Emblem or Stain

Seedbomb Machine

2010-03-29T18:34:00.004-04:00

I would really love to have one of these machines. If I owned a cafe, I'd have one by the door and watch as new greenery began to shoot up around the neighborhood.

The way it works: You buy a seedbomb machine from Common Studio made from a vintage candy machine. They "develop a seed mix as well as a strategic neighborhood intervention plan in response to the unique ecologies of your area." You place the machine in some public place, and they provide the necessary ammunition.

via Re-Nest

Dekalb's last green space

2010-03-21T22:24:00.003-04:00

via Creative Loafing's Time and Place: Broken Hearts

Home Sweet (Bus Stop) Home

2010-03-07T07:44:00.004-05:00

Mark Reigelman

Bringing the Comfort of Home to Bus Shelters

Wood, MDF, wire, paint, glass, wallpaper, found objects

8.5' x 4.5' x 8'

via Apartment Therapy

Simplicity Parenting

2010-01-31T09:52:00.003-05:00

This week, we hosted Kim John Payne at our school as part of implementing his Social Inclusion approach. Thursday morning, he appeared on Good Day Atlanta to speak about his new book, Simplicity Parenting:

Seasonality Chart

2010-01-17T14:32:00.003-05:00

UK restaurant, Leon, offers this seasonal food chart in their cookbook. The PDF version can be printed out for easy reference in the kitchen, and it looks nice, too.

via: re-nest

How much information

2010-01-08T19:37:00.006-05:00

According to a study at UC San Diego, Americans consumed an average of 12 hours of information a day. That's 3.6 zettabytes a year. Check out the NY Times post on the subject here.

image: Rob Vargas for Fast Company

Fingers Crossed ...

2010-01-07T22:51:00.003-05:00

Clementine Candle

2010-01-06T18:29:00.004-05:00

At lunch in my class, many students and I have been bringing oranges to eat. Nine year olds delight in trying to peel an orange in a single strip or to pull off half of it to make a miniature boat or bowl. I remembered this post from Apartment Therapy and decided to give it a go. Click the post link for instructions in making a clementine candle. My finished product did not look nearly as nice as the one above, as I was most tearing the peel to experiment. Still, it was pretty exciting for us all. You just need an orange, olive oil, and a match.

Note: The original post is from Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, the site's founder. He used to be a Waldorf teacher (like I am), and cites a visit to a former student's home as the inspiration for this candle.

photo: Apartment Therapy

Hello, 2010.

2010-01-05T21:24:00.005-05:00

Hopefully in 2010, this blog can see a little more action than it has in the last couple of months. Things have gotten way too busy on the work front, but I'll try to squeeze in posts here and there. As for the new year, I don't tend to make resolutions. If I had to name one, it might be to eat at home more and out less.

As for dining in 2009, I have two best restaurant votes. Breakfast goes to Rise -N- Dine in Emory Village. Check 'em out for a cozy breakfast at a great price.

Lunch/Dinner goes to Dynamic Dish. Their menu changes every day. It's fresh. It's local. It's special.

Confession: I snagged this second photo from DD's website.

Stop Recycling. Start Repairing.

2009-10-12T20:15:00.005-04:00

Platform21 recently ran the Most Remarkable Repair Contest. Winner Siba Sahabi repaired this plastic bag that had gotten caught in the spokes of her bicycle with an embroidered image of the incident.

For another remarkable repair, American artist Nina Katchadourian helped out some spiders in the Finnish forest.

photos: Platform21

Weeknight Recipes

2009-10-04T21:42:00.003-04:00

I've been in need of some new recipes as well as in need of some motivation to cook at home after a long day of work. The Kitchn came to the rescue with their recent Quick Weeknight Meals Recipe Contest. Now I'm ready with full new list for the week. Tonight I checked out this recipe for buckwheat noodles with julienned vegetables. It's worth a try.

photo: the Kitchn

Visits

2009-10-02T17:52:00.004-04:00

Obviously, not much blogging has happened lately on Emblem or Stain. Work has had to take precedent. I have had a few breaks here and there to unwind and refresh. For one, we've gotten to catch up with Jimbo Brantley a couple of times recently during his local vis'. That's right, Sewanee folks. An associated emblem from the Brickstore:

I didn't check this out, but Jim did. If I were making choices on labels alone, this one would have been a contender.

Number two: We had a recent trip to Sewanee and stumbled upon Purple Haze, the rugby team. If you don't know about 'em, look 'em up. It was great fun. Tomorrow they play GA Tech here, and I'm tempted to check it out.

My Gypsy Childhood

2009-09-07T11:09:00.006-04:00

Roxy Freeman grew up in a family of Irish Travellers, traveling the country by horsedrawn wagon. Raised without a formal education and often without television or radio, she devoured many works of literature by adolescence. "Our life was always lived outside; working, playing and socialising was all done around the fire or in the woods and fields," she writes in the Guardian. At the age of 22, Freeman decided to go to college. In her article, she shares the complications of entering the educational system and settled society:

I can't see or feel the change from one season to the next, I crave greenery, and I constantly wrestle with the emotion of feeling trapped. I spend half my life opening doors and windows, trying to get rid of the airless, claustrophobic feeling that comes with being inside. I get woken up by bin lorries, the rush-hour traffic and my neighbours shouting, instead of birdsong and the wind in the trees. I can't sense when it's going to rain because I can no longer smell it in the air, and when it does rain I can't hear it landing on the roof.
I live near the sea because it gives me some sense of openness and freedom, but I don't think I will ever feel truly settled here – or anywhere else. My instinct is to travel, and when you have grown up waking to different scenery every day, it's easy to feel trapped. But to reach my dream, I have to put down roots.

For the full story, click here.

photo: Tam Carrigan, 1990

Happy Labor Day

2009-09-07T09:12:00.002-04:00

Each year as we watch the passing of seasons, Ben finally says, "Well, I guess it's getting that late summer feel." We've already got the late summer feel, and I'm ready for autumn. Here's a poem for the occasion that was posted on the Kitchn this weekend.

