Fourth Week cont.

Ockham's Razor asserts that simplicity is preferred to complexity in design. This principle, named after William of Ockham, a 14th Century Franciscan friar and logician, and described on page 142 in Lidwell, can be applied to almost any design. And while I do agree that simple designs work best in many instances, including web and print design, I do gravitate toward aniques, flowers and plants and other items to decorate my home.

I never really was a fan of the "minimalist" home. Sure, everyone likes clean, straight lines and neutral colors, but who wants to live in a cold, untouched, boring and sterile environment?

Minimalist home

I appreciate houses that are a little more rustic and have lots of character; ones that are decorated with pillows and soft fabric, contain lots of greenery, and showcase built-in bookshelves and small, cozy rooms. A cottage on the lake with a porch sounds ideal.

My 'pretend' second home in Florida

Fourth Week

The storytelling topic on page 186 of Lidwell struck a cord with me this week. In the last few months I have been addicted to the "digitally storytelling" of This American Life, a Chicago Public radio podcast. The themed stories each week "are like movies for radio. There are people in dramatic situations. Things happen to them. There are funny moments and emotional moments and moments where the people in the story say interesting, surprising things about it all."

Read more about This American Life.

Social Engineering was the the most recent This American Life podcast I listened to. The episode unfolds with Daniel Canada and Gregory Deloatch (above), two homeless poets in NYC.