Join or Die: Why You Should Join a Club

August 2, 2024

...a symptom of economic prosperity and political stability? It’s been a long time since I read the book but I recall that Putnam acknowledges economic factors, particularly the need for both parents in most family households to have jobs and how this drastically cuts down on time available for joining groups. That said, I do wonder if the particularly insidious form of capitalism we’re enmeshed in, variously called “neo-liberalism” or “late stage ca...

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Boozing Bees

Mr. Homegrown

January 20, 2020

Animals, Bees

1 Comment

...t in one instance. I remember reading in L’Apiculteur years ago, of an old time beekeeper having fed his bees with bread dipt in honey which had been mixt with a proportion of wine, to cure them of diarrhea early in the spring . . . The beekeeper whose colonies are robbed by other bees, whiskey or no whiskey, can lay the blame on himself, and himself alone. A colony of bees in healthy condition and properly managed should fear nothing from robber...

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The Future is Biomorphic

Mr. Homegrown

November 4, 2014

Design

4 Comments

...ccurate as a dead clock. Twice a day they get it right and the rest of the time they end up looking foolish. We can be especially thankful that the washing machine for people on page 179 of The Futurist never caught on. That said, the point is not always to predict the future. Architects, artists and designers push the envelope of consensus reality to spark a dialog. Architect Glen Small, one of the founders of SCI-Arc and the subject of an entert...

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Shoemaking workshop in Los Angeles, Oct. 16-19

Mrs. Homegrown

August 12, 2014

Domesticus, Events, How-to

5 Comments

...s were custom made because they made them for themselves. We will start by making a 3D pattern of our foot and transferring it to the leather you select. Once the upper and sole are attached we move onto turning and hammering, closure and finishing and finally gooping the soles. You will get experience with patterning, cutting, skiving and various stitching methods you can transfer to future leather projects and of course, you will be leaving with...

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Timing Sourdough Feeding

Mr. Homegrown

April 6, 2020

Bread, Food

12 Comments

...ecent sourdough bread: the amount of time between feeding your starter and making your dough. I keep a small amount of starter on hand since I bake, at most, twice a week under normal circumstances (Under quarantine I’m baking a lot more but the reasons for that would be the subject of another blog post). Just before I go to bed, the night before I’m going to make bread, I take a tablespoon of starer and add it to 50 grams of whole wheat flour and...

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