Since Memorial Day Weekend officially kicks off summer, here’s a round-up of some of our best ideas for your own summer ramblings, even if those ramblings are just in your head.
Read MoreA Time-Limited Mind Sharpening Practice
After our friend Tim Chegwidden suffered a stroke years ago at age 54, he had to painstakingly learn how to speak again. He immediately started figuring out systems to do the thing he loved most: express the complexities of what he read or saw. Not satisfied with the level of nuance of the words he used, he developed a powerful practice to deepen them.
Read MoreVintage Painted Brick Walls Etched with Swirls and Runes
At Chai Wali restaurant in Harlem, we saw a wonderful treatment for the old painted brick walls of the brownstone that that houses the restaurant. It was much more interesting than a plain stripped brick wall, and would be a fine technique to apply in a living or work space.
Read MoreTony Feher’s Wondrous Blue Tape Paintings
Years ago, we visited a friend house-sitting a loft with a wondrous blue tape artworks on the windows. Astonishing, we thought, how a pattern of torn pieces of painter’s tape can change how we see. We discovered it was the work of artist Tony Feher, whose more elaborate works border on transcendent.
Read MoreDavid Foster Wallace: ‘the only thing that’s capital-T True’
This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life is a teeny book that we return to, and give, frequently. It’s the commencement speech David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005. Reading it is humbling and an instant shift from default setting to compassionate mindset. Here are 229…
Read MoreThe Rhubarb Variations: 13 Riffs on One Simple Recipe
Our CSA Essex Farm delivered a big load of rhubarb this week, keeping us rooted firmly in the season. Our plan is to make up a big batch of basic cooked rhubarb (recipe below) that we can transform at a moment’s notice. The image of Rhubarb Whoopie Pies we found at Butter, Sugar, Flowers gives the basic approach:…
Read More$4 Adventures in Artisan Perfumes
We spent several illuminating hours exploring the website of Twisted Lily, a fragrance boutique in Brooklyn that features artisanal perfumes. Buying $4 sample sizes of several of their 648 offerings proved an exciting, affordable way to learn about the mysterious, sensual world of fragrances.
Read MoreMatthew Sporzynski’s Aluminum Tablet Stand
We were thrilled to find an email from paper artist Matthew Sporzynski, aka Couturier de Cardboard (whose work we’ve featured in the past), that said simply XO from W23! with photos of his a la minute improvisation: a tablet stand. Of course, we asked for details:
Read MoreTom Ashcraft: Make the Heart Light Up
(Video link here.) For years, Thomas Ashcraft has been documenting atmospheric phenomena —meteors, space dusts, the sun, fleeting emanations of cosmic light called sprites. Although he’s gained a lot of recognition for the remarkable sightings he’s recorded in his All Sky Observatory in New Mexico, this is the first video that explores the inside of Tom’s thinking and method, of…
Read MoreSign Interventions for Friends and Self
When a hugely-talented and hard-working friend was savagely comparing her progress to other people — mostly strangers — whom she perceived to be way more successful, masterful, and able than she, I did an intervention (one that I do on myself as well).
Read MoreWonders and Possibilities Hiding in Plain Sight
In Fly By Night, artist Duke Riley trained 2,000 pigeons to fly above the Brooklyn Navy Yard at dusk with tiny lights attached to their legs. The performance invites us to really SEE something we are so accustomed to that we’ve become blind to it:
Read MoreQuick Delicious: Riff on Icebox Cakes + Stacks
When a dessert chef renowned for her decadent chocolate pie didn’t show up one day in a restaurant I worked years ago, a prep cook whipped up a quickie dessert: the old-fashioned icebox cake that his mother used to make. It proved a giant hit. Since then, I’ve done a number of riffs on that endlessly improvisable approach.
Read MoreArt-Inspired Outdoor Wallpaper
Viewing the installations scattered through Marcus Garvey Park’s art fair, we were struck by a brick wall covered with vivid flower patterns, overlaid with portraits of women of color. OUTDOOR WALLPAPER! Why hasn’t anyone thought of that…or have they?
Read MoreA Practice for Dire Straits
In January, after Improvised Life had been down for several days, I sent out a message to Friends with Benefits members. The message said, in essence: “The site is down, I hope it will be back and that years of writing and images have not been damaged; please send whatever personal magic you employ my way.” Then it seemed, my only option was to wait and practice Improvised Life’s principles…
Read MoreNon-Procrastinators’ Bed Work Stations
This bed-studio with storage ladder is a symbol of NOT-procrastination. Every element in the room is designed for work without impediment or delay: the neat arrangement of camera, brushes, books, snug against the tumbled bed, in good light….with the resulting art on the wall. Inspiring.
Read MoreA Thought Experiment for Cultivating Creative Magic
In the park across the way, we found a classic children’s book that we’d somehow never read: The Secret Garden. As Spring transforms the park, it is perfect timing to read about an abandoned garden coming to life. We saw the garden through the eyes of Colin, the young shut-in who experienced Nature for the first time. We discovered an interesting idea to experiment with as well.
Read MoreHappy Mother’s Day!
We’re celebrating mamas of all kinds…(biological, or not)…
Read MoreAl Hirschfeld: What Happens if You Reframe Work as Play
Legendary illustrator Al Hirschfeld worked seven days a week and wouldn’t have it any other way. Nor did he ever consider retiring. He LOVED to work and felt at sea if he didn’t draw every day. He worked until he died just shy of 100 years old. The secret to Hirshfeld’s drive was the pleasure he took in work.
Read MoreFreedom Means Letting Go of Shame
From very early on in my life as an amputee, I’ve loathed using crutches or a wheelchair. I am a very autonomous person. I have blue hair and tattoos. I don’t think too much about the opinions or stares of others, but put me in a wheelchair and all that rebel-heartedness melted into shy shameful…
Read MoreA Strategy for Tumultuous Times (Bruce Lee)
I was pondering how to remain sane in the tumult and violence that seems to be our world these days, where lunatics of every stripe are taking center stage, when I remembered this quote from Bruce Lee, the great kung fu master:
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