rocks

Makeshift Mortars and Pestles Make Sublime Walnut Pesto (and Other Delicious Things)

Although a real mortar and pestle is a lovely tool to have, you can achieve their rounded flavors and elemental textures with makeshift ones. Take this Walnut Pesto, for example…

Unexpected Mandalas To Take With You (Meg Hitchcock)

Meg Hitchcock’s assemblages of letters cut from sacred texts remind us of mandalas: harmonious images designed to create a calm, meditative feeling.

The Rocks I Use Around My Home are Really Ancient Artifacts

Seth Boyden’s charming video, An Object at Rest, has changed the way I view the nearly two dozen rocks and stones I use around my space.

Art as Self-Alteration, Rather than Self Expression (John Cage)

John Cage used chance as the key determinant in his art. Rather than impose his will and self-expression, he preferred “self-alteration”, which is a unique approach to life as well.

Fried Chicken Italian-Style: Chicken Under a Brick (or Rock)

The Italian technique of panfrying a chicken with a weight on top yields a bird with an utterly crispy skin and succulent flesh in less than half an hour. It works for all manner of poultry.

Vintage Bathtub with Found Stone Feet + Russel Wright’s Credenza

In a recent New York Times T Magazine, we loved the a former Tuscan convent restored by designer Holly Lueders and her daughter, the photographer Venetia Sacret Young, largely by their own hands. There are MANY doable details and solutions we thought to steal down the line. One of our favorites: a vintage bathtub with a…

Alice Brock’s Painted Beach Stones DIY + Guerilla Action

Alice Brock is “Alice” of “Alice’s Restaurant,” Arlo Guthrie’s iconic anti-war song of the 60’s. We discovered that she forages stones on the beaches around Provincetown, draws on them and leaves them in unexpected places: a perfect guerilla practice for the end of summer.

Our ‘Best Of’ Summer Fun

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.

A Heart-Shaped Boulder for Valentine’s

Graphic Designer Pamela Hovland sent us this image for Valentine’s, with this message: I always look at this big heart-shaped rock in the park where I run my dog. I finally decided to photograph it (pre-storm) in order to use it for an upcoming Valentine’s Day greeting. Thought you’d like it also…There’s a “broken heart” rock later on…

stress relief: balance breads (+ stones + blocks)

Omar Sosa and Ana Dominguez of Apartamento magazine, with photographer Nacho Alegre, created a series of still-lifes with balancing bread. They’re beautiful, though I’m a little doubtful they are just balanced breads, no pins or stuts anywhere. To my former food-stylist’s eye, they seem, well…. …possibly faked, though it would be fun to get a bunch of breads and try. Nevertheless,…