Spell to Be Said Upon Departure
by Jane Hirshfield

What had come here to do
having finished,
shelves of the water lie flat.

Copper the leaves of the doorsill,
yellow and falling.
Scarlet the bird that is singing.

Vanished the labor, here walls are.
Completed the asking.
Loosing the birds there is water.

Having eaten the pears.
Having eaten
the black figs, the white figs. Eaten the apples.

Table be strewn.
Table be strewn with stems,
table with peelings of grapefruit and pleasure.

Table be strewn with pleasure,
what was here to be done having finished.

Beard Champions

2009-09-06T10:44:00.005-04:00

At the 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships in Anchorage, Alaska, Beard Team USA took the lead with David Traver as the Overall Champion. This year's American team also featured Atlanta photographer Mark Adams who "stopped shaving the day he graduated high school in 1994 and has never looked back."

You can learn about the various categories of beards and moustaches here. For example, The Alaskan Whaler is the "traitional Alaskan seafarer's beard. Bushy hair grown on cheeks, chin, and lower lip. No hair grown on upper lip." (This is a brand new category.)

Notes from Chris

2009-09-01T21:07:00.004-04:00

Chris wants to do tedious things with people. Here are a couple of examples. Since 2008, these notes have been popping up around NYC, courtesy of Todd Lamb.

View more Notes from Chris.

via Urban Prankster

Elsewhere Cleaning

2009-08-31T22:21:00.005-04:00

Over the weekend we got a chance to visit our friend Emma who had traveled from Dublin for an artist residency in Greensboro, NC at Elsewhere Artist Collaborative.

Check out the project she did there:

Elsewhere Cleaning Inc. was born when the three artists (Emma Houlihan, Helena O'Connor, and Eliza Fernand) met while participating in the Elsewhere residency program. Elsewhere is a living museum, where in the museum's collection is constantly being re-imagined and reworked. Nothing ever leave the collection and nothing is added to the collection, but still the museum is ever changing as works come in and out of storage.

Working within the museum context of Elsewhere, the artists found themselves obsessively cleaning and rearranging items within the collection. Inspired by the Elsewhere ethos of approaching everyday things as art objects, the artists tried to bring this curatorial idea to you in your home. Elsewhere Cleaning Inc. came to come to your house to clean, rearrange, and curate your objects. The purpose of Elsewhere Cleaning Inc. is re-imagine peoples’ private homes as museums and the objects within them as both deliberate and incidental collections and to re-curate these collections.

As we have learned through this process of cleaning and curating homes, the job of the curator is to select and often interprets works of art (but for our purposes the curator in the home is to select and re interpret your own object into arrangements of meaning.

The ladies have more photos here and even a catchy jingle.

Drying for Freedom

2009-08-24T22:03:00.004-04:00

I hang my laundry on the line. I usually hang it on Sunday. I hang it in rainbow order.

Below is the trailer for a film about clotheslines. The premise:

By 2010 more than 50 million homeowners will be banned from line drying clothes outdoors for the sake of preserving property value and prudishness, the ban which infringes on a homeowners civil rights is contributing to the environmental and energy crisis, considering the dryer is responsible for 6% of the average households energy bill, as well as costing the U.S. an estimated $5 billion annually.

This is a film about freedom, communities and clotheslines. Drying For Freedom follows the fight for the right to dry clothes naturally revealing the protests, passions, politics and murders asking how did drying clothes become a life threatening, environmental social catastrophe? Why can’t we be free and dry clothes naturally?

Lullwater Park

2009-08-24T18:37:00.004-04:00

With two days of the new school year under our belts, we went looking for a good Saturday adventure this weekend. What new thing could we do in Atlanta? I did a little searching for ideas of a hike inside the city. Lo and behold, right here in Decatur is the 185 acre Lullwater Park. Located on Emory's campus, this park is so convenient to where we live and much quieter than somewhere like Piedmont Park. We probably saw around a dozen other people the whole time we were there. Parking was a little tricky, but there are some ideas on Yelp. The park has an interesting old mill house that I'd like to investigate more another time:

photos: Atlanta Daily Photo

The Post Office

2009-08-09T09:36:00.006-04:00

"Postal employees have, over the years, established a fine tradition of faithful service to the Nation, unsurpassed by other groups. ... All postal personnel must act with unwavering integrity and complete devotion to the public interest... The Postal Service has the unique privilege of having daily contact with the majority of citizens of the Nation, and is, in many instances, their most direct contact with the Federal Government..."

from the Code of Ethics, United States Post Office, 1970 opening Bukowski's "work of fiction... dedicated to nobody"

Yesterday, we stopped by the local post office around lunch time to mail a couple of simple packages. We waited 20 minutes in the line as one counter slowly sifted through the queue, and another counter served a couple of ladies with a flat cart piled high with boxes. The middle counter stood empty. Occasionally, someone would come out and shout: "Is anyone here for pick up or certified mail?" At no response, the employee would calmly turn and leave. Faces in the crowd grew puzzled and weary. Another employee emerged who went to each waiting customer and politely asked, "What services will you need today?" Each person needed services that seemed too simple for her attention. One lady spoke up: "Is someone going to open that middle counter?" "No, ma'am." The employee walked on. The only man granted access to the middle space had been mysteriously been receiving no mail whatsoever. Others turned to loudly count customers. Some gave up. Some pressed on with looks of bewilderment. Eventually, the two ladies who had set up camp at the third counter parked the flat cart and nervously left the building. The pace picked up a bit. All the while, the ladies in charge maintained an incredible poise and detachment, complete and unwavering. This seems the kind of air one only meets in employees of the post office, bank, or airlines. Can you think of anywhere else?

Empty Spaces: Kodak Building

2009-08-07T22:17:00.006-04:00

This empty space has been on the back burner for a bit. The former Goody's Kodak building is for sale. What's not to like about this space? Besides, it's caddy corner from the Krispy Kreme on Ponce.

photo 2: leshoward's flickr page

RIP Charles Huntley Nelson

2009-08-07T20:16:00.007-04:00

Atlanta artist Charles Huntley Nelson passed away July 30th. Several others have posted tributes: audiologo, burnaway, counterforces, Passage of Right.

