This quote reminded us of a stunning video of a 1950’s housewife who took part in an early LSD experiment. As the drug takes hold, she glories in the colors she sees and says “Everything is one. Can’t you see it?” Without taking LSD, we find there is still a great deal of unexpected beauty to see IF we practice noticing what’s around us.
Read More
While we were mulling the theme of crumpled paper (or Tyvek) being employed in novel and useful ways, we stumbled on Japanese design studio Naoya Matsumoto Design‘s use of crumpled tracing paper to transform a Japanese gallery in Osaka into a cozy pop-up bar. Ahhh, a swell, inexpensive new decorating material we hadn’t thought of: like a sheer, crisp fabric…
Read More
(Video link HERE.) 233 viral videos from 2014 spliced together make quite a view. We turned the sound off and watched people leaping…dancing…flying…balancing…mastering…diving…risking…challenging themselves physically… What about challenge? we wondered. We thought of the many difficult situations we faced this year that were internal and not filmable with a Go-Pro Camera: they were our private challenges. And…
Read More
While we were browsing through photographer Prue Ruscoe‘s work, we came across this image of a what appears to be a garden shed or trailer painted (or stenciled) with huge butterflies. A lovely visual breath of air…
Read More
We view painted floors as a canvas that can be embellished or changed as needed. Here are some examples of cool floor patterns you can paint on top of a painted floor, to shift the look or disguise damage or wear.
Read More
On the this best year-end/New Year’s reflections is, as always, the New York Times’ Magazine’s The Lives They Lived, brief stories of incredibly original lives of famous and unknown that passed away in 2014. If you don’t have subscription access to the Times, use your free monthly read (whatever it is) to go here and scroll down the…
Read More
Stomping around the park yesterday after a rain we looked DOWN and saw this unexpected message on the wet sidewalk: a potent bit of wisdom and fine reminder. TAKE ACTION INSPIRE CHANGE Random?
Read More
We recently needed a sturdy envelope to carry some papers in our big satchel. Hmmm. What to use? FedEx envelopes are made of Tyvek but they have all that terrible writing on them. NOT. What would happen if we turned one inside out so it became plain white, and then crumpled it to turn it…
Read More
One of the best gifts we received for Christmas was Mary Oliver’s book of poems Blue Horses. No matter where we open it, we find a few words that reminds us of a way of living and seeing we’d like to follow. (The epigraph features the remarkable Kabir quote, above.) Here’s a catalyzing fragment from the…
Read More
(Video link HERE!) The lovely GIF we saw at Hedwiggen, below, suddenly made us flash on John Lennon singing Imagine in 1971, over forty years ago. The video he made with Yoko Ono, with its image of the opening up of the dark, shuttered rooms of a house to light, resonates still. We think of all that happened to…
Read More
On the eve of a New Year, we are thinking about how we’d like to enter 2015… …with a graceful, joyfully alive LEAP, like the beautiful Mary Wigman long ago… …even if only in spirit… Photo: Iwona Wojnicka
Read More
Photographer Maria Robledo sent us this graffiti she captured LAST January: perfectly Improvised Life. We’ve saved it all this time to present as our holiday message to you…
Read More
During dark winter, I recommend using hits of brilliant color across bare skin and hair to brighten things up a bit, especially for holiday parties. I suppose you could call these beauty tips, but they’re also all about breaking the rules and trying out the unexpected. Unlike what maddening women’s magazines might tell you, there is…
Read More
(Video link HERE!) We are knocked out by Jerry Seinfeld’s radically truth-telling, funny —Is he kidding or what?— send up of advertising during his acceptance speech for a CLIO Awards, which honors creative advertising. I love advertising because I love lying…
Read More
Beard Baubles, tiny ornaments to festoon a holiday beard, have become such a rage, they’ve completely sold out! Who knew that beard decorations would become a sartorial expression. We’re thinking it may have been fueled by Will It Beard, a brilliant tumblr devoted to ingenious beard apparel. We’ve found a set 30 Small Glass Mini…
Read More
If we wanted to knock off an easy and utterly charming holiday food gift tonight, we’d make the beautiful homemade marshmallows we saw featured on Kitchen Repertoire, our friends Francis Boswell and Dana Gallagher’s lovely food site. For kids or adults, there is nothing like homemade marshmallows,
Read More
Yesterday while on the way to an appointment, we found ourselves in a frenzy of people shopping for gifts to meet the Christmas deadline. The tension in the air was palpable. Although we are not immune to the pressure —some people, like little kids need to get a gift on time — over the years…
Read More
Ah shoot. We just heard that Joe Cocker died. Damn. As soon as we heard the news, his beautiful raspy voice came into our heads singing With a Little Help From My Friends. He turned the classic Beatles’ tune on it’s head and made everyone hear it differently…really hear it. He was wild to watch,
Read More
Over the years, I’ve devised a number of hors d’oeuvres that I can throw together at the drop of a hat. All are made with readily-available ingredients and take little time to assemble. Some involve my hanging out at the stove of my open kitchen, pan-frying or assembling the little bites. I find that my…
Read More
Yesterday was the Winter Solstice, the shortest day —and longest night — of the year, when the sun pauses on its southward trajectory, then starts its cimb north, and the cycle begins once again. Some of us wait to begin rejuvenating our lives until New Year’s Eve when the glittering ball drops in Times Square. But…
Read More