In addition to some interesting music, we found a fat nugget in “Shocking the Consciousness”, Amanda Petrushich’s piece on 80-year-old radical/New Age composer Laraaji in The New Yorker: His online laughter meditations designed to help you generate your own medicinal sound.
Read MoreImprovised Virus Protection + Personal Phone Booth
The strange brilliance of ordinary humans heartens us daily. High on the list is this remarkable invention by a woman traveler passing through a busy airport in the time of high virus threat.
Read MoreGeorge Booth, Chronicler of Our Sublime and Oddball Life
When a friend sent us news that legendary New Yorker cartoonist George Booth had died, we realized that his work has provided joy, comfort, and uplift throughout our entire adult life. In a single drawing, he managed to convey the wild complexity of ordinary lives through the simplest of details, embedded with a deeply life-affirming message.
Read MoreAstonishing Things To Be Found By ‘Surfing the Margins’
Recently, the always-surprising Elan Kiderman Ullendorff of Deep Sea Diving Newsletter featured stuff he found on Etsy by selecting “Highest Price” to hone his search results; he stumbled upon an extreme edge of the normally-placid site.
Nestled among “10 extremely expensive items on Etsy” is the Erotic Bouncy Castle and a brilliant life strategy.
Bill Bailey Considers All Things and Reminds Us How Amazing It Is
It is enough to have recognized some of ourselves in comedian Bill Bailey’s astute commentary on the British psyche (which applies to MANY others as well). When he segues into a wild riff on the expression “All things considered” at 2:37 in, we found our view of the world mightily expanded, AMAZING…
Read MoreShaheel Shermont Flair’s Brilliant Runway
The most astonishing runway show we’ve ever seen is Shaheel Shermont Flair’s deeply improvised TikTok series made at his somewhat bedraggled home on Fiji. With the serious, stylized prance of traditional fashion shows, he models his mind-blowing fashions that offer astute, really funny commentary on way more than the runway.
Read MoreRole Models for Those Feeling Ancient
As I was contemplating the mighty big birthday I will be celebrating this week, I stumbled on this tiny video. Yeah, that’s it. Role models.
Read MoreDeconstructing “Normal” (Betty White)
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.
Read MoreKevin Kelly’s Cheap PDF of his Wonderful ‘Cool Tools’
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.
Read MoreRespite from The Fearful Zeitgeist: Somersaulting Tibetans (Reprise)
Here’s a moment’s respite from the dire state of the world and the palpable feeling of fear that seems to permeate everything these days. It had us laughing out loud which, we discovered, keeps us right smack IN the moment
Read MoreMindset for a Heatwave (Martha & the Vandelas, Hermeto Pascoa, Francis Alys, Li Po, Ellen Silverman)
As many parts of the country, and the world, are in the grip of a fearsome heatwave, We’ve found ourselves hiding out, working at partial power, desperately needing restorative naps and ways to feel cool. We know that refreshing virtual pleasures CAN help us cope; they fuel breezes in our heads. So we rounded up our favorites.
Read More@Mandy Patinkin’s Heartening Reality Sandwiches
Traumatized by seeing her aged face on Zoom, actress Kathryn Grody rants, despairing and conflicted, to her son Gideon as he films her with his iPhone. It is one of the many illuminating moments captured on @Mandy Patinkin, documenting the everyday life of actor Mandy Patinkin, Grody and Gideon as they shelter at their upstate NY cabin.
Read MoreHow to Make Shadow Magic
“Just a pair of hands and a whole lot of clever imagination” perfectly describes this 1933 film from British Pathe. The performer moves his hands slowly so that the audience can see how the shape is formed. The setup is minimal: a darkened room, a bare patch of wall, a light source to cast shadows.…
Read MoreRefreshing, Calming, Endlessly Watchable Sea Lions Surfing Waves (Flying)
We feel like we’re flying ourselves as we watch these sea lions leaping and flying through the waves in pure fluid JOY.
Read MoreCreative Thinking is a Martial Art
SO GREAT, wherever this few seconds of inspiring outside-the-box thinking came from.
Read MoreLet Rhythm Rewire Your Life (Tasha Blank)
Tasha Blank‘s video manifesto shook us loose from a stuckness we didn’t know we had, mired as we were in the mighty anxiety of the zeitgeist, dire news, contentious opinions… The international DJ, dancer, coach, somatic practitioner and music producer has much to offer in the form of music, events, courses and meditations so you…
Read MoreGiant Twisting Balloons Inspire Furniture and Your Own Big Ideas
Designer Seung Jin Yang’s whimsical furniture appears to be made of the kind of twistable balloons used to entertain kids. OMG, we thought, could we make furniture out of balloons?
Read MoreReal-Life Comics about Letting Go of Expectations and Other Important Topics
We’re loving comic artist Edith Zimmerman’s wonderful site,, Drawing Links. It features comics that tell the story of an experience she’s had along with links she’s found apropos. Subjects include Time, Tao Te Ching, Home Decor… Here’s a favorite…
Read MoreRisk Equivalents of Common Activities (Roz Chast)
At the New Yorker, cartoonist Roz Chast takes on the kind of equation we are seeing everywhere, of “experts” assessing the level of risk in commonly enjoyed activities of human existence.
Read MoreExperience a Feeling of Flying, with Rumi UPDATE
We love the feeling of flying in Universal Everything’s beautiful little video and find ourselves watching it over and over; it’s amazingly refreshing to our lockdown minds. It reminds us of this Rumi poem.
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