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a food movie gift for day-after-tg lazy-dogs

‘the improvised life’ was going to be dark today, while we move a tiny bit slower AND work on a post for next Tuesday’s special Manhattan User’s Guide 2009 New York Blogger’s Holiday Guide. But while reading Kottke yesterday morning, I came across this swell little video essay by Matt Zoller Seitz from Moving Image Source. It’s called  Feast: A Thanksgiving tribute to images of food on film. It’s a perfect apres-Thanksgiving, lazy-dog, savoring-the-day pleasure.

“Food is a uniter, not a divider. Read a political manifesto on the bus or the train and people tune out. Read a list of ingredients for timpano or green bean casserole or quail in rose petal sauce and they don’t just listen, they nod their appreciation and let out subtle little mutterings of pleasure. Recipes are family-friendly erotica. Who doesn’t love to eat?”

Thanks Kottke!

11.27.09 | comments (1) | in family + friends, food, gifts, inspiration blogs + sites, media, share |

thanks!

Nunny via The Visual Dictionary

Nunny via The Visual Dictionary

11.25.09 | comments | in cheap + great, community, copy this!, family + friends, share, tools |

reader survey: what are your favorite bathroom reads?

Ellen Silverman

Ellen Silverman

Bathroom reading is a specialized and very personal genre of literature. I imagine everyone has his/her idea of what passes muster for bathroom reading, what its essential qualities must be. Of the books that have had a place on my makeshift bathroom shelf (a pipe) for some time  - as opposed to magazines or newspapers that come and go- I look for books that I can open anywhere and find something entertaining, illuminating or educational. Proper beginnings and endings don’t matter. A folding aluminum camp stool (yikes!) I bought at the flea market serves as a book stand.

As a way of finding interesting new things to read and share in the unique sensibilities of ‘the improvised life’s readers, I invite you to join in our first reader’s survey. Please take a few minutes to list your favorite bathroom reads in the Comments.

I’ll start with my current line-up (and an excerpt I came across today): read more…

11.16.09 | comments (8) | in bath, bathing, resources books + zines, share |

do-it-yourself foreign aid for women and girls

Katy Grannan for The New York Times

Katy Grannan for The New York Times

In Saving the World’s Women, New York Times writers Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn report on extreme acts of violence and repression against women and girls in developing countries such a Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. One such story told of young girls attacked with acid in an attempt to prevent them from attending school. Both horrifying and illuminating, the piece is rare in that it includes a sidebar of very do-able actions that an ordinary individual can take from giving to a micro-finance organization to sponsoring a girl.       

An audio slideshow narrated by Kristof gives an excellent overview of the piece, as well as heartening stories of women who found their way out of their powerlessness with the help of  various aid programs and organizations. It also tells of creative initiatives taken by ordinary individuals that grew into powerful vehicles for change.  

For an extensive listing of organizations supporting women in developing countries, click here.

08.31.09 | comments (1) | in community, family + friends, resources blogs + sites, share, strategies |

“an amazing amount of improvising going on in iran”

iran-tweets4

The Daily Dish

With text messaging and phone service cut off by the government, Iranian citizens re-purposed a number of technologies, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr to communicate with each other, and to report to the outside world.  (The green words above are translations of tweet’s posted on The Daily Dish.) On Charlie Rose’s June 17th program Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard described this incredible phenomenon as “an amazing amount of improvisation going on, on both sides… read more…

06.18.09 | comments (2) | in community, inspiration, share, sightings, strategies |

buy, sell or trade produce at veggie trader

cherries2

Maria Robledo

The newly-launched website Veggie Trader is like Craigslist for homegrown produce. Sign up to post a listing describing the excess produce you have and what you’d like in return. Or just enter your zip code to see what your neighbors have available for sell or to give away. read more…

05.15.09 | comments | in community, food, free + flea, garden, services, share, strategies |

rule for living: apologize every day

Sally Schneider
My friend Holton Rower, who is an amazing artist, created this sign on his studio door using colored tape. It’s a really great reminder that instantly shifts your perspective: about being more mindful of the potential to hurt someone’s feelings, including your own, maybe especially your own. Just about everybody I know judges themselves harshly, with unspoken words they would never inflict on anyone else.

It’s also a fine example of using colored tape to create an instant reminder anywhere. Blue masking tape, used for room painting, is particularly good: a bright color that won’t damage walls if you change your mind down the line.   read more…

04.28.09 | comments (4) | in rules for living, share, walls + windows |

 
 
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