Manny Howard is the author the sublime My Empire of Dirt and articles about his Hemingway-esque adventures. On his instagram, we found an essential approach to living.
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The Cosmic in a Coffee Cup
Our friend Josh Eisen emailed this image with this message: Was sipping my cappuccino just now, swirled my cup to gather the foam from the sides, looked down and there it was. Yin Yang in a coffee cup.
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Favorite Kitchen Tool: French-Style Universal Pot Lid
On my first trip to France, I bought a classic French pot lid in a flea market. Ten inches in diameter, it is a tin-lined copper disk with a cast iron handle. Little did I know that it would become one of my most-used kitchen tools. Or that the copper lids would become really expensive. On the hunt to find an alternative, I finally found a new iteration that is affordable and incredibly useful.
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Kandinsky: Wall Paintings + Varieties of Black
In this calming, meditative video, artist Vasily Kandinsky paints directly on a wall in black ink. It is a fine way to start the day (and led us to insights into ‘black’). Kandinsky’s designs for wall paintings inspire new possibilities for our own walls.
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Tattoos As Self Reclamation
As a tattoo artist I witness the myriad reasons and kinds of people who get tattooed. I have tattooed a mourning 64-year-old-man transforming his grief, a Hasidic jew wanting to secretly express himself, a young cancer survivor during his post chemo celebration. Memorials, achievements, jokes and dares, even the most controversial of all — pure aesthetics —…
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Perfect Pearls via Ocean Vuong
We follow poet Ocean Vuong by occasionally visiting his tumblr, Field Notes. We love clicking “random post’ for the kinds of surprises and mind-shifts we find helpful in navigating the world, work, love, being. Here’s a short collection of perfect pearls to take you through the week, each a tiny, potent meditation.
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Thin Lacy Cheese Crisps (You Made Those?!!)
Years ago I learned to make the classic lacy cheese crisps of Friuli Italy called frico, one of those miraculous creations that LOOK really difficult to make, but aren’t. They are the perfect hors d’oeuvre with cocktails, and inspire improvisations; their delectable uses are legion.
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Open a Window This Way to Keep Cooler (+ Use AC Less)
We improvise without the benefit of a science background, only our reasoning, deductive brain and willingness to try/fail/learn. Good practices DO slip by us some times because they’re counterintuitive or we just don’t know better…Like this simple way to adjust double-hung windows to make our space cool and use AC less frequently. It works.
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Flowers Hiding in Plain Sight (The 3-Minute Bouquet)
I was about to chop a bunch of chives from my CSA when I noticed it was full of pink flowers and buds. I stopped dead, realizing I almost missed the little gift hidden in plain sight. Dinner could wait. I culled the flowers from the bunch… …and snipped their ends to make them last longer… …arranging them…
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Hammocks for Healing, Indoors or Out
When a friend told me about research showing that gentle rocking can help heal nervous system, emotional and cognitive imbalances, I decided to install a hammock in my NYC space and test rocking out on myself.
I dove headlong into hammock investigations. Here’s what you need to know to hang a hammock inside or out.