Geography and Irony

It's been a long day so far, and it started a couple of days ago.

Rather than sleeping last night, I prepared for a trip to the other side of the continent, a few miles from the Pacific instead of a few miles from the Atlantic. I caught a red eye flight out of Baltimore into San Francisco, checked into a hotel, and did some sleepy-eyed investigation of this culturally rich town.

Out of the corner of one of those tired eyes, I noticed a museum hidden away between two storefronts on Sutter Street (great road, but the way, with lots of art galleries). The San Francisco Museum of Crafts and Design isn't a large space, but it makes up for it with a thoughtful and intelligent presentation.

The present exhibition in the museum focuses upon the works of Raymond Loewy, who was one of the most prominent designers of the 20th century. I was blown away by the items on display, from clock radios to desks to trains, and many commercial products.

I noticed that most of the items being show were on loan from the Hagley Museum. As fate would have it, I live only a few miles away from Hagley, and a friend's mother used to work there. Guess I should pay more attention to some of the local museums. Hagley is a good one.