February 2009

beth ditto is a big relief

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Robert Maxwell

I expected the recent N.Y. Times Magazine’s Women’s Fashion issue to have little of interest for me. I’ve become too practical to care about fabulous bags that are too heavy to carry all day, and clothes that defy my curvy, aging body. But I flipped through it anyway while I waited for water to boil for tea and was stunned by the image on the last page of Beth Ditto, lead singer of post-punk band Gossip.  Her forthright voluptuousness and her words – “Ditto has just one rule ‘Absoutely no shame’” – made me google her and wonder how I’d missed such a force. read more…

02.22.09 | comments | in apparel, art, inspiration, people, principles |

how to be a guerrilla gardener

There’s been a lot on the internet lately about guerrilla gardeners, people from all walks dedicated to stealthily transforming blighted, barren or plain ugly urban spots into planted oasis’s.  These are often ordinary, middle-class souls fed up with the lack of nature and beauty in their urban landscape, and willing to break the law,  shell out money for seeds, plants and supplies from their own pocket, and put themselves on the line (in effect, doing an end-run around bogged-down, bureaucratic local governments).  read more…

02.21.09 | comments | in community, garden, nature, outside, reclaim |

essential Ikea: stacking stool

ikea-stack-stool-ikea-cat1

Among Ikea‘s constantly updating home furnishings offerings, are a handful of constants that represent perfect, enduring, truly practical design at a really good price, and that don’t scream Ikea. My favorite is the Frosta stool, a $12.99 birch veneer version of Alvar Aalto’s classic mid-century stool.  I have four in my office and they are so useful, I’ve contemplated getting a few for my apartment. read more…

02.19.09 | comments (3) | in elements, furniture, housewares, repurpose |

kate spade behind the curtain: “things we love”

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Hidden within Kate Spade’s shopping site is a surprising little gold mine called Things We Love. It’s an ever-evolving stream of icons you can select to zero in on something cool you might not have found or thought about otherwise, from books to music to artists to websites… read more…

02.18.09 | comments | in inspiration, inspiration blogs + sites, resources |

free music to work by

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One thing lead to another and I stumbled on Esopus Magazine’s website. The magazine presents content from all creative disciplines in a seriously non-commercial format. It is a swell magazine, living its mission of trying to connect artists with a broader public. Each issue includes a free online MP3 player of music created by various artists such as Devendra Banhart, Asobi Seksu and Tom Kruegeraround,  around the theme. My favorite is “Ouija” and “Spam”.  It’s especially good music to work by. read more…

02.18.09 | comments | in art, inspiration, inspiration blogs + sites, tools |

bedroom office strategy: room (cocoon) bed

cube-bed-deborah-burke1

www.dberke.com

For years, my office was a corner of my 20-x-17-foot bedroom. I managed to write a 700 page book there, and numerous articles, as well as pay bills. The problem was that I really never left my work; it was always in view, always calling me to do more. For an urban freelance person, having a separate office, as I’ve had for a few years, is a real luxury, and one that, given the scary economy, I’ve been wondering if I could give up if I had to. IS there a way to have an office AND a bedroom, in one large room? read more…

02.04.09 | comments | in elements, inside, reimagine, sleeping, solutions |

luck and resourcefulness in the new year!

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January 26th was the start of Chinese New Year, a celebration that is taken way more seriously in China than most of us know, and which lasts for 14 days. A way to get a sense of it (and all sorts of other things in the world’s news) is to stop in at the Boston Globe’s wonderful site The Big Picture: News Stories in Photographs. There you’ll find fantastic pictures that you never see in the obvious places, pictures that really do speak 1,000 words.  Of the 35 photos posted in their Chinese New Year feature, two spoke volumes about how dear this celebration to the Chinese heart, and the  ingenuity sometimes employed to celebrate it. read more…

02.03.09 | comments | in family + friends, inspiration blogs + sites, sightings |

a kids’ drawing program for adults

Bob Staake, creator of the charming children’s book Donut Chef and dozens of New Yorker cartoons, draws with a mouse using an ancient version of Photoshop. This video speaks volumes about the virtues, and humanity, of computer-generated art, and how fluid the process can be, once you loosen your head up (which this video will do). It instantly had me yearning for an accessible, fun drawing program. read more…

02.02.09 | comments | in kids, learn, media, projects + play, tools, why not? |