Elan Kiderman Ullendorff has a great knack for finding creative ways to find interesting stuff online that resist being force-fed whatever “the algorithm” decides you want to see. His newsletter ”Deep Sea Diving” facilitates deep and surprising discovery.
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A photo I stumbled on on Instagram made me loosen up my fevered drive to create bookcases for my many books, some of which are in boxes. Stacked — loose — can be so beautiful…
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It hadn’t occurred to us to think beyond the idea of S’mores we’ve had in our head for eons. Then we stumbled on a complete re-envisioning of the three elements that blew our mind in the most pleasurable way.
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J. Estanislao Lopez’ sublime poem “Places with Terrible Wi-Fi” makes us realize just how far the reach of wi-fi and the buzz of the world is now. And those parts of our lives it cannot touch. Ada Limón’s commentary captured the poem’s true heart.
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The corrugated aluminum screen designer Jacques Boris made in the 1990s set off a firestorm in my head. Its elegant, visionary use of an ordinary material reminded me of Lino Schenal and Max Lamb’s transformations of styrofoam. If I had the means to cut through thick wavy metal and finish its edges and hinge it…
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We found this short video made for kids curiously clarifying. “Are You Normal?” explains the origin of idea that has become a source of so much modern anxiety, and deconstructs it. We are reminded of the great Betty White in this deeply wonderful Saturday Night Live sketch.
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When we saw this image on @UpstateDiary, we thought what a lovely thing to build into a garden, and imagined ourselves resting on it, how instantly relaxed and at ease we would feel in the fragrant green. Then this Mary Oliver poem jumped into our hands, expanding its possibilities…
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A fragment from St. Francis of Assisi got us thinking about hands in a new way. Into our head flew images from photographer Tessa Traeger’s moving series, Voices of the Vivarais, of working people in the ancient province in south-east France. and a video about Dutch designer Bertjan Pot.
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We love this skeleton of a picture frame hung pictureless on a wall. As we gaze into its empty space, we find ourselves imagining all sorts of things while we enjoy its austere shape. It reminded us of the old silver frame we gave to artist Maria Robledo years ago. Picture frame as magical objet.
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Behavioral scientist Michelle Drouin thinks it’s fine to be dependent on your phone — it’s a useful and illuminating tool — and she doesn’t get with the idea of digital detox. If she feels her screen time is out of balance, she uses a simple practice to shift regain time doing things that mean more to her.
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The strangely wonderful website This to That employs a simple widget “to help you choose the right glue for your bonding requirements.” You type in the two materials you want to bond and it gives a list of the best options. Glue knowledge is the site’s sole mission. We learned a LOT.
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In the weeks leading up to artist and poet Etel Adnan’s death, our instagram feed was flooded with images of her work as though the world could feel her passing. Her striking paintings have been called “talismans”, “declarations of love”, and reminders of what Adnan called “day-to-day bravery”. Seeking out her work and writing, we found her big wisdom.
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Blossoms knocked off their stems make for free flower arrangements in the form of ad hoc indoor ponds like the one photographer Maria Robledo devised (the perfect accompaniment to this poem written over a thousand years ago)
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I was dismayed to see MYSELF in the brilliant, funny New Yorker piece “Wait but have you tried?” about the advice-giving that is everywhere. It pulled me up short and got me wondering what an antidote for this rampant habit might be?
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Long out of favor due to the glut of cheap clothing, products and materials, mending and repair is on the rise again. That’s got us looking into the deeper meaning of mending.
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Early in the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 23rd, 2022, New York Magazine invited young Ukrainians — the first generation born after Ukraine won independence — to share their experiences. It offers a remarkable view into the fierce realities of escalating war, including this from a 25-year-old painter who fled Kyiv.
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I pondered the maxim “Irritation is the message” a long time before understood that the things that irritated me were the things I sought solutions for. I started transforming ugly shopping bags.
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We love this clip of abstract expressionist artist Ed Clark describing how he came defy the limitations of the paint brush by painting canvasses laid out on the floor with a push broom, the old-fashioned super-wide broom janitor’s used to wash big swathes of floor. His improvisation reminds us of the way ideas can ignite or connect in an instant to yield solutions with mighty effect.
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When Kevin Kelly’s published Cool Tools, his giant “catalog of possibilities”, five years ago, it immediately became our favorite catalogue. Its descriptions are literary, its selection attuned to creative minds. We find it relaxing to read while it makes our brains sparkle in unexpected ways. Now it’s available for $3.99.
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As tragic as the events in Ukraine are, we are deeply moved and heartened by the choices of many to confront fearsome danger, intimidation and uncertainty with astonishing acts of courage. Many are about voice. They got us thinking about our own.
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