Charles currently has work at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. His installation, Alphaville (Preview), is up through August 16. See his website for more work.

Louise Shaw described Charles as "an art warrior and a gentle soul." This seems a fitting description for someone who will be greatly missed here. The Contemporary will host an art memorial on Sunday, August 30.

image: Atlanta Contemporary Art Center

Creators Inn

2009-07-30T23:06:00.006-04:00

Say you're planning a trip to Sweden. You've got a creative project happening, and you need a place to stay. You might be in luck. If you're a creator visiting the local area, you could register for free accommodations at Creators Inn. Swedish clothing line Elvine offers the inn in an effort to bring creativity to Corporate Social Responsibility, resulting in Creative Social Responsibility:

By offering visiting creators free accommodation, we hope to remind people of a lovely little thing called hospitality. And in addition to making the visiting creators happy and Gothenburg a more interesting city because of their presence, we hope this simple idea can be exported and implemented around the globe. What a wonderful world that would result in.

photos: Jonas Mosesson for Creators Inn

T.HANKS

2009-07-29T21:25:00.002-04:00

via ZoomDoggle Jake via Urban Prankster

ELBOW-TOE

2009-07-22T10:26:00.007-04:00

ELBOW-TOE is a Brooklyn, NY based artist that has been creating introspective urban art for several years. His artwork for the streets is grounded in myth, symbolism and poetry and is primarily executed in woodcut, stencil or large-scale charcoal drawings. His oeuvre is a study of human gesture as communication and he utilizes public spaces as stages for private moments. He is particularly interested in the ability of environmental forces outside his control to create a timeless quality to the work thereby allowing it to feel as if it has been memory and is part of the collective unconscious.

- ELBOW-TOE's artist statement from artslant

Check out ELBOW-TOE's blog, Street-Fodder, and his new site elbow-toe.com.

photo: Streetsy

No Impact Man Trailer

2009-07-21T21:19:00.005-04:00

Perhaps you've already checked out No Impact Man's blog. No Impact Man, aka Colin Beavan, carried out an experiment in which he, along with his wife, toddler, and dog, tried to live for a year in New York City while causing zero net environmental impact. If you haven't read his site, you should check it out. You could also check out his book. And now you can check out the movie. Here's the trailer:

Brita Filter Recycling

2009-07-21T16:50:00.008-04:00

If you use Brita filters, you might have run into the same problem I have. What do you do with one once it expires? I don't feel comfortable just tossing these things in the trash, so I did some research last year and found out about the Take Back the Filter campaign. At the time, there were some folks in Oakland who were collecting used filters to send a strong statement to Brita to encourage the company to take responsibility for the used filters. (This effort was inspired by the campaign to urge AOL to stop sending unsolicited CDs.) So, I started saving my filters to send them to Oakland in a bunch. Before I got around to sending them, Brita announced that they would collect and recycle their filters starting January '09. Apparently, Whole Foods would be the collection point.

Six months later, I have finally gotten around to taking my bag of filters to Whole Foods. The guy's blank expression at the customer service desk did not give me much hope. He knew nothing of this program. He called management. No, they won't take them at that store. He called across town. Not there either. "OK, nevermind. I'll just figure it out."

I returned to the Take Back the Filter site and learned that Preserve is actually doing the recycling and turning the old filters into things like toothbrushes, cups, or cutting boards. The catch is that only certain Whole Foods locations will take the filters along with other #5 plastics. Atlanta does not have one of those, so I'm back to the postal option. My back of Brita filters will now be on its way to Cortland, NY.

Click here if you want to know what to do with old filters. For more on the campaign that collected 611 filters, click here.

photos: Take Back the Filter

Mythic Paint

2009-07-20T10:52:00.006-04:00

In the winter, we started a project of repainting the front rooms of our house. We only made it through a couple of walls before we ran out of steam and put this project to rest for the springtime. When we selected the paints, I was thrilled to find one of the local hardware stores carrying non-toxic Mythic Paint. Based in Hattiesburg, MS, the zero-VOC Mythic Paint is manufactured by Southern Diversified Products.

Perhaps you've seen one of their ads like this one:

Summertime came, and I was ready to get back to work, only to find that the hardware store no longer carries Mythic Paint. In its place, I spied rows of Benjamin Moore Natura paint. I went in this morning, and they agreed to sell me the last couple of cans of white Mythic Paint that were still in the back. I arrived just in time, because someone from Mythic Paint had just arrived to take away the rest. I asked the guy at the hardware store about the switch, and he said it was a contractual issue. Apparently, they couldn't carry both lines of paint, and they couldn't afford for Benjamin Moore to pull out of their company. That's too bad. Perhaps someone else in the area will pick up Mythic Paint. In the meantime, today I'm back to painting with Atlanta's last cans of Mythic Paint.

images: Mythic Paint

Satorialist Strategy

2009-07-17T21:31:00.007-04:00

Let's say you're hoping to get spotted for street fashion blog, The Satorialist. Now with the help of the Pipeline, your dream might just be a little bit closer. Just follow the Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Shot by the Satorialist.

Click through for a better view of the guide. With a few key accessories such as a quirky hat or scarf, you'll be well on your way. Got a vintage bike? Even better.

