tools/wares

Rocks are So Useful and Sparkle with Poetry and Art

Knowing how a long lineage of artists and writers have used rocks and stones in their work expands my pleasure in those I collect for their beauty and endless uses…

William Forsythe on ‘Choreographing Your Own Role Within the Choreography’

In his beautiful kinetic choreographies of pendulums, artist William Forsythe draws our awareness to ways we negotiate and choreograph our paths…

My Secret Weapon for Home and other Projects UPDATE

Years ago painters left behind some sanding sponges they used to achieve a perfect finish in the high gloss surfaces. Something made me pick one up to try sanding an ugly heating pipe coated in green enamel. The ease-of-transformation was a revelation. I’ve been using that perfect sponge ever since for all sorts of fixes and projects around my house.

Sublimely Analog Chalkboard Drawings of Mathematicians, Rudolf Steiner, Twombly Inspire Our Own

“This is what thought looks like” begins Dennis Overbye’s article about Jessica Wynne’s remarkable photographs of mathematician’s blackboards, that reminded us of Steiner and Cy Twombly…

Kraft Paper Dispensers That Let Your Write On the Walls, and Elsewhere

Kraft paper is so wildly useful that if I had the room in my city apartment, I’d keep a roll on a wall to have easy access when the mood/need hits.

Our Patented DIY Shoe and Boot Refurb, Better Than Your Shoemaker

Years ago we figured out a technique that no shoemaker seems to know: how to remove the rough blims and tears that stick up on the scraped toes prevents a truly satisfying, long-lasting shine.

Patti Smith: How to Reread a Favorite Book Three-Dimensionally

We were casting about for a new book to read when we came across Patti Smith’s technique for rereading personal favorites “three-dimensionally, cubistically, from several angles.

Build A One-Page Beautiful Website for Yourself or Your Project or…Anything, Fast

If you are daunted by the prospect of creating a website for yourself or a project, check out Carrd, a free platform for building simple, stylish responsive one-page sites, fast.

An Analog Kid’s Timer Increases Focus and Productivity

The simple, clever Time Timer has proven a useful visual aid that helps me focus on whatever I need to make headway with, and then get up and take a break, disrupting the obsessive overfocus I’m prone to. It helps me work more efficiently, with less stress.

The Best of Core 77’s Hilarious Weekly Roast of Really Bad Design

Core 77’s Weekly Design Roast gives our Annals of Bad Design a serious run for the money. Rain Noe deconstructs high-minded, idiotic design, channeling the hilarious design thinking behind it.

New York Magazine’s Low Lift Home Improvements for Under $100 INCLUDING Improvised Life’s Big Fat Idea

How swell to see Improvised Life mentioned in New York Magazine’s ’31 Low Lift Home Improvements for Under $100′ for our decoding of Donald Judd furniture. We got a lot of ideas for jazzing up our space….

Want to Be a Digital Story Teller or Launch an App or Product? Join Me at Omega Institute’s Digital Age Conference

This coming June, I will be leading a workshop at Omega Institute’s Build Your Audience in the Digital Age Conference which will cover the how-to’s of creating digital products, from blogs to apps to online courses to newsletters, at Omega’s extraordinary, always transformative campus.

Beth Moon’s Photographs of Ancient Trees Under Night Skies are Magic

Inspired by studies that view trees as receivers of stellar energies, photographer Beth Moon traveled to the world’s “last dark places” to photograph ancient trees at night, in color.

Listening to the Spirit of the Tools We Use (Tim McCreight)

In Tim McCreight’s The Complete Metalsmith, I was surprised to find poetic wisdom in his section about hand tools that apply to many kinds of tools we use in creative endeavors, sometimes even smart phones.

White Sneakers are Your Blank Canvas for Graffiti and Dalmation Spots (DIY)

Like many white things, plain white sneakers are a blank canvas just waiting to be embellished with permanent fabric markers or paint. Here are two favorite iterations for summer.

Chandelier from 1980’s Berlin and Alexander Calder “On the Cutting Edge of Architectural Experimentation”

We found this divine, completely original and inspired chandelier buried in MondoBlogo’s riff on 1980’s interiors. It’s right up there with this ceiling light Alexander Calder fashioned for his friend Miro.

Shoelaces with Messages (Not Logos) and Where to Get ‘Em

The messages on the shoelaces of the guy sitting across from me ready “Do I love you?
Do I lust you?” Yeah! Where could I find shoelaces that really said something?

Combine Summer Camp Pleasures with Personal Growth (and Digital Empowerment)

One of the most magical places I know of to take stock of life and transform it is Omega Institute, a true catalyst for change and possibility thinking. I’ll be teaching a workshop there this summer…

How Wigs Changed My Life (Fran Black)

Fran Black resorted to wearing a wig while she was growing her dyed hair out gray. Then she realized how fun and transformative wearing a wig can be, and bought more.

Video Conference (and Cocktails) with Your Clan

Every Sunday as many as 14 family members over 4 generations —from 1 to 102-years-old — in six cities gather virtually to visit and hangout. It is just one of the ways video conferencing platforms can provide remarkably deep connection between far-flung family and friends.

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