We found this beautiful gif on Krulwich Wonders some time ago, along with a quote that resonated deeply: We wax, we wane. It’s the dance of life. Every living thing is a pulse. We quicken, then we fade. There’s more to the quote, but the part we related to was principle of waxing and waning,…
Read Morewhen was the last time you did something for the 1st time?
Perfect question, found on Fluxus’ fffound tumbler. (So….what are you going to do this weekend?) Related posts: diy valentine card + life philosophy from fluxus MOMA’s photo wallpaper (a piece of ass) yoko ono’s wish tree ok go channels rube goldberg: “having good ideas and making cool shit”
Read Moretammy duckworth + jessica cox: flying through obstacles
We were knocked out by this fragment of an interview with Tammy Duckworth in the Sunday New York Time’s Magazine. She’s the United States Representative for Illinois’s 8th congressional district who lost both legs while a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in the Iraq War: Question: When you wake up do you feel a sense of loss when you realize what…
Read Moreclever kitchen renovation using new and original cabinets
Desire to Inspire recently posted a reader’s mid century-style renovation. The kitchen’s ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures were not side-by-side and we found ourselves moving the cursor up and down to really understand the clever transformation. Ahh, we get it: Beth, who’d masterminded the kitchen’s update, thought carefully about what REALLY needed to be taken out…
Read More‘ode to joy’ played on broken pottery
(Video link here.) A very clever guy named Mennyi or possibly Mátyás Wettl (we’re unclear who) made a video in which he performs “Ode to Joy” by kicking broken plates around under an overpass. One of our favorite pieces of music…Lovely…Wonder what we could play on the porcelain Ted Muehling cup we broke a few weeks ago… via…
Read Moresilver leaf + clever paint transform a wardrobe or a wall
Looking through to the “bones” of this hutch by Amy Somerville London Ltd, we realize that is not that extraordinary. Its greatness lies in the clever surface pattern: blocks of color and what appears to be gold or silver leaf. Somerville’s website told the story “satin-finished ebonised walnut…detailed in high-gloss red and green lacquer, white gold…
Read Moresometimes good enough is fabulous
A friend of a friend who happens to be a therapist made this very wise statement in reference to his very long and loving marriage. As we’ve gotten older, we’ve come to find this philosophy both liberating and enabling of a great deal of joy. It was perhaps the biggest lesson our perfectionist-selves learned during…
Read Moredese’rae l. stage’s “live through this” kickstarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deseraestage/live-through-this-life-on-the-other-side-of-suicid In addition to helping out at ‘the improvised life’ every week, Dese’Rae L. Stage works two other jobs to support the website she started a couple of years ago. Live Through This is a collection of portraits and stories of suicide attempt survivors, as told by those survivors. The site is meant to give…
Read MoreCubist, Mondrian-esque Painted Shipping Pallet Bed
Spotted in a the cube room, a concept room created by designer Fabian Gatermann for a design hostel in Cologne, Germany: a fab shipping pallet bed painted like one of Piet Mondrian‘s famous “Compositions” from 20’s and 30’s. On close inspection, it appears that the bed was made to LOOK like it was made of pallets; it seems a bit too…
Read Moreforest dwellings made of trees limbs, leaves, brush…whatever is there
When we walk through park or woods, we secretly imagine how we would surive there if we had to. What kind of shelter would we devise with what is there? It’s kid thinking, really: of forts and snug secret places, combined with our love of shelters of all kinds. Artist Elle Davies made that fantasy real…
Read Morejohn wellington made his own ebook (so can you!)
Our friend John Wellington is an artist whose controversial work has been called “classical, claustrophobic, fetishistic, beautiful, vulgar, architectural, humorous, morbid, decorative, and sexual.” He renders deeply personal imagery using Old Master techniques in unique ways and teaches his methods at the New York Academy of Art where he is an Adjunct Professor, and at his…
Read Morean elephant frolicking in the surf
(Video link here.) We don’t know when we’ve seen any living being taking delight so completely as this young elephant frolicking in the surf. Somehow, watching it makes us feel its uninhibited, wholehearted, in-the-moment refreshing pleasure in a simple thing — the sea. It’s a fine reminder for the first day of the week: go…
Read More‘the art of fixing things’ will help you make anything
We are smitten with Lawrence E. Pierce‘s The Art of Fixing Things, principles of machines, and how to repair them: 150 tips and tricks to make things last longer, and save you money. The title and its very long blurb are not quite accurate however. The book is also a manual about MAKING things, tinkering, and…
Read Morediy or buy: dowel-and-board coat (or anything) hanger
We often take ideas from products that already exist, using a kind of x-ray vision to suss their inner workings and determine if we could make them ourselves. Danish company we do wood’s Scoreboarde, a graphic multifunctional rack for hanging coats and other things appears to be little more than hardwood boards with grids of…
Read Morehappy valentine’s day from ‘the improvised life’
70 improvised valentines later — still in love
Bill and Julie got married on Valentine’s Day in 1943, 70 years ago today. He was a GI who had managed to wangle a weekend pass to marry his childhood sweetheart. From the get-go,their marriage was an improv. “We didn’t have a minyan, the minimum of ten people required for a Jewish wedding,” Julie recalls.…
Read Morediy woven paper valentine + other last minute gifts
We love the possibilities inherent in the great valentine DIY we found at Mineco Co UK, made of woven paper. All you need is an exactto knife and straight edge and some nice paper. Mineco’s site tells how-to, but there’s lots of room for improvising (were thinking cut up photographs, magazines, ribbon…)
Read Moremaria robledo’s stealth valentines
Our friend Maria Robledo makes “stealth” valentines for her husband Holton to find. She stitched “BE MINE” onto a curtain, and arranged beaded necklaces into hearts on the carpet.
Read Morethe enduring wisdom of ‘the phantom tollboth’
We are amazed at how often we return to The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster’s classic kid’s book that is celebrating 50 years of stunning popularity. It’s the story of Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. In his rarely-used kid’s-size car, he embarks on a surprising…
Read Moreawesome wood brick floor (with + without cement)
Of the many inspired DIY ideas to be found in the rustic Sunset House we posted previously is a beautiful and rather startling floor made of wood “bricks”. We’d never thought of simply cutting the ends off wood planks to make wood bricks. Industrious owners Lilah and Nick made a pattern of the wood bricks,…
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