Improvised Life

A Wondrous Dragon in A Single 2-Minute Stroke w Haiku

This truly astonishing tiny video is a perfect morning mediation with a inbuilt lesson: The ease of this miraculous single stroke-that-became-a-dragon is the result of intense practice and many failures.

Ann Hamilton: ‘How Can Words be Acts of Making?’

At artist Ann Hamilton’s website, we found an extraordinary meditation on words, and the question: “how can words be acts of making?”

Practical Optical Illusions: Doors Hidden in Plain Sight

It isn’t necessary to be an artist to disguise a door; there are all sorts of ways to achieve the affect.

Martino Gamper’s Chairs are in Our Head

When we stopped to ponder the legless back and seat of a ubiquitous faux Eames polycarbomate chair we found on the street, we suddenly realized the influence designer Martino Gamper had on our thinking, whose clever 100 Chairs in 100 Days inspire completely novel iterations.

Martin Luther King Jr via Sharase DeBouse and John Lewis

Martin Luther King Jr’s words spoken decades ago resonant more strongly today than ever.

The Simple Pantry: Spaghetti with Spicy Garlic Oil and Anchovies

It takes five simple ingredients and about 10 minutes to transform spaghetti into an elemental, poor-man’s pasta that tastes like Italy. (Put your anchovy prejudice aside.)

Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies via David Bowie

Judging from his worn and taped together set of Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, David Bowie really made use of the cards designed to SHIFT your head when you’ve hit a creative block or impasse. Now long out of print, we found a digital version…

Trompe l’Oeil and Conceptual Art Necklaces DIY

This trompe l’oeil, conceptual art necklace takes the classic, waspy pearl necklace to a whole new level. It inspired us to search out doable, actually wearable trompe l’oeil jewelry.

Size Matters: Jumbo Paperclip as Liberating, Minimalist “Purse”

My collection of under- and over-sized things often yields surprising improvisations and pleasures.

Antidote to the Fearful Zeitgeist: Somersaulting Tibetans

While the world spins off its axis, playing and LAUGHING are powerful antidotes; they keep us right smack IN the moment….
This fab little video provides an instant dose of joy in the midst of the shit hitting the fan.

Gifts from Opening Books at Random: Bibliosophia? Bibliotherapy? Bibliomancy?

Daily we find ourselves opening a random book to find a kernel of something just right: an image, a bit of writing, a poem, an unexpected gift that resonates with the moment. We wondered what to call this mysterious occurance.

Divine Roasted Sesame Oil + Down n Dirty Ginger Scallion Sauce

I’d been disillusioned by sesame oils for some time, finding most that I tried with a harsh, over-toasted flavor. La Tourganelle’s delicious Roasted Sesame Oil was a joy to discover, and has inspired all sorts of culinary improvisations.

Instant Diary for Capturing Essential Memories

On the last night of 2016, we found this list on Kottke, a blog we’ve loved for years. It is just notations, really, almost stream of consciousness, of public and private experiences that powerfully sum up the year. It gave us an idea for simple way of keeping a diary, which we, like so many people we know, are too busy to do. We’re going to try it while the year is young.