Every morning, we’ve been reading a page from Yoko Ono’s tiny book of instructions, Acorn. We have been moved by many of the “instructions” we’ve come across. We find this one, which advices a practice of mending, both physical and emotional, especially compelling.
Read MoreHow to Neaten Up Stuff via Sachs’ Practice of Knolling
(Video link here.) At Things Organized Neatly, a website about exactly THAT, we found this terrific except from Ten Bullets, artist Tom Sachs‘ essential principles — “his code” — for employees working in his studio. Here he outlines something he called “knolling”, an action we’ve always done but never had a word for. Sachs’ interpretation is…
Read MoreWhat happens If You Try and Fail?
I spend a lot of time trying things and…failing. Hmmm. Is failing even the right word? I spend a lot of times trying things and having them not go as expected.
Read MoreInexpensive Urban Shelters Solve a Housing Crisis
As apartments in urban areas become prohibitively expensive, young people in Oakland, California have been developing innovative, grassroots strategies to provide homes for themselves, and for homeless people in their communities. The New York Times recently article and slideshow samples new ways of thinking about “home”, “a social experiment in stripping down to the basics.”
Read MoreMorning Poem: Walt Whitman Read to You + Animated
(Video link here.) London-based animator Sophie Koko Gate’s chose the 2nd stanza of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself to animate in her cool 2 minute video. You can read along below. What we like best about the little video is having the poem read to us, with a jazzy beat and its wonderful last two lines.
Read MoreImprovised Life’s Community IS Gold
I’ve been bowled over by raft of new Friends with Benefits subscriptions and the most astonishing, deeply-heartening praise from readers in response to my writing about Improvised Life’s Illusory Wealth. Well, not completely illusory. I should have qualified it.
Read MoreRoasted Okra or Delicata Squash with Curry or Garam Masala
It’s the tail end of okra season, and I came across some beauties — tender, bright green, and not too big – on the very day I saw Kitchen Repertoire’s latest: Simple Dal with Roast Okra. Being both lazy and busy, I opted to make just the okra, which is dead-simple and totally delish, with some…
Read MoreMusic to Help you Chill Out or Sleep
(Video link here.) Open Culture’s The Best Music To Put You To Sleep: Minimalist Composer Max Richter, Pop Phenom Ed Sheeran & Your Favorites put us onto some great resources for relaxing music that would be great for working, winding down at the end of the day or to help you fall asleep. We’ve been listening as…
Read MoreImprovised Life’s Illusory Wealth
Recently, a reader left us a query in Tinypass, our membership platform, and included this comment: “I paid for a subscription to support the writer and I think she has enough support at this point so she doesn’t really need mine.” Yikes!
Read MoreWireless Speakers We Love + How We Found Them UPDATE + Caveats
After we accidentally sacrified our trusty-ancient-unwieldy speakers trying to counteract the bed vibration that woke us up each morning, we went on the hunt for great sounding wireless speakers. We ended up getting two variations because music is so essential to us. It fuels our work when energy levels are low, helps us chill out, and even…
Read MoreAllen Ginsberg’s Distracted Tai Chi Meditation + House Tour
(Video link here.) Tai Chi is not only a martial art but a form of moving meditation, where the practioner is meant to be “present” and aware of each move. Like all forms of meditation, that part is difficult; the mind loves to wander. In 1984, the great poet Allen Ginsberg wrote a poem about himself practicing tai chi…
Read MoreBetter-Than-Your-Shoemaker Shoe + Boot Refurb
How many times have you had your shoemaker polish your shoes, only to find the rough blims and tears on the scuffed toes pop up after the first wearing, making your shoes look as old as they really are? Having never found a shoemaker who solved the problem, we decided to experiment on a few…
Read MoreInstant Therapy: Try Asking “What’s Good Here?”
Recently, we woke up really low and found ourselves mired, tired, unable to think our way out of our sad mood. It occurred to us to ask “What’s good here?” Then we started writing.
Read MoreClever Minimalist Pot and Utensil Hanging Systems
We spent a lot of time and thought devising a pot rack that would make our decades of pots easily accessible AND sleek-looking, rather than a weighty mass hanging above our kitchen island. So we were intrigued by two ideas found rummaging through Boffi‘s “Kitchenology“, pdfs of their latest offerings.
Read MoreStart the Week Flying…Over a Moon for a Cosmic Perspective
(Video link here.) NASA recently released beautiful enhanced color images of Pluto‘s largest moon Charon taking during the New Horizon mission’s approach to the Pluto system last July. They used the images create this astonishing flyover video of Charon. It definitely gives us an expanded view…
Read MoreFool-Proof Roast Chicken with Quick Pan Sauce
This is the best method I know for making perfect roast chicken. Even novice and/or terrified cooks find it foolproof, and it has become a staple of many of my friends. By some mysterious chemistry, roasting a chicken with a lemon in its cavity guarantees exceptionally crisp skin, moist, flavorful flesh and abundant pan juices:…
Read MoreIf Trump and Clinton Had Made Other Life Choices
Lately, we’ve gotten into NBC’s Blindspot, a television series about a beautiful woman who is found completely tattooed and naked in a duffel bag in Times Square. To promote it, NBC has rolled out a massive tattoo-driven marketing campaign, including a “Tattoo Yourself” image generator app on their website. You choose a tattooed male or female body,…
Read MoreHow Trees Foster Well-Being, Indoors or Out
A new study provides further evidence of the beneficial effect of trees on well-being. Being among trees can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. British sculptor Max Lamb’s recent installation shows how powerful trees are INDOORS as well. Yoko Ono expands the view.
Read MoreNeed to Relax? Watch Mesmerizing Gifs of Classic Japanese Prints
Some of the most inspired gifs — and acts of appropriation — we’ve seen lately are Segawa Atsuki’s incredible animations of pre-modern Japanese prints here. We find this version of The Great Wave, Hokusai’s iconic woodblock from the 1800’s curiously soothing, as though we were IN that boat riding waves. We imagine ourselves on that boat riding the waves…
Read MoreIs Patti Smith a Role Model of…Real?
Patti Smith is very much in the news these days, largely due to the release of her new memoir M Train, which New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani called “An eloquent — and a deeply moving — elegy for what she has “lost and cannot find” but can remember in words.“ Penelope Green in the Times…
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