We found this wonderful fragment on Rolu a few weeks back, attributed to Jorge Luis Borges; he’s one of our favorite writers, so we tried to find out more about it. We discovered that it is from a poem called Instants (Instantes), which in fact, may not have been written by Borges after all. There’s an…
Read More2010: the year through film
270 films from 2010 were spliced into one single, fabulous, illuminating 6 minute video, by genrocks (“I’m a girl by the way”) “This year’s movies have legitimately transformed my idea of what is creatively possible. To commemorate, I’ve remixed 270 of them into one giant ass video.” It’s amazing how much this video makes you…
Read Morenew year’s eve recipe reprise: real onion dip!
About a year ago we wrote a post about all the things you could eat on, or with, potato chips. One, of course, is onion dip. In our version, it’s made with REAL onions, caramelized until brown (easy), cooled, and stirred into sour cream. It’s from Sally’s award-winning cookbook The Improvisational Cook, which will be…
Read Morea harlem inventor’s solution for (un)fashionably sagging pants
I confess that a couple of times I’ve followed hipster guys wearing precariously sagging pants down the street just to see how they handled the balancing act, as the pants began to inch down past mid-crack. Sometimes their gait would turn cowboy-ish, as they bowed their legs trying to keep the pants at the perfect…
Read Moretask light redux: in the kitchen and on walls
Since we wrote about hanging classic zig-zag task lights from the ceiling, we’ve been finding images of their very non-office uses. They make a great, flexible wall lights, and are terrific in the kitchen, for directing light where you want, or need it…
Read More‘shadow man’ in the snow
The Museum of the City of New York’s amazing photography archive is a wondrous place to browse on a winter day. Among many treasures, you’ll find Shadow Man, a graffiti persona that appeared all over New York City in 1983, photographed by Andreas Feininger… …the image of the city after a blizzard, its creative heart as…
Read Moregoodbye captain beefheart
We were sad to read that Don Van Vliet, once known as Captain Beefheart, passed away recently. He was a complete original, a rare being in any era. Coilhouse described him as “one of the most singularly strange, goading, galvanizing musicians of the 20th century”. His band broke every rule in the ’70s and laid the…
Read Morepainted shipping pallet coffee table
It is amazing what a little paint can do to transform a shipping pallet. It even makes the rough grain and embossed printing look good. Add some industrial wheels (which you can get in colors) and you’ve got a swell coffee table (with magazine storage built in)…
Read Morerilke + rodin on the virtues of snow days…
…an excerpt of a letter from Rilke to Rodin on the power of time off: “I have often asked myself whether those days on which we are forced to be indolent are not just the ones we pass in profoundest activity? Whether all our doing, when it comes later, is not only the last reverberation…
Read Moresnow day! (and the power of time off)
This blizzard came with perfect timing; we’ve been working so hard, we need more time to recharge. We’re gonna take a snow day…and maybe actually play in the snow, while we mull some new ideas. We’ll be back on Tuesday.
Read Morethe lunar eclipse (time-lapse)…
Here is the astonishing event that occurred on the eve of the Winter Solstice (December 21st), compressed into a perfect two minutes via time-lapse photography (It’s better, we think, with no sound…so it’s as quiet as a moon). A nice thing to watch on a lazy holiday weekend, and be reminded of what is going…
Read Morewishing you a wondrous holiday
via Wary Meyers
Read Morethe swingin’ night before xmas
Cara de Silva sent us this fab video as a gift after watching our Ode to Joy post. It’s the great Django Reinhardt performing “Christmas Swing” (December 1937, Paris) set to footage from “The Night Before Christmas,” a television special from the 1950’s, sponsored by the Bell Telephone Company, PA., featuring the Mabel Beaton Marionettes.…
Read Moreode to joy
We recently watched a strangely strident video called “Every Day of Our Lives Should Advance the Plot”, about taking control and making sure you move toward your dream everyday, as though your life were a movie and you were in charge of every detail “to advance the plot”. We wondered how “advancing the plot” works…
Read Moreyoko ono’s wish tree
One of the most compelling holiday trees we’ve seen in a public space is Yoko Ono‘s Wish Tree, versions of which have been installed around the world. She conceived of the idea in 1996 – though it’s actually an a very old practice – and it continues to reverberate. People are invited to write their wish…
Read More30 second vacation from holiday madness (video)
We find this teeny video of artist Shinichi Maruyama hurling water to make his evanescent sculptures strangely refreshing. We imagine ourselves doing it,too, in slow motion to catch the moment… via Kottke
Read Morebest thrift stores and flea markets of 2010
Over the years, we’ve gotten A LOT of stuff second-hand, from thrift stores, flea-markets, Ebay. It’s a way to get great things MUCH cheaper than retail. (Our most recent purchase: a tag-still-on, in-warranty Eames Soft-Pad Management Chair, for a fraction of what it would cost new.) We appreciate Apartment Therapy’s national survey of Best Thrift…
Read Moretuscan herb salt, p-butter cups and other homemade food gifts
If you are in a last minute quandary about unusual and much appreciated gifts,visit public radio’s The Splendid Table where Sally talks with Lynne Rosetto Kasper about Homemade Holiday Food Gifts. All are easy-to-make and pack a big bang-for-the buck. Lemon-Scented Olive Oil with much of the flavor and a fraction of the price of classic Limonato…
Read Morea d-i-y holiday e-card + the story behind it
Our neighbor Stuart Williams, who lives down the hall from us, sent us a holiday e-card that he designed : a great example of swell d-i-y greetings makable with design, drawing, or photo software. Use photos or graphics to design your PDF and SEND IT OUT via email, to say HELLO to lots of folks…
Read Morepaint your (gift) boxes!
Maria Robledo sent us this email of a swell gift wrapping idea her family came up with: “Covering over commercial labels on gift boxes w a little paint and saving on wrapping paper!” Just paint those boxes with a little acrylic paint. Gorgeous! …great for all sorts of boxes… Thanks Maria! Related post: ps: how to…
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