Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
1. Monday was Holi, a holiday I knew nothing about. According to Wikipedia, “Holi, or Holli, also called the Festival of Colors, is a spring festival celebrated by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and others.” I like spring and colors. Read more here.
2. The slideshow name says it all (and the captions are funny): A History of Obama Feigning Interest in Mundane Things
3. And finally:
1. Have you all heard about the killer whale killing a trainer at Sea World? Let’s see, we make a creature with highly evolved social networks and communication skills and the ability to swim vast distances live in something the size of a bathtub, alone, and we’re surprised when this happens? I’d be plotting to kill my captors, too.
2. The latest science news tells us that the world we know may be a giant hologram, so maybe I shouldn’t let things like #1 upset me so much. It’s also kind of reminiscent of The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
3. I saw this image on a t-shirt but now I can’t find a link to the shirt, just the image. “So long and thanks for all the fish,” indeed.
1. I always wish I had gotten a better grasp of the concepts behind math instead of just memorizing the rules, so this new series from the NY Times is perfect: A math professor is going through math concepts a step at a time in a weekly column. There’s more to be learned than just math, too–in the second column, he tells us that “The word ‘calculate’…comes from the Latin word ‘calculus,’ meaning a pebble used for counting.” Who knew?
2. I’ve debated sharing this, because it could mean more people camping out by Target on March 14, but did you know that they’re collaborating with my favorite textile designer Liberty of London and releasing a collection of clothes, homewares, and even bicycles? Check out the teaser video here.
3. Do you know what else happens March 14? Mad Men Season 3 is released on DVD! I can’t wait for March 14.
1. Happy birthday, Charles Darwin!
2. This week, the Astronomy Picture of the Day site taught me that volcanoes can form lightning when they erupt. Go see the picture (and check out out the “lunar fog bow” [night rainbow!] while you’re there, too).
3. Happy Lunar New Year on Sunday. All the newer casinos in Las Vegas were decorated last week–here’s a big tiger from the Bellagio:
1. This has been making the rounds on all the design blogs already, but it’s funny: Unhappy Hipsters, which puts funny captions to pictures published in the mod design magazine Dwell.
2. I’ve just discovered businessguysonbusinesstrips.com which has comics making fun of advertising life. This one is eerily true to life when the senior people and the clients get going:
3. Palm trees! I’ll be seeing palm trees!
There’s an animal theme today:
1. BoingBoing posted about the kid’s book Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb and used the phrase “beatnik monkeys.” I’ll have to see if the parents still have our copy so I, too, can admire those cool simians as an adult.
2. Animals with Lightsabers. You may have seen this, but a recent entry was captioned “Jedi Reepicheep”!
3. And finally, seagulls:
1. I’ve signed up for “new listings” emails from a real estate office (more to just keep my goal in mind than to actually buy anything yet) and the agent remarks on the houses continue to be great. Did you know that Salt Lake has a trendy acronym-ed neighborhood? One house was located in “SOTRO (South of Trolley).” Groan.
2. Would you like to look at some mid-century gas stations designed by famous architects? (Who wouldn’t?) Check them out here. I kind of want to move in to the Albert Frey one in Palm Springs.
3. Here is a recipe for Carl Sagan’s apple pie. I’m sure it will be crumbly, but good. (Click for big.)
1. The Writer’s Almanac tells us
Today, writer Isabel Allende is starting a new book, just as she has been doing every single January 8th for the past 29 years. On January 8, 1981, when Chilean-born Allende was living in Venezuela and working as a school administrator and freelance journalist, she got a phone call that her beloved grandfather, at 99 years old, was dying. She started writing him a letter, and that letter turned into her very first novel, The House of the Spirits. She said, “It was such a lucky book from the very beginning, that I kept that lucky date to start.”
2. And here’s Toby on an IKEA nightstand nicely finished by my dad as per this hack:
1. Now that the first decade of the 21st century is almost over, I’m finally getting with it: I have a Flickr account now. None of my own photos are in it; it’s more like a virtual inspiration binder for decorating and projects. (It started because I needed to see two different pillow fabrics next to each other.)
2. I’ve been idly going through real estate sites, just to see what I’m up against (a lot), and the “remarks” on each house on the Chapman Richard site are hilarious:
Careful, Cat May Attack If You Try To Touch
DO NOT LOCK THE DOOR ON THE INSIDE OF SUN ROOM.
Great Fixer-Upper, House Is Uninhabitable
3. And finally, with the solstice approaching, here’s a column from The Guardian by poet Jeanette Winterson about embracing the dark and using it for reflection, being “dark without being melancholy, brooding without being depressed.”
1. As I’ve been full of the Christmas Spirit not having to work two jobs, I’ve been watching Christmas movies. Holiday Inn was in the queue this week and so I got to see the original rendition of “White Christmas.” Which was followed by a number for Lincoln’s birthday featuring Bing Crosby in blackface. Ugh.
2. I’ve found a blog about working on and living in old houses from the 40’s through the 70’s: Retro Renovation. It even has tips on what to do with a pink bathroom!
3. The mittens performed admirably at the company party last night, even though it was SEVEN BELOW at Soldier Hollow–and that’s not counting the windchill from tubing.
