My Marie Kondo Obsession

January 11, 2017

...imbue objects around with supernatural qualities that makes stuff hard to part with. This, at least in part, reflects the influence of Shintoism on Kondo’s work (she worked at a Shinto shrine in her youth). If your Marie Kondo fandom is as obsessive as mine (I proposed to Kelly that we put up a portrait of Kondo in the house) you will enjoy the NHK video above that introduces you to Kondo’s mentor Nagisa Tatsumi, author of the Art of Discarding. O...

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Saturday Tweets: Hogweed, Newcastle Disease, and Crochet Hyperbolics

Mr. Homegrown

June 23, 2018

Saturday Linkages

5 Comments

...witter.com/YFZtJjuc5S — Frank Valdez (@PanchoPerdit) June 20, 2018 Glasgow Art School 'will be saved' after devastating fire – BBC News https://t.co/hoNyVhQvdl — Root Simple (@rootsimple) June 20, 2018 How to protect your flock from #NewcastleDisease https://t.co/2o0Ky1QMea pic.twitter.com/UAFcMXeYdM — UCCE Sonoma County (@UCCESonoma) June 18, 2018 Finding a reliable source of organic feed is tough, and it often involves shipping it in by...

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The Luddite’s Moonshot

Mr. Homegrown

June 4, 2018

Thoughtstylings

24 Comments

Charles C. Mann’s article in the Atlantic, “Can Planet Earth Feed 10 Billion People?” contrasts the differences between an environmentalism of limits, as extolled by plant pathologist and Rachel Carson buddy William Vogt versus the techo-optimism of the architect of the Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug. Mann calls these two opposing camps “prophets” and “wizards.” It should be no surprise that Root Simple falls into the prophetic tribe. I believe...

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Installing Solid Wood Flooring

Mr. Homegrown

June 1, 2018

Design

7 Comments

...e installed a wood floor and here’s what I learned: Layout is the hardest part. Rent a pneumatic nailer. The last time I installed a floor I used a manual nailer and learned that driving 1,000 nails takes a toil on your joints. Get a piece of scrap wood and practice using the pneumatic nailer. You can also use this test piece to adjust the air pressure. If you’re installing a pre-finished floor, as I was yesterday, be careful not to bang up the fl...

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John Ruskin On Perfection and the Nature of the Gothic

Mr. Homegrown

July 31, 2018

Design

3 Comments

...fect; part of it is decaying, part nascent. The foxglove blossom, a third part bud, a third part past; a third part in full bloom, is a type of the life of this world. And in all things that live there are certain irregularities and deficiencies which are not only signs of life, but sources of beauty. No human face is exactly the same in its lines on each side, no leaf perfect in its lobes, no branch in its symmetry. All admit irregularity as they...

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