Sewanee folks, I seem to remember that Rory's brother was already on there. Am I right about that? If you need more tips, you know who to ask.

via a Cup of Jo

Summertime Dinner

2009-07-16T15:49:00.005-04:00

We've just returned from a week in Oregon, arriving home to a clean but empty kitchen. Yesterday, we met our next door neighbor outside with a friend who happened to be hauling around big bags of fresh corn and other goodies. After agreeing to buy a dozen ears of corn, I was on my way to planning dinner. I wanted to do something more interesting than corn on the cob and did a bit of searching until I came across this recipe for Sweet Tea's Almost Healthy Fried Okra. It's basically a salad of corn, tomatoes, onion, and fresh mint topped with lightly fried okra. This dish is a great way to combine a few delicious seasonal vegetables. I made it last night, and I turned out pretty well. Check in over at Brooklyn Food Bitch for the full recipe and more photos.

photo: Tedious Relative's Almost Healthy Fried Okra on flickr

A sweater for Amy Winehouse

2009-07-07T16:32:00.008-04:00

My friend, Andrew Salomone, has made a sweater for Amy Winehouse complete with embroidered tattoos. Why, you ask? Concerned for Amy's recent health problems, Andrew noticed that whatever clothes Amy wears, she seems forced to expose her tattoos. He suspects that perhaps she feels the need to reveal them so that she can remain recognizable as she otherwise changes her look. Here's Andrew's solution:

"I realized that if someone were to make her a sweater that displayed her tattoos to the world without exposing her to the elements, then maybe some of her health problems would go away. At the very least it might prevent her from getting a cold. ... I thought about other ways of making this sweater, but decided that the sweater had to be embroidered by hand so that it would be as unique and distinctive as the tattoos it covers up. It also made sense that the sweater should be embroidered because embroidery is like a tattoo on fabric."

Now Andrew wants to get the sweater to Amy. If you've got an idea, you can email him at asalomone@gmail.com. You can read what Andrew has to say about the project and see more images on his website. And check out some of his other projects while you're there.

Bubble Shots

2009-07-06T22:24:00.004-04:00

Richard Heeks has these amazing bubble photos over on his flickr photostream. Bubbles don't pop, he claims. They rip, split, tear, crack!

via Happy Mundane

Wylie Street Graffiti

2009-07-06T19:21:00.012-04:00

It seems that Wylie Street along the north side of Cabbagetown used to be a choice spot for local graffiti artists. Then about a year ago, there was an incident in which some guy decided to hide in a tree to catch taggers. (Read the AJC article here.) When two guys showed up with spray paint, the vigilante jumped from the branches and began his attack. He was eventually ticketed for disorderly conduct, and the other two were ticketed for defacing property. The city painted over the length of the wall with pea green paint. The local public safety chair issued this comment:

"Ultimately it was decided that we needed a complete reclamation of the wall so that we could start anew. We are going to propose an ongoing public art display for the wall at the next CNIA meeting that I hope some of the affected artists will be interested in.
Several areas of these more artistic works had been tagged over for a few weeks now. The taggers did revere them for a period of time but apparently nothing is sacred which absolutely stinks. The true artists are victims here as well."

For more discussion on this story, check out this article called Seriously, if you don't like graffiti why are you living in Cabbagetown.

A year later, I still haven't seen any ongoing public art display. Driving past today, though, I did see this:

For some reason, I doubt this piece is the aforementioned public art. I also wonder what the old graffiti vigilante thinks of it.

Seen on Edgewood

2009-07-06T19:04:00.004-04:00

Both of these images are from the same building on Edgewood Avenue just east of Krog Street.

Fresh Roots Farm

2009-07-03T22:14:00.007-04:00

Tucked away behind the Westside Arts District, an organic urban farm lies just beside an 1898 cotton gin factory. Fresh Roots Farm has a good selection of fruits, veggies, and herbs that you can pick yourself on site. Volunteer at the farm, and you can also learn about keeping chickens and brewing beer.

According to the farm's Local Harvest listing: "Fresh Roots Farm strives to build a locally sustainable future for ourselves and our community through a commitment to food security, education, and grassroots organizing. "

photo: Artist Workspace Atlanta on Facebook

PARK

2009-07-01T15:37:00.005-04:00

From April 2000 - April 2001, this portable parking booth moved from site to site around Chicago. The work of Deborah Stratman of Temporary Services, the booth was on the move for several months. After a write-up on the booth in a local newspaper, it disappeared.

According to the artist:

"By 'parking' at these sites, the booth implicates the land it sits on. It implies that you may park. It implies that you should pay. It implies surveillance, that your car is being monitored, that it will be safe. And it implies ownership of space... Parking booth structures are innocuous but pervasive. I find in that a strange dignity. PARK celebrates the stubbornness of tiny, single-person architecture amidst the skyscrapers."

Click here for the full PARK booklet. Click here for more photos of PARK.

photos: Temporary Services

Today We Don't Use the Word Dollars

2009-06-30T18:05:00.005-04:00

SUPERFLEX's artwork for One Day Sculpture involved the employees of Auckland's Karangahape Road branch of the ANZ bank. For a single day, Wednesday 27 May 2009, 09.00 - 16.30, all employees of the bank could not say or use the word 'DOLLARS.' The staff had to use other words of their own choice to explain themselves to customers and co-workers. If they broke this pact they had to pay a fine of $1 into a staff social fund.

SUPERFLEX (Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, Jakob Fenger and Rasmus Nielsen) investigate processes by which power dynamics become evident. Their projects do not simply set out to problematize these spheres of interest, but to work with real economic, cultural and political relations and create concrete effects. Through projects engaging with alternative models for the creation, dissemination and maintenance of social and economic organisation such as Copyshop, Guarana Power, Rebranding Denmark and Free Beer. SUPERFLEX have become involved in several legal disputes, as well as suffering prohibition orders and police raids, relating to their artistic use of commercial signs and symbols. However, finding that the restrictions placed on their work sometimes led to unexpectedly interesting results, SUPERFLEX began to explore the productive potential of prohibition and conceived a series of projects structured to impose regulations on others.

photo and text: One Day Sculpture

Succulent Living Wall

2009-06-21T21:26:00.008-04:00

I have posted work from Edina Tokodi before. Otherwise known as Mosstika, she is known for her moss animal stencils. For her recent Green Spaces project in Brooklyn, she has created an amazing succulent living wall.

