The corrugated aluminum screen designer Jacques Boris made in the 1990s set off a firestorm in my head. Its elegant, visionary use of an ordinary material reminded me of Lino Schenal and Max Lamb’s transformations of styrofoam. If I had the means to cut through thick wavy metal and finish its edges and hinge it…
Read MoreDeconstructing “Normal” (Betty White)
We found this short video made for kids curiously clarifying. “Are You Normal?” explains the origin of idea that has become a source of so much modern anxiety, and deconstructs it. We are reminded of the great Betty White in this deeply wonderful Saturday Night Live sketch.
Read MoreImagining a Forest Bed with a Poem by Mary Oliver
When we saw this image on @UpstateDiary, we thought what a lovely thing to build into a garden, and imagined ourselves resting on it, how instantly relaxed and at ease we would feel in the fragrant green. Then this Mary Oliver poem jumped into our hands, expanding its possibilities…
Read MoreOur Hands Surprise Our Head (Francis of Assisi, Tessa Traeger, Bertjan Pot)
A fragment from St. Francis of Assisi got us thinking about hands in a new way. Into our head flew images from photographer Tessa Traeger’s moving series, Voices of the Vivarais, of working people in the ancient province in south-east France. and a video about Dutch designer Bertjan Pot.
Read MorePicture Frame as Magical Objet
We love this skeleton of a picture frame hung pictureless on a wall. As we gaze into its empty space, we find ourselves imagining all sorts of things while we enjoy its austere shape. It reminded us of the old silver frame we gave to artist Maria Robledo years ago. Picture frame as magical objet.
Read MoreHow to Take Control of Time (Without Digital Detox)
Behavioral scientist Michelle Drouin thinks it’s fine to be dependent on your phone — it’s a useful and illuminating tool — and she doesn’t get with the idea of digital detox. If she feels her screen time is out of balance, she uses a simple practice to shift regain time doing things that mean more to her.
Read MoreA Strangely Wonderful Website Helps You Find the Right Glue to Bond THIS to THAT
The strangely wonderful website This to That employs a simple widget “to help you choose the right glue for your bonding requirements.” You type in the two materials you want to bond and it gives a list of the best options. Glue knowledge is the site’s sole mission. We learned a LOT.
Read MoreEtel Adnan’s ‘Day-to-Day Bravery’
In the weeks leading up to artist and poet Etel Adnan’s death, our instagram feed was flooded with images of her work as though the world could feel her passing. Her striking paintings have been called “talismans”, “declarations of love”, and reminders of what Adnan called “day-to-day bravery”. Seeking out her work and writing, we found her big wisdom.
Read MoreAn Ad Hoc Indoor Pond for Spring Blossoms (Su Tung Po)
Blossoms knocked off their stems make for free flower arrangements in the form of ad hoc indoor ponds like the one photographer Maria Robledo devised (the perfect accompaniment to this poem written over a thousand years ago)
Read MoreAdvice for Giving Advice
I was dismayed to see MYSELF in the brilliant, funny New Yorker piece “Wait but have you tried?” about the advice-giving that is everywhere. It pulled me up short and got me wondering what an antidote for this rampant habit might be?
Read MoreWhat Mending Can Mean
Long out of favor due to the glut of cheap clothing, products and materials, mending and repair is on the rise again. That’s got us looking into the deeper meaning of mending.
Read MoreIn Ukraine’s Tragic War, Art Appeared
Early in the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 23rd, 2022, New York Magazine invited young Ukrainians — the first generation born after Ukraine won independence — to share their experiences. It offers a remarkable view into the fierce realities of escalating war, including this from a 25-year-old painter who fled Kyiv.
Read MoreIrritation is the Message: Turn Ugly Shopping Bags Inside Out to Make Them Beautiful
I pondered the maxim “Irritation is the message” a long time before understood that the things that irritated me were the things I sought solutions for. I started transforming ugly shopping bags.
Read MoreArtist Ed Clark Defied the Limits of the Brush with a Janitor’s Broom
We love this clip of abstract expressionist artist Ed Clark describing how he came defy the limitations of the paint brush by painting canvasses laid out on the floor with a push broom, the old-fashioned super-wide broom janitor’s used to wash big swathes of floor. His improvisation reminds us of the way ideas can ignite or connect in an instant to yield solutions with mighty effect.
Read MoreKevin Kelly’s Cheap PDF of his Wonderful ‘Cool Tools’
When Kevin Kelly’s published Cool Tools, his giant “catalog of possibilities”, five years ago, it immediately became our favorite catalogue. Its descriptions are literary, its selection attuned to creative minds. We find it relaxing to read while it makes our brains sparkle in unexpected ways. Now it’s available for $3.99.
Read MoreWhat Courage Looks Like
As tragic as the events in Ukraine are, we are deeply moved and heartened by the choices of many to confront fearsome danger, intimidation and uncertainty with astonishing acts of courage. Many are about voice. They got us thinking about our own.
Read MoreReasons for Not Doing the Thing Today (Madeleine Dore, Maya Angelou, Louise Bourgeois)
The other day, a newsletter arrived in my inbox with a list that made me instantly relax. “Some reasonable reasons you didn’t do the thing today” was from Madeleine Dore, author of Extraordinary Routines, which explores “how we navigate the pendulum swings of our days”, i.e. how to live with meaning and creativity and unleash our productivity. Her brilliant list grew out of her realization that there is no secret to productivity, and that the very notion is deeply awry.
Read MoreInventory of Loves + a Radicchio Bouquet
Every week, Suleika Jaouad, creator of The Isolation Journal newsletter “for people seeking to transform life’s interruptions into creative grist”, gives a prompt for readers to think or write about. This surprising prompt about love hit home.
Read MoreThe Unwritten Stories of Our Lives (John McPhee, Diane Arbus, Lisette Model)
Tabula Rasa, The New Yorker’s series by the great John McPhee features “the saved-up, bypassed, intended pieces of writing.” McPhee’s spare, vivid descriptions reminded me of the essential lesson legendary photographer Lisette Model taught her students, most notably Diane Arbus.
Read MoreThe Ancient Wisdom and Never-ending Savor of ‘Soup Mother’
One of the best down-and-dirty cooking lessons I’ve seen is pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz’s vast Instagram Story about “soup mother”. And some wonderful writing about deep joys of daily impromptu cooking is woven through her instagram posts. So here are excepts from both: the very liberating wisdom of an inspired, busy, passionate cook.
Read More