We were about to take some time to do NOTHING when got a notice for Jury Duty and found a trove of essential, time-sensitive tasks that had fallen by the wayside. We wondered how to plough through obligations AND rest in a beachy, refreshing way?
Read More‘Celestial Sheet-Caking’ in Chocolate
In the course of yesterday’s extraordinary afternoon of the eclipse, readers and friends sent us their many a la minute eclipse improvisations. The most unexpected was the cake Zoe made…
Read MoreHow to Experience the Eclipse By Doing Practically Nothing
We haven’t gotten it together to get truly-safe-for-your-eyes eclipse viewing glasses ourselves. So we’ve figured out lazy-dog, last minute strategies for experiencing this once-in-a-blue-moon cosmic wonder…by doing practically nothing.
Read MoreEmbracing the Walls Within (John Cage)
In our dog-eared A Year From Monday, we read this astonishing story from John Cage, in Lecture on Commitment. As usual, it changed our view completely.
Read MoreLive Rose Jackets and Other Lovely Flower Apparal
This wonderful live rose jacket got us thinking about ways to use fresh flowers to sparkle up our summer wardrobe…
Read MoreThe Value of Objects I Can’t Afford
One of the most curious, charming and compelling blogs I’ve come across lately is Objects I Can’t Afford. The title page says “Welcome to my on-going wish list of things that are juuust out of my budget”…It’s an amazingly clarifying head trip.
Read MoreSolar Eclipse: How to Experience the Awesomeness + Free Safety Glasses
What’s all the hubbub about next Monday’s solar eclipse about? We’ve put together a succinct guide, from where and how to view it wherever you are, to readings from art, philosophy, poetry, to where to find free eclipse glasses.
Read MoreAn Analog Productivity Tool Like No Other
In writing the very digital Improvised Life, I rely daily on analog magic.
Read MoreEssence of Summer Tomato Candy
When we have a surplus of smallish tomatoes like plum or cherry, we often make them into addictive “tomato candy” — a chewy, intensely tomato dried fruit —by drying them the same way we dry herbs for tea or kale chips: drying them on racks in the heat of our pilot lit oven…
Read MoreE. Jean on Life, Decor, and The Best Piece of Advice She’s Ever Given
E. Jean Carroll, the longest running advice columnist in history, lives alone on a small island in the woods of upstate New York.This short video profile gives us a glimpse of a pure original whose carved out a completely original life, in the mainstream, yet completely OUT.
Read MoreThe Dirty Little Secret of Spare Minimalist Interiors
When Houzz featured our friend Laura Handler’s Harlem renovation on their site, we spotted the great secret to maintaining a spare, orderly space.
Read MoreJim Carrey’s New Life of Color
Over the transom came a whole side of Jim Carrey we would never have guessed: Jim Carrey the artist who has much to say about vocation, art, healing…Check out his lovely, very surprising video.
Read MoreBox of Smile, Jar of Time and Space (Yoko Ono et al)
Yoko Ono’s 1971 A Box of Smile reminded us of the many kind of conceptual vessels that can hold ideas for us, and give us experiences. Including a log cabin, and a canning jar.
Read MoreThe Secret Flashcodes of Fireflies
For a summer evening, some lovely silent videos of fireflies, haiku from centuries ago, and a hint at their secret flashcode.
Read MoreBeauty You Can Carry on a Bicycle (Loes Heerink, Emily Dickinson)
Self-taught photographer Loes Heerink spent days on bridges capture the diversity of bicycle vendors in Hanoi. Her photo series “Vendors from Above” reminded us of the beauty you can carry on a bicycle…
Read MoreTwo-Tone Half-Painted Optical Illusion Chairs
Lately we’ve seen some classic old second-hand store chairs transformed with paint in a way we hadn’t considered, to very cool effect.
Read MoreJames Broughton on Nowness, Laying Yourself Open and the Benefits of Twirling
This hunk of perfection from James Broughton (whose nick name was Big Joy) brings us right into NOW every time we read it.
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