I Give Thanks and Ponder Electronic Display

Coffee in the Denver architect series mug, the sound of J chopping pecans for the Thanksgiving pie for music. Was she using the ceramic knife? No, the "sudoku" (that's what she calls the Henckels Professional "S" 7" Granton Edge Santoku Knife). I give thanks that my child is cooking with her father and still has all her fingers.

I began preparations today for next year's show circuit. Yesterday I mentioned to Bill from Black Cat ArtWorks (getting used to Elliott Metal Works new name) that I am planning to add "Whimsically Bent", the collaborative works of Todd Briske and Brenda Griffith, to our booth for Philadelphia. He asked what I'm planning on *not* showing. I hadn't thought of that, but I keep adding and adding new work--mostly the big steel and glass collaborative work I do with him and Elaine, and I have "retired" about as much work as I want to. My booth isn't getting any bigger--I really can't afford bigger than 10 X 20 either in terms of cost or set-up/break-down time. So what to do?

This morning I scanned an email from Amazon.com about black Friday electronic deals and a portable digital projector caught my eye. Hmmm. Maybe instead of bringing *all* the work, I bring a projector and run a slideshow from my laptop on the white foamcore walls. It was an idea worth pursuing so I started researching options and prices. It turns out that while there are cool, new, relatively inexpensive, wireless projectors that are the size of my iPod and hook up to it, they won't stand up to the 2000 watts of halogen light that will also be filling my booth. There must be something in the mid-range price, larger size that would work, but how to know which one? Maybe I could just rent a high-end projector until I figure out what I want and the price drops more. Nope. I checked local prices and 3-4 weeks of rental would just about pay for my own high-end one.

What about some other technological solution? Instead of a projector, what about a large flat screen monitor? Oh yeah, now we're in a better price point, and no worries about the picture not showing up in the bright booth. Monitors are a couple hundred $$, but they only go up to 22"-24". Oh hey, I already have a 20" iMac that is wiped right now because it just got another new hard drive last week. What about just using it? No additional cash outlay, it has its own storage and software so I could put all the pictures and slideshows right on it--no need for cables to the laptop... But it's only a 20" screen. The images are supposed to grab people walking by the booth better or at least as well as the actual work would do. To do that, the images need to be at least the same size as the work and bigger than would be better.

Even if I could afford a 36"-44" flat screen, would I want to hassle with shipping it around and worrying about someone stealing it at the show? No. So I'm back to projectors. I like this one, but for that price I'm really going to have to make sure I have a strong, valid need for it. It's too expensive to be just another cool slightly used gadget in my electronics cabinet.