Made completely of succulent plants, this project is located on the rooftop of Green Spaces NY.

images : Mosstika

via Wooster Collective

Bodies in Urban Spaces

2009-06-21T18:40:00.007-04:00

For his Bodies in Urban Spaces project, Willi Dorner squeezes people into the nooks and crannies of city spaces. Gaps have been filled in Austria, England, France, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the US. Willi and company have, apparently, been mistaken for burglars and vandals during some performances. For more images, click here.

via The Guardian

Band-Aid Rug

2009-06-20T14:45:00.003-04:00

Band-Aid Rug from Ricardo Garza Marcos via Design Milk

NYC Subway Tiles

2009-06-20T14:30:00.009-04:00

Mom Translator

2009-06-11T23:00:00.001-04:00

via Saturday Night Live

Squat 2 Own

2009-06-10T21:47:00.008-04:00

Legal Disclaimer: This is a satirical site intended for entertainment purposes only. If you are a poor or homeless person and were considering breaking the law to house yourself and/or your family, please immediately resume sleeping on the street or working three jobs just to make the rent.

A group in Richmond called Squat 2 Own has an answer to the current housing crisis. They imagine Richmond as a city where no livable house stands empty and no person has to be homeless. "As a human, you are entitled to housing, and this empty housing can be yours with little more than the skillful application of a crowbar," they say, and "by taking over a foreclosed property, you're reclaiming the housing you're entitled to, saving a valuable asset and supporting a healthy neighborhood!"

Say you'd like to find a good home in the area... Here's how Squat 2 Own can help:

We take a hands-off approach to sales. Search our property listings at your leisure. If you find a property you like, open the door, bring your furniture in, and get comfortable in your new home. SeeTips for First-Time Homesteaders for more detailed advice.

images: Squat 2 Own

Tent Sofa

2009-06-08T08:32:00.005-04:00

We all know what it can be like to crash on a host's sofa bed, positioned in the center of activity and subject to the noises and traffic of the living space. Designer Philippe Malouin has created a bit of refuge with his tent-like shelter for Campeggi.

Unfolded, the arms create walls and a roof for the sleeper or perhaps a child's fort. I think you can probably pick up on the military reference at play here. At the time of this post, Malouin's website is down. You can check out more on the project over here.

via Dezeen

Wu Note

2009-06-07T13:11:00.005-04:00

Apparently, there's this designer called Logan Walters who's been reworking the Wu-Tang album covers. He found the original album art "dated" and "horrible." In response, he redesigned the covers with inspiration from Blue Note records, calling his project Wu Note. I've included a couple of examples below. For more images and thoughts on this project, check out the designer's website and Flickr photostream.

images: advantagelogan's photostream

via Eyeteeth

Cardboard Bedding

2009-06-07T09:33:00.007-04:00

In the current issue of ReadyMade magazine, I stumbled across this design:

The Le Clochard Duvet Cover is printed with a photographic image of a cardboard box. Order from Dutch by Design, and 30% of profit is donated to Centrepoint, a UK charity for homeless young people. With the incentive, "Sleep under cardboard box so that a homeless young person doesn't have to," this cardboard box is made from pure soft cotton.

Le Clochard was initiated in Holland by Erik van Loo and Peggy van Neer under the name Snurk, Dutch for snore. Click here to learn a whole lot more about the project.

Deluxe Hugs

2009-06-06T11:56:00.004-04:00

The blog's been a bit slow lately as I've been finishing up the teaching year. With summer in sight, check out some Deluxe Hugs (in response to Free Hugs).

via Urban Prankster

What the Font

2009-05-27T21:54:00.005-04:00

If you're into fonts, this might be the iPhone app for you. That is, if you're also into iPhones. If you see a font that you want to identify, you can quickly take a picture of it with your phone and upload it to the image processor in your phone. The What the Font application will check the font with the MyFonts database and give you the closest match. Check out an online version here.

image: MyFonts

Gillsville House

2009-05-26T22:02:00.006-04:00

I mentioned the RainShine House in a previous post. From the same architect, Robert M. Cain, comes the Gillsville House:

The house is distinctive in that it acknowledges the plain style southern vernacular farmhouse roots of the older, utilitarian structures in the area and interprets them in a very modern way.

If I had unlimited resources, I could imagine a renovation in this style:

photo: Robert M. Cain

Dynamic Dish

2009-05-25T17:40:00.000-04:00

My favorite place in Atlanta...

Tea Brooch

2009-05-19T22:30:00.004-04:00

I can't say I wear very many brooches, but if I did, this might be the one:

from Vanilla Bug

Haptic Lab Quilted Map

2009-05-18T21:02:00.006-04:00

I do like a good quilt, but often find the designs a bit folksy for my taste. Here's an idea that brings a more current design to a traditional craft:

Soft-Maps from Haptic Lab are handmade quilted maps of Brooklyn neighborhoods, complete with street names, compass rose, and scale marker. Details can be customized on request, such as favorite coffee shop or whatnot. Custom Soft-Maps can also be designed for any location.

via: Cool Hunting

Modern Atlanta Day 2

2009-05-17T19:02:00.004-04:00

Back on the home tour, I am still left with yesterday's favorite: the Rain Shine House. Admittedly, I missed three places for the sake of time. One highlight of today's tour was the Bickley House in Buckhead. The house was pretty incredible, though not exactly my taste. Inside were housed a Picasso, a Lichtenstein, and probably over a dozen Damien Hirst pieces from about 2002.

photo: Modern Atlanta

Empty Spaces: Atlanta Constitution Building

2009-05-17T00:02:00.007-04:00

I think Modern Atlanta already covered this one pretty well:

An excellent opportunity to reuse (think Tate Modern here) an existing building with lots of space and potential. Could definitely serve the city and southeast as an internationally-recognized destination for world class exhibitions, fine-dining, and design-related retail. It has lots to offer in terms of its size scale, and use of light, very close proximity to public transportation, with its original architectural details still intact. MA’s wish list of international and experienced architects to design this project would include Herzog & de Meuron, Rem Koolhaas, Crepain-Binst, Hans Dieter Schaal, and Atlanta-based Scogin and Elam.

