Friday, March 23, 2007

That's garbage

It's worth checking out a nifty article in the Washington Post today about a D.C. dump-truck driver -- for the firm Junk in the Trunk (!) -- who collects trash in his spare time, too. Christopher Goodwin is interested in rubbish of all sizes, notable examples of which he displays on his blog, but he is best-known, it seems, for his Trashballs, gumball-size spheres with rubbish inside. They're actually sold from gumball machines, a quarter per. Goodwin is a "proud dropout" from art school who chooses to drive a truck for work because "Office work corrodes my soul."

Trash- and Goodwin-enthusiasts should know about two things: 1) The book "Rubbish!: The Archeology of Garbage," whose premise is that "what people have owned -- and thrown away -- can speak more eloquently, informatively, and truthfully about the lives they lead than they themselves ever may." 2) Found Magazine, which I highly, highly recommend. The mag displays montages of found items sent in by readers -- love letters left at Kinko's, Mash notes from middle school, mix tapes, Polaroids, etc. I've been looking for a great find for them for years, but so far nothing up to snuff. The Web site shows a "Find of the Day."

Posted by Evan Hughes at 11:48 AM

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