Just scored this Jyumoku tote bag over the weekend from my friend Ted. It’ll provide as a new home for my MacBook on my daily commutes to [and from] Influx Cafe. It even has a D-ring for my keys. Super durable and made to last out of recycled canvas. Handcrafted in California.

I seem to accumulate a lot of things on my trips. I spent the last couple of nights at the Ace Hotel in Portland and managed to gather pretty much every hotel-branded stationery piece that they had. More items to supplement my design hoarding addiction! Portland is a beautiful city. It reminded me a lot of Seattle, sans the section of franchise eateries. I was in town over the weekend spending some time with the kind folks at Wieden+Kennedy. More on that later.

Laurel is Monocle’s second collaborative scent produced by Comme des Garçons’ perfumer, Antoine Maisondieu. Taking hints from Lebanese fragrance gardens and their hand-crafted laurel soaps, Scent Two atomizes a fresh, clean scent that has warm laurel notes. Available now at Blends (Socal) and Monocle Shops worldwide.

Earlier this morning, I received the Mariposa Summit Pack that I purchased last week from Rivendell Mountain Works. Based off of Larry Horton’s original design from 1977, this updated version of the pack has an integrated foam backing for more comfort — as well as an added inner pocket for more storage options. To embed its commitment to durability, the Mariposa is constructed with 11oz Cordura and is held together with a chunky #10 YKK zipper.

The heritage of Rivendell Mountain Works stems deep within a lineage of dedicated pack makers — whom most, are located within the mountainous regions of the Northwest. After taking an unannounced hiatus for almost 30 years, Rivendell Mountain Works has made a resurgence with the help of Eric Hardee and Don Wittenberger. Maintaining a micro-cottage production philosophy, Rivendell Mountain Works fully operates here in the USA and still uses the original patterns/designs from the Larry Horton era.

Its an honor to own a such a great pack. My overall buying experience was smooth. Eric personally answers every email in great detail and is quick to respond. Their speedy delivery (with tracking!) is also a big plus. Not too many of these Mariposa Summit Packs are left, so if you want this colorway, I suggest ordering soon.

Here is the Converse One Star in both new and old form. In spite of its 36-year history, the Converse One Star has been lucky enough to escape most unnecessary facelifts and retain most of its original shape. For those obsessed with some of the original details, here are some differences that I found while examining the two pairs side-by-side.

I would say that the only thing that really bothers me is the treatment of the foxing. On the updated version, the foxing has a lower rise, which gives the uppers a slightly larger (not chunky) appearance. In addition, the star-texture of the mid-sole (along the toe area) has been replaced with a diamond-textured strip — and the original black outsole has been changed to brown. Not a big deal, though.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the new version of the Converse One Star. I think its pretty cool that you can only get them through the Converse webstore and I’m hoping that their distribution stays exactly where it is. It makes people work just a little more to get them and it allows Converse to preserve their fair $70 price tag — without thinning into the free market.

My friend Keith left me with a gift the other day. The grips on my iPod in-ear headphones had just worn off and these new earphones by Munitio came just in time. I’m not much the audiophile, but these definitely sound amazing! In addition to its sound quality, the Kevlar reinforced cables and its bullet shell housing will definitely bring some reassurance that these will weather through almost anything. Limited to 500 pieces, these earphones will be released on June 9th, 2010. Visit Munitio for more info.

Just purchased the latest installment from Art Fag Recordings. Internet Forever, from London (and Cambridge!). Reminds me of a Wes Anderson film for some reason… and that’s a good thing! Read more about them on The FADER and while you’re at it, listen to side A above.