I am inspired and smitten with Scraps, Wilt & Weeds: Turning Wasted Food into Plenty. Michelin star chef Mads Refslund weaves a powerful philosophy of ecology into his cooking that has led him to create gorgeous, do-able dishes out of the foods we routinely throw in the trash.
Read MoreHow You Can Help Puerto Rico + Defy Indifference
A week after Hurricane Maria left 3.4 Americans without power, cell service and running water, our government’s slow response has been stunning. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways you can help, tangibly.
Read MoreGuggenheim’s Clever Baltic Birch Tables and Chairs
While wandering through the Guggenheim Museum, we stumbled on its cafe with Bauhausian tables and chairs made from Baltic Birch, one of our favorite materials. The stylish simple furniture would be easy to make ourselves.
Read MoreA Practice of Letting Go of Obsessive Thoughts You Can Do Anywhere (John Cage + Huang Po)
There are twenty-one post-it notes in my copy of Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists: each an illuminating and useful tool. Here is a favorite.
Read MorePat Steir’s Artful Collaboration with Chance and Gravity
This 2-minute film is a lovely entree into artist Pat Steir’s beautiful work and very unique process, which is all about giving up control.
Read MoreListening to Scents, Falling Asleep to Their Descriptions, Laughing
Deciphering the fragrance notes in the perfume samples I order from Twisted Lily is akin to listening with every sense. It is incredibly fun, as is reading their dreamy descriptions, and the New Yorker’s brilliant riff.
Read MoreAnnals of Bad Design: Glass Walled Bathroom in a Bedroom
Were we not in the real world, this glass enclosed bathroom might seem lovely and airy. But its ‘reality sandwiches’ are daunting.
Read MoreHi/Low: Round Porthole Mirrors for a Haiku-like View
You have only to search MIRROR on Improvised Life to find evidence of an obsession. Not to look at one’s self. But to angle them in such a way as to SEE a bigger view. Take these port-hole mirrors, for example…and Basho’s haiku…
Read MoreHow to Unhook from Email Paranoia
Thought Catalog’s 10 Ways You’re Making Your Life Harder Than It Has Top Be did a great job of identifying some really common disruptive thought patterns I share with about a million other people. One in particular really hit home.
Read MoreJohn Ashbery’s Internal Tailoring
Before he died poet John Ashbery compared his work to tailoring, and told why a poem, like clothing, needs to be “slightly off”.
Read MoreEssential: The Art Filled View from Cassini (You Really Need This)
I was pretty oblivious to the absolute marvel of Cassini until I saw this curiously moving video. Its story and the astonishing images and data it recorded will splash your day full of wonder
Read MoreApparel for Living: Roz Chast’s Survivalist Cargo Pajamas
We totally relate to this perfect Roz Chast cartoon in this week’s New Yorker.
Read MoreAnnals of Bad Design: Fitting Room Mirror Stenciled with Busy Signage
How nice to have a sign in a fitting room that says: If you don’t find what you are looking for, we can order it online. UNLESS that sign is printed in bold right in the center of the mirror you’re trying to see yourself in.. That is what I found at Zara, a store…
Read MoreSugru Will Fix Your $300 Headphones + Other Stuff You Love
After trying a number of materials, the truly miraculous (and fun!) Sugru proved the only one to fix the $300 noise-cancelling headphones I rely on to calm my super-sensitive nervous system. It has become a staple in my arsenal.
Read MoreAgnes Martin: On the Perfection Underlying Life (+ the Panic of Complete Helplessness)
In her 1973 essay “On the Perfection Underlying Life”, artist Agnes Martin addresses the rewards of “the panic of complete helplessness”; the real meaning of mistakes, and an unexpected path to contentment.
Read MoreSecret Flavor Amplifiers of Clever Cooks + Parmesan Bone Broth Recipe
In Parm Bones: How to Raise Flavor From Foods You Might Throw Away, Zingerman’s Mo Frechette outlines tricks traditional, i.e. frugal, ie savvy cooks use to amplify flavor from the last bits of ingredients. They’re essential, as is this Parm Bone Broth recipe.
Read MoreLine Drawings and Tattoos on Walls or Floor (Cocteau, Matisse, Keras)
This charming line drawing Madrid artist Angela Leon drew on her wall made me think of Matisse, Jean Cocteau AND Mira Keras’ monochrome tattoo designs.
Read MoreEvery Decade, She Gives Up Something She Hates
Recently we heard of a woman who, with each new decade, gives up something she hates. She stopped dying her hair. Ten years later, she stopped wearing the dresses. At first we wondered why she only gave up things she hated only every decade. Then we got real.
Read MoreWe Discover A Low-Stress Work Strategy and Begin Again
During our recent working vacation, we tested out a strategy that yielded the secret to navigating a mountain of work without stress:
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