I Built a Set of Gerritt Rietveld Crate Chairs and So Can You

...uild with a modest amount of tools and dimensional lumber from the big box store. I made a set of Rietveld’s crate chairs and a crate table for our backyard. The crate chair is a nod to the Morris chair. It’s low slung, kind of like a beach chair (there’s also a taller version). While simple, the chair’s design shows an architect’s appreciation of how planes intersect and how to make those connections visually interesting. I’ve built reproductions...

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Obsidian: A Free Note Taking App

...bits of info, for instance, when I pick up a heater filter at the hardware store and need to remember the size. Graph view from example on web. One of the features that I did not expect to use but has ended up being transformative for me is the graph view, which shows, visually, connections between notes. It seemed like a gimmick until I used it to integrate two related sets of information for a project I’m working on. Immediately, I started to no...

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A Simple and Life Changing Bagel Recipe

...I sometimes attempt. These homemade bagels are soooooooo much better than store bought or even bagels from specialized bagel bakeries. Why? First off, the boiling step gives you that perfect chewy bagel not found in supermarket bagels. But as Hamelman notes, hand shaping also gives you a better texture than commercially made (extruded) bagels. It may sound like hyperbole but I mean it when I say that this recipe has the best ROI of any baking pro...

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Farm in a Box

...eenhouse or community garden, and enjoy!” Having never tried aquaculture I can’t say if Farm in a Box is a good idea or not, but it sure is interesting to see an advanced permacultural concept ending up in the isles of a big box store. If Home Depot wants to distribute a product like this or Nike wants to use fixed gear bike “culture” to sell shoes, I’m all for it. Let’s get the ideas out there. It’s up to us to take the next step and actually eat...

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How To Fix a Broken Spring on an O’Keefe and Merritt Stove

...ken all you need to do is pull it out and find a replacement at a hardware store or stove repair shop. 2. My broken spring was on the side of the stove that does not have an access door. To get at this spring I had to remove the side panel of the stove, which is easy to do. The side panel is removed by taking out a set of screws you’ll find along the back of the stove. Once the screws are out, pull the panel off and you should see another access d...

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