Located at the corner of Alabama Street and Forsyth Street, the Atlanta Constitution Building is currently owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation, who seem to have plans to demolish the building. An effort is being made to save this space by DOCOMOMO Georgia. Note the trees growing from the roof of this building.

image 1: Modern Atlanta

image 2: DOCOMOMO Georgia

Modern Atlanta

2009-05-16T16:24:00.003-04:00

This weekend is the annual Modern Atlanta Home Tour. We visited a few of the locations today and hope to see more tomorrow. So far, my favorite has been the Rain Shine House in Decatur. This peaceful, light-filled homes makes all the neighboring places look rather dull in comparison. The Rain Shine House has a website here. Jetson Green also featured this house a couple of weeks back.

photo: Modern Atlanta

In the Cave

2009-05-14T21:49:00.007-04:00

The Guardian's recent article about a British woman who became a Buddhist nun and lived in a cave in India for 12 years is worth a read. Tenzin Palmo decided she was Buddhist at age 18 during an airport delay. She moved to India at 20 and into the cave at 33. More of her biography is over here.

Reading about her work, I keep remembering this bit of Whitman:

I think I could turn and live with animals, they're so placid and self contain'd,I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,Not one is respectable or unhappy over the earth.

photo: Donyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery

Strangers

2009-05-13T17:06:00.003-04:00

From Design for Mankind:

"One day soon, I’m going to install a portrait wall in my home and frame beautiful portrait photographs of people I’ve never met, just to remind myself that the world is big and bright."

That sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I've never been drawn to having snapshots up around the house, but some interesting photography of strangers seems like something I could get into.

photo: Vinna Laudico via Design for Mankind

Bus Stops

2009-05-13T16:48:00.002-04:00

The Guardian has a little collection of interesting bus stops from around the world. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Tomato bus stop in western Japan

School Bus bus stop in nearby Athens, Georgia

photos: The Guardian

Deciphering Slang

2009-05-07T20:42:00.004-04:00

The urban dictionary is, apparently, "the slang dictionary you wrote." Not you personally, but you get the idea. Its contents are created by its users. If you're really into slang, you can even sign up to have a word of the day sent to your email. While I have not opted for that privilege, I did enjoy reading one of the recent entries online....

May 5: Buffer Guest

A buffer guest is a close friend that you invite to a party ten or 15 minutes before the rest of the guests are scheduled to arrive. This guest or group of guests is meant to 1) make it seem like the party has already begun and good times are to be had and 2) make it less awkward in case someone you don't know particularly well arrives before everyone else.

I invited Jona over as a buffer guest in case Tim or Josh came over early, because I don't really have a lot in common with them.

I don't do much entertaining myself, but I can imagine the above scenario taking place. "Buffer Guest" sounds like a pretty accurate label in a Seinfeld sort of way. The urban dictionary has compiled almost 4 million definitions since 1999.

Giving it Away in Berlin

2009-05-05T22:17:00.006-04:00

Papergirl is an annual art project where art is given away to unsuspecting pedestrians on the streets of Berlin. The works are rolled into bundles of 10-15 and distributed by bicycle. The organizers hope to surprise people by bringing them into contact with art in their everyday lives while expecting nothing in return. The initial impulse for the project came in reaction to the tightening of Berlin graffiti laws to include posters. It looks like Papergirl will be coming to California this summer as well. Anyone can participate.

Read about previous Papergirl projects here.

via Wooster Collective

The 3/50 Project

2009-05-04T21:35:00.003-04:00

Visit the 3/50 Project for more on this campaign to support local, independent businesses in your area.

via Apartment Therapy

Invisible Car

2009-05-04T20:36:00.003-04:00

Art student Sara Watson spent three weeks creating this optical illusion by painting the car to blend in with its parking lot surroundings. Here's the article through the BBC.

via BoingBoing

Edgewood Graffiti

2009-05-03T20:40:00.003-04:00

At Edgewood Avenue and Krog Street

Total Crisis Panic Button

2009-05-03T10:36:00.009-04:00

These crosswalk signs were popping up around L.A. a few years ago. The creator is Jason Eppink, who claims to be making Los Angeles crosswalk instruction signs a little more relevant. You can track the locations of the signs over here. Check out Eppink's portfolio at Senseless Venn Diagrams and his blog at Self-Referential Title.

images: Jason Eppink

Little people

2009-05-02T21:26:00.003-04:00

I passed this little home while on a recent walk through the neighborhood. I wonder who lives there.

Street Spam

2009-04-29T22:03:00.003-04:00

According to the Atlanta Street Spam Eradication Campaign:

Street spam is low budget form of advertising in which a company, event, service, real estate development, etc overexposes itself on telephone poles, stab signs, or by wildposting. These signs have proliferated over the years to epidemic proportions and become a nuisance in many communities. Everywhere you look there are signs, often dozens at a time, littering our communities. These signs are illegal in most places.

I suppose I haven't actually been too bothered by these signs. I don't pay them much attention. Most of the ones I see are for new condo developments and the like. On one level, I don't think these are any worse than large billboards which, although better executed, can be more imposing and annoying. Let's face it, when was the last good ad campaign you've seen, whether billboard-sized or stab-sign sized? I can't think of much.

photo: ASSEC

New York Street Advertising Takeover

2009-04-27T22:19:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend, 120 illegal billboards in NYC were whitewashed and transformed by artists. Organized by Public Ad Campaign, the project targeted billboards that are not registered with the city. NPA Outdoor (the culprit) already had teams out covering the artwork with more illegal ads by Sunday morning.

photo: Ji Lee viaUrban Prankster

Chicks in the City

2009-04-26T18:31:00.005-04:00

Yesterday brought the second annual Chicks in the City Tour to Decatur. This self-guided tour of chicken coops featured nine sites, including homes, the Oakhurst Community Garden, and the Waldorf School of Atlanta. While I was not able to make the tour myself, a colleague reported talking to about 200 visitors about our school's chickens. (I'll be getting to know them better next year.) One of the residential coops is just around the corner from my house and provides a nice soundtrack to my mornings.

