Umbrellas are Exciting!!

This quarter for one of my classes I worked on an umbrella borrowing service. They're just one of those things that you never have when you need and find yourself carrying around when it's sunny. Since I live in Chicago, a land where weather is everything but predictable, having an umbrella around when you actually need it (aka when the weather has snuck up on you) is apparently kind of a big deal.
So I never really thought that much about umbrellas before, but after looking at a gazillion umbrella images online, they're starting to get pretty interesting. (Sadly I've just discovered that if you Google "umbrella", the first three hits are about Rihanna, and not about everybody's favorite weather protection...) According to Wikipedia, umbrellas have been around more or less as long as civilization, and were originally used as protection from the sun rather than rain. This fact makes when you consider that it started out in Persia, Egypt, and Greece, decidedly more sunny places than Chicago. The oldest record of a collapsible umbrella is 21 AD, so for all you design students trying to improve on that design, good luck!!
The main way to create a cool umbrella these days seems to be the visual design and the shape. (I've now discovered that Rihanna has her own umbrella line with Totes! :-) ) My new favorite umbrella, if I needed one, would be this one from Totes because I like the pattern and the shape. Sadly, I usually chose my umbrella based on how likely I am to lose it... very likely.
Anyways, I'm now paying attention to umbrellas, and not just the kind on the radio. :-)