improvise

How to Experience the Eclipse By Doing Practically Nothing

We haven’t gotten it together to get truly-safe-for-your-eyes eclipse viewing glasses ourselves. So we’ve figured out lazy-dog, last minute strategies for experiencing this once-in-a-blue-moon cosmic wonder…by doing practically nothing.

Embracing the Walls Within (John Cage)

In our dog-eared A Year From Monday, we read this astonishing story from John Cage, in Lecture on Commitment. As usual, it changed our view completely.

An Analog Productivity Tool Like No Other

In writing the very digital Improvised Life, I rely daily on analog magic.

E. Jean on Life, Decor, and The Best Piece of Advice She’s Ever Given

E. Jean Carroll, the longest running advice columnist in history, lives alone on a small island in the woods of upstate New York.This short video profile gives us a glimpse of a pure original whose carved out a completely original life, in the mainstream, yet completely OUT.

Jim Carrey’s New Life of Color

Over the transom came a whole side of Jim Carrey we would never have guessed: Jim Carrey the artist who has much to say about vocation, art, healing…Check out his lovely, very surprising video.

The Secret Flashcodes of Fireflies

For a summer evening, some lovely silent videos of fireflies, haiku from centuries ago, and a hint at their secret flashcode.

Beauty You Can Carry on a Bicycle (Loes Heerink, Emily Dickinson)

Self-taught photographer Loes Heerink spent days on bridges capture the diversity of bicycle vendors in Hanoi. Her photo series “Vendors from Above” reminded us of the beauty you can carry on a bicycle…

Two-Tone Half-Painted Optical Illusion Chairs

Lately we’ve seen some classic old second-hand store chairs transformed with paint in a way we hadn’t considered, to very cool effect.

James Broughton on Nowness, Laying Yourself Open and the Benefits of Twirling

This hunk of perfection from James Broughton (whose nick name was Big Joy) brings us right into NOW every time we read it.

Unleash Your Inner Beast (Theo Jansen, Ted Hughes, Luo Zhihai)

For almost thirty years, Theo Jansen has been nurturing the evolution of Strandbeests, kinetic “beasts” that walk majestically on their own. Poet Ted Hughes put his finger on what it is we are doing when we, like Jansen, put new “forms of life” into the world.

Summer in a Jar: Flower and Herb Teas and Seasonings

There are some kitchen processes I do so automatically that I hardly think about them, until I become suddenly conscious that it is a principle I am using, and not a recipe. For years I’ve used a simple method to transform summer herbs and flowers into teas and seasonings for use all year round.

Longevity + Life Advice from an 105-Year-Old MD

Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, an expert on longevity, died recently at age 105. He imposed few inviolable health rules, though he did recommend some essential guidelines.

Good DIY Ideas for Your Inner Gardenista

We were happy to find a lot of do-able, you-don’t-have-to-have-a-million-dollar-estate projects in Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces. We used our x-ray vision to cool ideas applicable to all sorts of venues.

The Greatest Gift We Can Give or Receive (Gogo, Virginia Satir)

Two-and-three-quarters-years-old Gogo’s wise words echo an essential principle of ground-breaking psychotherapist Virginia Satir…one we could all put to good use.

Reminder: Where Good Ideas Can Come From

Where Do Ideas Come From? is a video that features vastly different answers to the question from some seriously creative people, from David Lynch, Susan Orlean and Chuck Close to a couple of kids.

Improvised Kitchen: Summer Fruit with Feta, Olive Oil and Maybe an Herb

The Blueberries, Feta and Mint recipe I love from Mindy Fox’s Salads: Beyond the Bowl is a play on a classic pairing of watermelon with feta. The possibilities for improvising on it are endless when you’re shopping summer markets. Here are some ideas.

Annals of Bad Design? Cat’s Pajama Lounge Chair UPDATE

Ann Richardson emailed us her selection for inclusion in our ever-growing Annals of Bad Design: Blu Dot’s $499 Cat’s Pajama Chair. Her thoughtful commentary that made us laugh, as good dishing of bad design does. (This $39 Ikea chair blows it out of the water).

How to Live Wisely With Your Phone

School of Life’s How to Live More Wisely with Our Phones is a remarkable essay about how we can gently balance our relationship to our smart phones. Here are the most useful and view-shifting hunks.

How to Become a Master: Arnold Drake World

Artist Arnold Drake World transforms paper napkins and towels into botanically correct flowers. It’s an art he’s mastered through thousands of iterations, study of materials, and a strong sense of mission. In this lovely short video, he tells his formula for success.

How a Toilet Paper Holder Turns into Sculpture

In the bathroom of the Van de Weghe gallery, where we saw Devir, Enrique Oliveira’s massive tree sculpture, we were struck by the strange, very sculptural toilet paper holder with its bold statement of HERE I AM. Then we looked more closely…

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