Stand on the Square

2009-04-21T22:06:00.005-04:00

In London's Trafalgar Square stands the empty Fourth Plinth. It was built in 1841 and originally intended for an equestrian statue, but that plan didn't pan out. This summer, artist Antony Gormley invites the public to stand on it. 2,400 people will stand for one hour each, 24 hours a day, for 100 days. Anything goes as long as its legal.

Gormley expressed his idea this way: "Through elevation onto the plinth, and removal from the common ground, the body becomes a metaphor, a symbol… In the context of Trafalgar Square with its military, valedictory and male historical statues to specific individuals, this elevation of everyday life to the position formerly occupied by monumental art allows us to reflect on the diversity, vulnerability and particularity of the individual in contemporary society. It could be tragic but it could also be funny."

via the Guardian

Know Hope

2009-04-20T21:58:00.005-04:00

Know Hope is an artist from Tel Aviv known for his lanky, melancholic character who has shown up in streets and galleries for about four years. Dealing with human frailty and vulnerability, his works are impermanent, often made from cheap materials like cardboard. This January, Know Hope had a show at Ad Hoc Art in Brooklyn called The Insecurities of Time. Images from the show can be seen here. Check out some of his new work in Juxtapoz Magazine.

image 1: This Is Limbo

image 2: Wooster Collective

If I used a landline...

2009-04-19T22:10:00.003-04:00

Three Potato Four has this restored rotary phone from the 1960's.

I love felt.

2009-04-19T18:28:00.005-04:00

FilzFelt was founded in 2008 by two felt loving designers, Kelly Smith and Traci Roloff. This female run business prides itself on simplicity in design, beautiful photography, good packaging and jaw-droppingly great customer service.

Based in Boston, FilzFelt sells 100% wool felt imported from Germany by the yard and in the form of pillows, floor mats, tabletop items. (Filz is German for felt.) As I said before, I love felt, and this looks like a good place to get it.

Traci also writes the design blog girl in the green dress.

photo: FilzFelt on Flickr

When your domain name is taken: Jennifer Daniel

2009-04-18T20:55:00.003-04:00

As I was flipping through the current Print Magazine, I came across an interview with illustrator/designer Jennifer Daniel. Her unusually long website address caught my eye: httpcolonforwardslashforwardslashwwwdotjenniferdanieldotcom.com

I was curious enough that I put the magazine down to type that in, wanting to see where it would lead me. Try it yourself...

Apparently, jenniferdaniel.com was taken. The alternative is much more interesting anyway. By the way, Jennifer Daniel says you can call her Carrie A. Nation, Stephanie X, or Lacie Argyle. Take your pick.

Reel Mowing

2009-04-15T20:28:00.002-04:00

I don't feel justified in using gas for my grass. When we moved into our house with a lawn, I had a to do a little mower research and settled on the Scotts Classic Reel Mower. Luckily, our front yard is quite small and can be mowed in under ten minutes. The out-of-sight back yard is a fair bit larger and often goes unmowed for long periods of time. Truth be told, the reel mower is a bit of a workout, at least for me. After 40 sweaty minutes of pushing and pulling, the back yard is in respectable shape. Despite the work involved, I refuse to give up the reel mower. (I think my husband might feel differently.) Who else has used one of these?

Manufactured Landscapes

2009-04-13T21:10:00.004-04:00

I recently watched the documentary film, Manufactured Landscapes. Focusing on the photography of the artist Edward Burtynsky, the film follows the artist through the bleak yet beautiful industrial landscapes of China. Considering our own roles in the global economy (I know you've all read your labels), this work is worth seeing.

Here's the trailer:

edible Metro & Mountains: Decoding PLU

2009-04-11T20:59:00.007-04:00

Today I picked up a copy of a new publication called edible Metro & Mountains: Celebrating Local Foods & Flavors of Greater Atlanta and North Georgia. This magazine sets out to "explore the farmers, food artisans, and culinary wonders within our communities that make eating local food an everyday pleasure. The greater Atlanta region has a wealth of food stories to tell, and edible Metro & Mountains plans to tell them all."

I learned a few new facts in a section called edible tidbits. For example, I had not realized exactly how the PLU codes work on supermarket produce. The number on the sticker will let you know if the produce was genetically modified, conventionally grown, or organically grown. Here's how it works:

Conventionally grown: four numbers beginning with 3 or 4

Organically grown: five numbers beginning with 9

Genetically Modified: five numbers beginning with 8

I also found this post on another website about decoding PLU. Oh, and you might not have known that it takes 38 ingredients to make a McDonald's Chicken McNugget.

Atlanta Botanical Garden

2009-04-10T20:38:00.008-04:00

Yesterday, we had a wonderful visit to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Some of the outdoor gardens were closed for work during our visit, and others were really still getting into full swing. The whole place is wonderful, but the most interesting plants were definitely to be found in the indoor tropical and desert gardens. The Fuqua Conservatory gives priority to plants that are rare, threatened, or endangered. Some of the plants in the Desert House are already extinct in their native environment, with many coming from Madagascar. The Botanical Garden grows and propagates these plants in the hope that they may one day be reintroduced to their native habitats.

Here are a few snapshots from the Conservatory:

Unfortunately, I did not catch the name of this fascinating plant. I'm curious about these little pink button-like formations.

Cissus Plants

Nepenthaceae is a family of carnivorous tropical plants that draw their prey to a watery death at the bottom of their pitcher.

The Atlanta Botanical Garden is located just beside Piedmont Park on Piedmont Avenue. Click here for more information.

Swoon

2009-04-09T21:20:00.007-04:00

Swoon is a Brooklyn street artist mostly known for her large cut-out people pasted around the city. Last fall, she worked on a project with Deitch Projects called Swimming Cities of Switchback Seas. For this work, she sent seven boats made of scrap wood and discarded materials down the Hudson River. She also previously sent the Miss Rockaway Armada down the Mississippi.

Next month, Swoon will launch Swimming Cities of Serenissima, a fleet of three handmade vessels that will navigate the Adriatic Sea from the Litoral region of Slovenia to Venice, Italy. During the journey, the crew of 30 artists will collect keepsakes along the way, adding them to the "art-like cabinet of wonders that will be on display on the boats when they arrive."

