Our guest this week is Douglas Coupland. Since 1991, Douglas has written thirteen novels published in most languages. He has written and performed for England’s Royal Shakespeare Company and is a regular columnist with the Financial Times. He began a visual art practice in 2000, and his first museum retrospective opened in summer 2014 at the Vancouver Art Gallery and travels to Munich this summer. In this week’s episode of the Cool Tools Show, Douglas introduces us to some new tools as well as new ways to think about old ones.

Show Notes:

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The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present By Douglas Coupland, Hans Ulbricht, and Shumon Basar

Japanese brush pens $5

“I discovered them first in Japan, where they’re more or less perfected. I guess you would call them the Japanese Sharpie. You open them up. They come in a variety of colors…They’ve got these long pointy nibs which are super flexible. They’re very good mimics for hair or whatever material you might use for a brush. They have a line quality that is…so unlike say, a Bic pen or a Sharpie…with these pens it’s a genuine calligraphical experience, and wonderful.”

Little spiral notebooks $1.40

“I think back when I was at Wired in ’93, I don’t know if you remember [Douglas spent a few weeks with us at the Wired offices in San Francisco when Kevin and I were editors there. – Mark], I used to have these little spiral ones in my pocket. Every time I saw something new or…had an idea, I’d just jot it down. Then the people in my life started mutinying around 1997, saying, ‘You just can’t bring that thing out anymore. Douglas, you’re spooking us. Every time we say something you pull it out.’ Then five years later comes the smartphone revolution and now everyone’s doing the exact same thing, albeit electronically. I just like having the paper.”

Fingernails

“I think fingernails are really important and they never get talked about…There’s nothing like them. They’re the most underrated tool.”

Drawers from Ikea $120

“…[T]here’s this wonderful set of drawers that IKEA makes that really is a storage dream, actually. They’re not like Billy bookcases, they’re just these white drawers you pull out.”

04/8/15