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 More
“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 More
We feel like we’re flying ourselves as we watch these sea lions leaping and flying through the waves in pure fluid JOY.
Read More
SO GREAT, wherever this few seconds of inspiring outside-the-box thinking came from.
Read More
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, a seeming life-threatening election, 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…
Read More
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 More
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 More
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 More
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.
Read More
Among the many challenges the lockdown has brought, the ascent of nature has been among the unexpected gifts. Cultural institutions are embracing that view to shift and refresh their locked-down patrons.
Read More
Perspective we need: The Onion’s sublimely funny, spot-on commentary on the pressure to be creative during the “free time” of quarantining + Riz Ahmed’s wise view.
Read More
We found ourselves laughing out loud at this perfect 1-minute clip from a 1983 segment of Cheers. That would be US.
Read More
These New Yorker cartoons describe the peculiar brand of anxiety that has become our weird shared experience. They give a much-needed sense of connectedness, AND levity…
Read More
In this 16 second film, a blow torch + hair dryer + popcorn makes for a curiously zen moment. We found two haiku to go with it. Then we remembered our friend Tim Chegwidden’s timed poetry-writing practice…
Read More
Spotted on the instagram of designer Pamela Hovland, who masterminded Improvised Life’s first iteration ten years ago: her holiday wreath in an imaginative, uniquely festive application…
Read More
We’ve watched this little video on instagram many times now, vicariously soaking up its unexpectedly BIG expression of joy AND its insight into the most common of personal catalysts…
Read More
Artist Fred Sandback stretched lengths of colored yarn taut in a space to make people experience it differently. His booklet, A Children’s Guide to Seeing, made to accompany an exhibition provides serious illumination for adults…
Read More
Here are a few moments of delight and wonder from video artists/experience designers/future thinkers, Universal Everything. A Rumi poem that jumped into our hands cast it in a surprising light.
Read More
We’ve just learned that May is National Masturbation Month. To celebrate, we thought we’d post a few of our favorite finds on the theme, which include everyday “niche” pleasures, phallic skywriting and a charming animated film.
Read More
Zohran Mamdani’s astonishing rap video, “Nani”, featuring 85-year-old food writer Madhur Jaffrey is both hilarious and riveting, NOT your usual old-person-doing-rap thing. Jaffrey is sexy and fierce.
Read More