Hey New York Times Let’s Dump the Wheels Column

...f communities, thanks to the insatiable hunger for space cars claim in our urban spaces. Failing to point out these objective facts makes your auto columns little more propaganda. Where is your bike column? Where is your transit advice column? Where is your walk-ability coverage? Sure, you touch on these issues elsewhere but these subjects have no dedicated column like “Wheels.” Perhaps it’s time to start treating cars the way you might treat ciga...

Read…

Saturday Tweets: Starlings, Chipmunks and Maple Syrup Season Lessons

...com/RvU0ax5Cii — Lyanda Lynn Haupt (@LyandaHaupt) May 12, 2017 Caught raiding birdseed, chipmunk yields haul https://t.co/QUatfa977T — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May 12, 2017 Ghost Lanes: Angled “Scarchitecture” Reveals Historic Urban Roads https://t.co/Bbr8h3AbHp — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May 8, 2017 What I Did Wrong This Maple Syrup Season #DIY #homesteading https://t.co/OnXcnVpcbp pic.twitter.com/Ji1xdC6fsD — Eric Rochow (@GardenForkTV) May 12...

Read…

Weekend Linkages: Fall Fig Leaf

...Homemade Harissa Sauce Fascine Mattresses: Basketry Gone Wild A timeline of Food (via Recomendo newsletter) Saturday afternoon Ikea trip simulator Just in case you need a centaur costume Art, Hoax, and Provocation The quiet, monochromatic urban landscapes of Russian painter Vladimir Shinkarev In dystopia news . . . Against artsploitation That strange 1990s swing revival thing An interactive world music map (via Recomendo newsletter)...

Read…

Life in a Pandemic

...future holds. There are simply too many variables to know what will happen in the coming months. Will we have another wave infections? Will governments bail out corporations or individuals? Will we have a recession or depression? Will there be a revived interest in urban homesteading or will we go back to shopping and consuming? I’m wary of suggesting a silver lining in this crisis. For many, around the world, it will just be awful. I’m curious ho...

Read…

Allegedly Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder Not Rat Proof

...cilmen! Just kidding. It was rats. This discovery caps off a busy week for urban wildlife in our backyard. A young coyote visited last week and, last night, our indoor cats got in a full on cat fight on either side of a glass door with a visiting outdoor cat. Our new bird (rat?) feeder has a lever that closes when a heavy animal steps on it. This is supposed to deter squirrels. As you can see from the photos, rats easily hacked their way around th...

Read…