We like surface pattern designer Leah Duncan‘s play on the much-blogged clothespins-strung-on-pretty-cord to display pictures. She uses them to display leaves or other found items…as well
Read Morekramer’s coffee table book (imaginary d-i-y)
We always thought Kramer had a great idea with his coffee table book…made out of a coffee table. We’re wondering about making one out of a really BIG book, like Little Nemo in Slumberland: Many More Splendid Sundays, Volume 2 which measures 21″ x 16″. Imagine IT with flip-down legs… … That would make one…
Read Moretaking the day off!
…and wishing you a great, cooled out, refreshing Memorial Day.
Read More‘dark side of the lens’….why creative people do what they do…
DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo. Waylon Lewis, the powerhouse behind Elephant Journal sent us this: a gift video for a long weekend. See you Tuesday sometime! Related links:creative pursuit as deep sea dive
Read Morecream biscuits: easy, foolproof and divine (recipe)
This morning ‘the improvised life’s essential-to-its-being assistant Sarah* walked in with a surprise gift: a basket of warm cream biscuits that she’d baked herself and brought on the train from Brooklyn. Everything stopped! and we pulled out the French butter laced with fleur de sel and slathered it on… then we tried the biscuits with…
Read Morelet’s get lost: yale’s vast fabulous archive available online
We’ve just gotten lost….in the Yale Digital Commons, the wondrous archive that they’ve recently started making available online, for anyone to browse and USE without limits. We’re talking seriously amazing images here, from Brassai’s famous images of Paris and artists in their studio to obscure, rarely-seen snapshots and children’s book drawings by Andy Warhol. So…
Read Moregif-inspiration: devise, invent, create…try something new
d-i-y door upgrade: painted edges and hinges
Remodelista recently featured this picture in a post about chairs with unfinished legs. We’re looking at and loving THE DOOR BEHIND the teal tonal chair, with it’s surprising orange-painted edge. What an easy d-i-y way to jazz-up a door with a little paint. It made us think of the black hinges-on-a-white-door we saw at a friend’s…
Read Morerepurposed swing set = hanging garden
Pamela Hovland, who always has her eyes WIDE OPEN to what is around her, sent us this photo from a recent trip to Minnesota: an old swing set repurposed into a hanging garden. Charming and great! (And there’s still one swing to swing on, whenever/whoever feels like it…) Thanks Pamela! Related posts: think-make-think itzhak perlman:…
Read Morethis way or that way? what is the better way?
One of our great morning pleasures is Rolu, Matt Olsen’s blog about art and artists that is simultaneously both illuminating and mysterious. Its recent post segues perfectly with ours from yesterday quoting John Cage’s A Year from Monday. Olsen posted “arrow” works by two different artists with these words: “this way or that way? what is the better…
Read More‘they draw and cook’, the visual recipe site
One of our new favorite food sites is They Draw and Cook, where every recipe is illustrated, for totally appealing, graphical how-to’s. Some are done by professionals, and some are done by amateurs who submit their work to the site, but all are charming and one-of-a-kind. Somehow, having the recipes in this form loosens up…
Read Morebathroom read: john cage’s “a year from monday”
John Cage’s A Year from Monday is part of our Essential Bathroom Library; you can open the book anywhere and find a short concentrated bit to shake your head up. As one reviewer wrote: “Cage’s writing does not tell us what to think as much as it makes us think in a particular way…” We find…
Read More“get up off that thing”: improv exercise for home or work
We’ve gotten a little lazy of late, since we dislike going to the gym (yellow walls with black floors under florescent lights) and we spend so many long hours at our desks. We could get stymied by our slide into laziness by comparing ourselves to all those buff self-disciplined people that faithfully climb onto the…
Read Morevase-less flower arrangement (right on the table)
Our friend Maria Robledo LOVES her garden and makes the most astonishing, impromptu arrangements from her cuttings. We were charmed and delighted by the arrangement we found on her dining table recently: no vase, no water, just a spray and a cluster of flowers placed directly on the tabletop. The flowers stayed fine throughout several…
Read Morethe world is change (and change is not apocalypse)
A few hours after we posted REM singing “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) as an antidote to Saturday’s crazy apocalypse drama, we found a message from our friend Fern Berman on our answering machine: “I think it’s the end of the world as we know it…
Read Moreit’s the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine) !!!
In case you haven’t heard, Harold Camping, the 89-year old billionaire owner of Christian Evangelist Family Radio, says the apocalypse is going to begin this evening at around 6pm EDT. What to do? We found rock-and-roll to be a good answer and have been tweeting songs for the apolcalypse. We recommend playing REM really LOUD.…
Read Moresally on ‘splendid table’ + recipe: sugar snaps with evo oil and shaved parmigiano
This weekend, Sally will be on public radio’s Splendid Table talking to Lynne Rosetto Kasper about her short list of favorite blogs and why she likes them. You can stream the interview or find out times it will air in area here. You’ll also find Sally’s recipe for Sugar Snaps with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Shaved…
Read More7 principles of comedy/design/creating anything
Several people called us about HBO’s hour-long special “Talking Funny” in which four great comedians — Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Louis C.K. — talk shop for an hour. Our friends were all struck by how the “inside” of comedy echoes the process of making just about anything truly creative. Before we got to watch it,…
Read More20 second therapy for fear of failure
We recommend taking 20 or so seconds to scroll down the great homepage Stockholm’s Berghs’ School of Communication exhibit of students’ work on the theme of Fear of Failure (click “Manifest” on the left). It is positively/actively therapeutic, a worthwhile digital affirmation/manifesto on the theme. In honor of the exhibition, the Berghs’ made a series…
Read Moredesign hacker: d-i-y concrete block bedframe
When we saw Remodelista’s recent post about Commune designer Chau Truong’s cool bed base made from concrete blocks, we actually climbed into that bed – in our heads. We discovered that it has the major design flaw we wrote about a few weeks ago…
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