Epic Rants and Raves

...early 20th century literature. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been slowly making my way through all of Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Magazine (I’m reading the 1905 issues this week) as well as Moby Dick (never read it in school), May Morris’ Decorative Needlework and the writings of John Ruskin and William Morris. From these tomes I’ve bookmarked a few epic rants that I suspect Root Simple readers will appreciate. First, as quoted in The Craftsman,...

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Saturday Tweets: Watermelons, Drill Bit Storage and Unicorns

...ticating #watermelon from feral bitter wild cousins; Greeks & Italians for making sweet! https://t.co/VUIDJWRMQx pic.twitter.com/uxGB57Z9P5 — C. S. Prakash (@AgBioWorld) July 7, 2017 So you have a construction or repair job coming up. Which should you use, screws or nails? The short answer is… https://t.co/VyOFohr5CS — Hobby Farms (@hobbyfarms) July 7, 2017 How tech giants like Elon Musk can actually fix LA’s transportation problems https://t.co/W...

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Read Bungalow Magazine and The Craftsman Online

...and less Apollonian than The Craftsman. What both publications have in common is an expectation that the reader is not just a consumer but potentially someone capable of taking up a chisel or sewing needle and making something. This DIY ethos was, of course, part of the anti-industrial agenda of the Arts and Crafts movement. One can hope that this spirit will catch on again in our disposable age. Save...

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America’s Worst Remodeling Disaster?

...should have to prove their worth, and that’s a high bar. But, perhaps, I’m making the same mistake. Only time will tell. Sources Biography of Greene and Greene, An Enlightened Client. Post-remodeling Dunn residence photos: https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/kt538nd8wj/ “Outside In: The Architecture of Smith and Williams” Edited by Jocelyn Gibbs, Debi Howell-Ardila, Anthony Denzer, Lilian Pfaff, and Alan Hess. “This Pasadena House . . .” Sunset...

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Root Simple is 10 Years Old

...r bigger publishers!). We ended up writing a how-to book for Rodale called Making It. Thank You! Root Simple is a group effort and there are many people to thank: our web designer Roman Jaster and our logo designer Eric Thomason. Caroline Clerc did the cute cartoons that adorn our masthead. And we thank our publishers Process Media and Rodale. We’ve also met many fine journalists after the book came out, such as Michael Tortorello who wrote a nice...

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