(Video link here.) Spirits of the Snow by artist Anthony Howe are handmade kinetic sculptures, previously viewed as outdoor wind machines, that Barney’s New York installed in their Holiday Windows last year. They are entrancing holiday mandalas
Read MoreLet Bob Dylan Read You to Sleep ‘The Night Before Christmas’
On the first season of his satellite radio show, Bob Dylan gave a very Dylanesque performance of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”. It’s around the web in audio format that is curiously wonderful to fall asleep to, an adult bedtime story for tonight.
Read MoreHow to Navigate Loss During the Holidays
Loss is something that is rarely mentioned during the holiday season when everything is supposed to be just GREAT with little room for less-than-happy emotions. Yet I know a lot of people who are navigating loss and grief from events of the past year. What do you do when you are shaken by the passing of someone —or several people — you loved,…
Read MoreA Magic Christmas Tree House
Ahh THESE are our idea of wondrous Christmas trees. No need to decorate them further: the house does it all, a magical platform for living trees.
Read MoreNeed a Last Minute Gift? Give Improvised Life
Casting about for an instant gift to give? Give your brilliant someone a subscription to Improvised Life, a month or year of inventive, mind-shifting tools and ideas for creative possibility-thinking, from home design and cooking to productivity and self-expression: our whole archive’s worth. Gifting is easy…
Read MoreWhat Lobsters Teach Us About Stress + Change
In this potent 1 1/2 minute video, psychiatrist (and rabbi) Dr. Abraham Twerski shows a new view of stress, using lobsters as a perfect metaphor.(Video link here.)
Read MoreGuerilla Mail: Packages with Poems
Just as I was scrambling to pack and send off gifts to far-flung friends, a very interesting box, and idea, arrived for me. Artist and dear friend Lisa Morphew’s yearly Christmas box came decorated with trees in red marker and…a poem. It had been printed out and taped on the OUTSIDE, the name of the poet,…
Read MoreThe Meaning Index: Low or High?
A personal Meaning Index is not only a fine barometer for useless gifts, but also for the activities and people we chose to fill our lives with.
Read MoreA Cook’s Favorite Gifts for Cooks of all Stripes
Every so often, a friend calls to ask me what cooking equipment to recommend. LONG story! You’ll find an extensive list of equipment for a basic kitchen in A New Way to Cook, along with 700+ pages of essential techniques and recipes. For now, here are my tried-and-true favorites, from high to low and back.
Read MoreThe Holiday Frenzy in Perspective
The cover by the great George Booth of the New Yorker’s Christmas issue nails the frenzied feeling of the holidays. Even Santa doesn’t have it together: all hell is breaking loose at the North Pole. Ian Frazier’s yearly poem Greetings, Friends puts it all into perspective. Check out this lovely bit:
Read MoreNeon for The Holidays and A New Year
Rookie Magazine’s looks-like-neon sign diy made out of EL wire got us thinking about using THAT as our holiday lighting, with signs showing JOY, or a moderne neon Xmas tree, or WHAT IF? or other messages for the coming year. The battery-powered flexible glowing tube has the essential effect of neon without complex glass manipulation. The process is doable in a few hours: a fine weekend project.
Read MoreThe Zeitgeist in Pom Poms
The other day, we came across some spectacular earrings: fur pom poms dangling from thin gold wires. WANT, we thought. And then, MAKE, which starts us researching materials and processes. We discovered that pom poms, both fur and fake, can be easily bought and hold huge possibilities for gifts. And then we found we’d unknowingly tapped into the zeitgeist.
Read MoreRules of ReGifting + Gifts They Won’t Want to ReGift
(Video link here.) So, er, yes, well, er, we DO have a regifting drawer as well as a gift drawer of stuff we’ve bought because we think it’s universally great. Truth be told, the stuff in the regifting drawer tends to languish, we suspect because it can take a while before we find someone for whom…
Read MoreHow to Say “Leave Me Alone”
We regularly go through periods of needing to retreat for a few hours or a day, just because…we’re tired, or a bit overwhelmed, or need to process something or just…rest. We chalk it up to our constitution, natural introversion, life. Although we know that EVERYONE goes through these spells, for one reason or another, barring just…
Read MoreMemory Bad? Store Tons of Info in Your Memory Palace
Our memory is so bad —our mind SO full of images, emails, to-do’s, errands, ideas — that we are always on the lookout for techniques to help us remember a fact, name or list. We love memory champion Joshua Foer‘s demonstration of the ancient technique of using a memory palace or Method of loci.
Read MoreGuest and Memory Books in Many Forms
The holidays have us thinking about ways to remember all those folks — some who traveled FAR — with whom we visited or shared a meal, celebrating and counting blessings. So compiled our collection of traditional and not-so-traditional forms of “guest books”.
Read MoreShowing Up to Meet New Ideas
Every morning when we open up our office for work, we take a minute to look at this image taped on our wall, of artist Lucio Fontana approaching a blank canvas. We never tire of it. We think two things: That canvas is the day or a project or a new path, full of possibility AND… Look…
Read MorePasta Fries + Other Secret Suppers and Eatings
Everyone I know, including stellar chefs, all have their moments of retreat into dark hungers and unique combos of flavors. The practice is deeply personal and satisfying, but now new. M.F.K. Fisher wrote about the odd combinations people ate when they were alone in 1937. Here are several longtime favorite “secret suppers and private snacks” from my files.
Read MoreWhat’s The Best Gift You’ve Ever Received?
In this season of frenzied holiday shopping, Quartz asked 40 leaders in art, business, fashion, science, and social justice the question: What’s the best gift you’ve ever received? Their surprising answers cast a lens on just what a great gift really is, along with some really lovely ideas….
Read MoreSlotted Angle Iron Shelving, Bed, TV Stand, more
At London’s Southbank Centre, architecture studio Jonathan Tuckey Design created an archival space featuring a mid-century shelving system that echoed the building’s heritage. When we looked closely, we realized it is made of slotted angle iron, an inexpensive structuring material available at many hardware stores. We first realized its potential for creating modular furniture when we bought a second-hand copy of High-Tech, The Industrial…
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