The amazing Michael Grab is a master at balancing stones a practice that can be done by anyone, just about anywhere. It is practice that is amazingly absorbing and…balancing.
Read MoreInstagram-Inspired Collage Wall Paper
We have a thing for custom-made wall paper, that is, wall paper with images we would love to see, rather than the usual flowers and stripes. Although we aren’t crazy about the DIY wallpaper we saw on San Francisco Girl by Bay recently, we LOVE and see huge possibilities in the process. Writes SFGBB Editor…
Read MoreRobin Williams Helps Carole Burnett Express Herself
(Video link HERE.) After a reader mentioned an episode of the Carole Burnett show riffing on The Princess and the Pea (a reference to our inability to sleep no matter what fix we do to the myseriously vibrating bed) we went hunting for it. We never found it* but stumbled on this extraordinary bit from…
Read MoreA Random Message Written in the Snow: What Would Be Yours?
At twilight yesterday, we went into the park across the way to walk in a snowy field. The light was almost gone, the landscrape a blueish white. As we walked and looked around, our eyes focused on a message written in the snow. We could barely make it out, but found safe amonst the boot…
Read MoreVibrating Bed Fix: Fight Vibration with Vibration and/or Custom Sound
My latest experiment to temper the mysterious vibration that shakes me awake each night was to apply a vibration directly to the bed to neutralize the irritating one.
Read MoreWerner Herzog’s Brilliant + Questionable Advice
We are always interested to read advice of creative, original thinkers AND to see what of their wisdom we DON’T buy. We’ve learned the hard way that one size does not fit all. If we are going to forge our unique path, we’d do well to try out what we’re not sure of, embrace what works or rings…
Read MoreStylish Painted Plywood Sofas, DIYable
Feeling under-the-weather, we surfed the ever-inspiring Aqqindex and came across two seriously-stylish painted wood sofas, the top designed by Salvati and Tresoldi in 1978, the one below from Maison de Vacances designed Andre Monpoix in 1963. We imagined them as DIY’s we could make out of plywood and started hunting for more examples to…copy.
Read MoreInsta-Meditation + Anxiety Antidote: The Endless Ocean
(Video link HERE.) On the East Coast, our attention is on the monster blizzard heading our way and the constant notices of road and transit closings and a general feeling of… DANGER. On the West Coast, Susan Dworski in Venice, California reported “80 degrees with a weird red sky and bed sheets pulled off to wash are…
Read MoreDisplay Art with Vintage Binder Clips
We’ve long been fans of binder clips for all sorts of uses, including hanging unframed artworks. But we NEVER considered how beautiful vintage binder clips might be put to this and other uses, until we saw Remodelista’s recent article. They are prominently featured in the home of art collector and mid-century furniture dealer Demetrio Zanetti.…
Read MoreMusic for Monday Morning: Fast Forward Plays Mixed Metals
(Video link HERE.) Fast Forward* performing his Works for Mixed Metals seems like a perfect way to start the week. In a paint can factory in London in the summer of 1988, a young Fast shows us the music you can make with different metal objects, from paint cans to pipes. For us, the perfect morning…
Read MoreImprovisation-Inspiring Cookooks + a Fab Close-Roasted Meats Technique
In the past week, I received two three affirmations that cookbooks I wrote years ago —The Improvisational Cook and A New Way to Cook —are still resonating strongly. Both encourage improvisation, while giving the thinking and logic behind recipes and techniques, understanding that is the essential jumping off point for improvising. Curiously, TWO emails raved about…
Read MoreGifs of the Week: Mindblowing 3D
Animated gifs have gone mind-blowingly 3D. It had to happen… OMG…. via Studio 360
Read MoreVibrating Bed Fix Headway: A Wood Bed + Hockey Pucks
To date, I’ve published four lengthy posts about my desperate attempts to quiet the mysterious vibration that shakes me awake every morning. I lost count at twenty; the latest was making four 80+ pound concrete block legs to support the platform, which was a grid of wood on a frame of steel angle irons. The real…
Read MoreHand as Note Pad, Art Material, Tool, “Thundering Channel”
The other day at Artists and Craftsman, we noticed the cashier’s ever-ready note pad —his hand — and were reminded of the many ways we’ve used our hands. We mentioned this to Sinnae Choi, Improvised Life’s brilliant aide-de-camp, and she wrote some seriously powerful words about just what hands can do, and be.
Read MoreBlue Painter’s Tape Labels for Pantry Staples
We’ve long been fans of blue painter’s tape, which we’ve used to plan our space, not to mention make unexpected artworks (our favorite being this visionary abstract work created on a window). Now we’re smitten with the labels Maria Robledo made for her jars of staples. Her walk-in pantry houses a lovely collection of vessels, wine glasses,…
Read MoreDavid Foster Wallace: ‘You Get To Decide How You’re Gonna See’
We are KNOCKED OUT by this brilliant video of a thoughtful excerpt of the commencement speech David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005. It’s watching every bit of the 9 or so minutes, even if you have to do it in chunks throughout the day. His message is essential. We’ve included a short bit here.
Read MoreChalkboard Paint for Adults, Redux
Early on in Improvised Life’s posting days, we published quite a few articles about the wonders of chalkboard paint. Then it began to seem a trend of the past. Not so, we realized on seeing this room by interior design firm, Ashe + Leandro. It is a swell material for transforming an adultish space, inviting all…
Read MoreMartin Luther King Jr. Day 2015
This is the first year in some time that Martin Luther King Jr. day was a disturbing day, rather than a purely hopeful one. In light of the recent events in Ferguson and elsewhere, the message in the air, sadly, has been that Dr. King’s dream was not as far along as we thought. It…
Read MoreLittle by Little, Fill Yourself with Good: Rick Hanson’s TED How-To
Psychotherapist Chris Eldredge sent us this powerful TED talk of neuropsychologist Dr. Rick Hanson‘s simple technique for transforming our hardwired negative patterning (also known as Negativity Bias). We thought 13+ minutes might be too long for our busy selves, but Hanson’s talk flies by, and we found ourselves with a useful practice we can do…
Read MoreCelebrate Saturday with Spanky and the Little Rascals
In need of a rest cure? During this wintry weekend, we recommend indulging in Little Rascals espisodes from the 1930’s (available on YouTube) for inspired moments like Spanky’s celebratory Saturday dance. The motley gang of neighborhood children figure out endlessly inventive ways to live, play and find huge adventures in the everyday. Not to mention, doing a little impromptu chiropractic.…
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