Mini Me, New York City

Evolving 3-D printing technology is pretty darn amazing, from household doodads and clothing all the way to houses and body parts. We can’t print full humans— yet—but Doob-3D™ a German 3-D printing company with two stores in New York City and seven more across the United States, promises to capture the real you in a core resin polymer figurine. It’s 3-D narcissism, a “selfie” in the round.

Enter the onsite “Dooblicator,™” which looks a little like an airport scanner, and a few weeks later receive your freshly printed mini-me. So-called Doobs™ range in price from a $99 4-inch “Buddy” to a 14-inch $699 “Diva.” They’re not exactly cheap, but, I suppose, a perfect gift for that person in your life who has everything. Why collect Lalique birds or Herend bunnies when you can gather up your own life stages?

The Upper East Side store features the material timeline of “Heather,” (photo below). You see figurines of Heather pregnant, holding a baby, and then with growing family. Looking at a row of aging tiny Heathers made me feel a little nervous, like pet taxidermy or The Twilight Zone. I can easily imagine a Black Mirror episode where Doobs—kissing couples, siblings off to school, beloved huggable dogs—come alive at night on their little shelves and march off to subsume their flesh and blood hosts.

Creepiness aside, there’s also something sweet and sentimental going on here. Time is a killer beast. Like photos and videos, making your own 3-D Doob is a proud, defiant move. Her children may grow up, marry, and have children of their own. But Heather will be able to hold her unwrinkled pregnant self forever in her hands.

To Go, New York City

I’m totally obsessed by this silicone coffee cup, which collapses and changes size like a toy. The first time I saw one on the subway, I stared at it, mesmerized. Like the geeky architects who collect hundreds of different coffee lids, I couldn’t let it get away. So I made the cool person sipping from it unplug her headphones and tell me all about it. She told me it’s portable, refillable, colorful and never leaks. When she’s finished, she just collapses the sides, sticks the lined ring inside the bottom and tosses the empty flattened puck in her purse.

“Good for you, saving the earth one paper cup at a time,” said a man near us, eavesdropping. Perhaps, he, like me, had just read this article in the Climate Fwd: Newsletter from The New York Times, which suggests multiple ways to brew a greener cup of coffee to reduce climate impact. Not surprisingly, single-use cups generate a lot of waste when tossed daily. A convenient refillable mug is a great green step .

The happy, helpful coffee commuter told me to look on Amazon, where I easily found several food-safe, BPA-free brands (here’s one version). I immediately went home and ordered two. One for coffee, one for water. If I ever see her again, we’ll match.

Bulldogged, New York City

In Wes Anderson's fabulous film Isle of Dogs, canines are removed from daily life and banished to a remote island. Here in Manhattan, it's the opposite. We're an Isle of Dogs that has Aisles of Dogs. I've seen pets tucked, lifted, dragged, walked, seated and scooped just about everywhere, including to Starbucks and the movies. Trendy owners now bring fur babies to the office, or even the post office (above). The problem is not all breeds are good walkers. Some tire easily on skinny little legs; others may be heavy as bowling balls. Enter, four wheels. Compared to, say, bringing an emotional support peacock to the airport, doing chores with a bulldog in a baby stroller is a walk in the park. But the sight of a regal dog in a cushy throne always makes me wonder. Who's the real master?