS trait. I have a pair ofLoopsearplugs for events, but I use these 3M earmuffs at home. I found them on an airplane-mechanic forum; they’re comfortable, block a good amount of noise, and are so chunky that I never lose them.
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This buckwheat pillow feels like aslab of marble molded to my head, which is just what I need — I’ve learned that my wobbly body needs firmness rather than softness in most things, and I feel like I’m drowning in a squishy, foamy pillow. I’ve started packing it when I travel.
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An EDS creator I lovesaid I should get a sacroiliac belt, so I got a sacrioiliac belt. It stabilizes the joint at the base of your spine, which is held in place by ligaments and thus fabulously wiggly in hEDS sufferers; when I tried it on, I was like,Holy shit, is this what normal people’s hips feel like?When I walk, my legs move forward and back like a Barbie doll instead of rotating 360 degrees like when you break a Barbie doll. It feels like trading stilts for legs. I bought one from the weight-lifting company Schiek because it’s made in America and I like its aggro branding.
Everything else I’ve seen lately
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I am a vintage-’til-I-die girlie, but I’m placing a hold order on vintage shoes after getting burned one too many times bysoles coming ungluedmid-errand. The final straw came last month when a sick pair of Cole Haan Nike loafers crumbled like soft cake upon unboxing. I really like these Pane sneakers, a brand I learned about when my friendKevin Heposted it in the fashion group chat. And I recently discovered Cydwoq (pronounced “sidewalk”) atRetro Ray, an incredible vintage store in Saugerties, and am dreaming about its shearling-lined boots.
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I have a small office in my apartment, and a worm in my brain is telling me to cover the floor in wall-to-wall carpeting. I visited anearby rug storefor inspiration and really vibed with Radici, an Italian company that makes solid-color wool carpet in fantastically non-neutral colors. I don’t have the coin or the square footage to place an order, but the carpet store sells remnants at discounted prices, so I’ll be checking back.
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On a recent trip to Maine, we stopped at Trillium, a very cute store that sells soaps made on premises. I especially liked the red paprika-oil aurora in this peppermint-scented bar, which would make a great gift. (You can also buy soap by thehalf-loaf.)
For the last few months, I’ve been carrying around acotton net market bagas a tote. The flexy mesh lets you really load it up — I’ve jammed groceries and a bike helmet into it with no problem — but the yarn has started to fray, causing holes through which I’ve lost beloved pens. It’s time for something sturdier, so I’m looking at leather alternatives on Etsy.
As the world explodes, I am almost exclusively interested in objects that show “the work of the hand,” physical clues that a human craftsperson devoted their time to making this object. Wobbles, specks, anything that scales the object to a hand versus a machine, and an ineffable quality of showing how the maker’s mind works. AI could never build a mug. Much to be found here on Etsy; try searching for “studio pottery,” “wood fired,” “soda fired,” “kirinuki,” “bizen,” and “raku.”
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