The vessels are imagined as hybrids of boats and bits of land broken off and headed out to sea. Watching them approach the shore is like seeing a floating city in the distance, as improbable as Venice itself. To the real life crew, the boats are a place of refuge- both a home and a way of moving through the world. To those who encounter the boats for the first time, they are a reminder that anything that can be imagined can be built.

Click here for more information about her Swoon's newest work.

Also, here is an older interview with Swoon.

image 1: Deitch Projects

image 2: Swimming Cities

via Inhabitat

Saving Southern Seed

2009-04-07T17:26:00.010-04:00

Southern Seed Legacy Project, based at the University of Georgia in Athens, seeks to reverse the erosion of genetic diversity and cultural knowledge in the Southeast. The project involves organizations and individuals in the process of seed saving and exchange and works to protect "at risk" crops. The Southern Seed Legacy Garden is located on the Agrarian Connection Farm of UGA. The objective of the SSLP is to "keep Southern agrobiodiversity alive ... in the fields and gardens of people." Maintaining a collection of over 460 named varieties of Southern heirloom seeds, the project tries to link stories, recipes, and cultural history to the seeds. All of the seeds have been donated and are available to Southern Seed Legacy members. After receiving seed through Pass Along Southern Seed, one must agree to save seeds from the grow-outs, keeping one third, passing along one third to a friend, and returning one third to the project.

Southern Living Magazine covered the project in 2002.

images: Southern Seed Legacy

Chinese Lantern Plant

2009-04-06T17:19:00.003-04:00

With spring finally here (nevermind the current cold snap), I've been thinking a lot about the garden lately. Sevananda had a pretty good selection of seeds when I was in the store today. Now I'm hoping to grow this most amazing plant:

Chinese Lantern Plant

photo: Dave's Garden

Antique Appliances

2009-04-05T19:30:00.006-04:00

If you're into a vintage kitchen, this is the place for you. Located in North Georgia, Antique Appliances has quite an inventory of stoves and refrigerators from the 20s to 50s ready to be restored. Here are a couple of past projects that show what these guys can do:

1930 Kelvinator Refrigerator

1948 O'Keefe & Merrit Gas Stove

Kate Pugsley

2009-04-05T10:06:00.004-04:00

While I think there's a whole lot of work coming out (through Etsy and such) in this dreamy girl/forest/animal/fantasy illustrative style at the moment, I like these teeth. My own second grade students are losing teeth left and right (38 collectively this year at last count). I think they'd love this piece.

Kate Pugsley via Design Milk

... on Etsy

Tattoo for food

2009-04-04T16:25:00.003-04:00

In the late 90s, San Francisco taqueria, Casa Sanchez, offered an unusual deal to customers: Have the company logo tattooed on your body, and you'll receive free lunches for life. Apparently, after about 10 years, there are about 2 or 3 customers a week rocking Jimmy the Corn Man. I've got to admit it is a pretty cool logo.

photo: Chow

Cacao

2009-04-01T20:49:00.008-04:00

I had a delicious smoothie this afternoon from the new place in the neighborhood. It was made of cacao pulp, blueberry, banana, and soy milk. The source of cocoa and chocolate, cacao is also known by its scientific name, Theobroma, which means "food of the gods." The Aztecs considered it to be man's inheritance from the god of the air, Quetzalcoatl. Cacao has been labeled a "superfood," as it is quite high in antioxidants and aids alertness and energy.

All that said, this smoothie is not the treat for a locavore, at least not in Atlanta. That makes me feel mildly guilty.

photo: Wikipedia

The Winning Collage

2009-03-31T20:12:00.004-04:00

I grabbed this photo from my sister-in-law's Facebook page. My niece recently won a couple of awards for the this collage piece. She's eight. Pretty good work, I think. (She insists she gets her artistic talent from a different part of the family. I don't take it personally.)

French Spring Soup

2009-03-31T19:36:00.003-04:00

In celebration of spring, I've been on a search for some good seasonal recipes. I found a good one this week for French Spring Soup. It's easy to make and delicious to taste. The recipe is right over here. (The only change I made was to use vegetable stock instead of just water. Oh, and I cut the recipe in half.)

photo: All Recipes

Slinkachu

2009-03-30T20:51:00.005-04:00

London-based Slinkachu paints and alters model train figures for use in his street installations. He then photographs the scene and leaves it to be discovered by some unsuspecting passerby. A book of his work has been recently released. Check out Slinkachu's blog over here.

photos: Little People

Earth Hour

2009-03-29T17:11:00.003-04:00

We spent our Earth Hour dining at Dynamic Dish in the dark. It was a fun evening out as they gradually dimmed the lights down to just candle light. Plus, it's one of my favorite places. What did you do?

second photo: Dynamic Dish

Earth 911

2009-03-29T12:14:00.003-04:00

I was just changing out a battery and wondering about the best way to dispose of the old one. Then I remembered Earth 911. This site has a searchable directory to find a recycling/disposal location for just about anything. I also ran across this article on single use batteries. You can search for local environmental news and all sorts of other interesting tid bits.

Empty Spaces: 166 Stovall

2009-03-27T17:00:00.004-04:00

Located in the Reynoldstown neighborhood of Atlanta, the building at 166 Stovall Street is on a triangular lot surrounded by streets on three sides. It was built in the early 1900s and has gone through many transformations and changes of use, from a warehouse to a grocery store to an auto mechanic shop to a squatter's house. Last year, the space even hosted a part of an indie-rock and electronic music festival. It has a great location in the center of intown Atlanta and is right by the local coffee shop. It looks like a really cool space and is listed as live/work. There's a property listing over here with more details.

photos: Atlanta Intown

to the point

2009-03-26T15:00:00.000-04:00

Design for Mankind has another good post. Check out New Math from Craig Damrauer. By the way, who has ever said/wanted to say this?

Alternative uses

2009-03-25T19:15:00.009-04:00

Ikea has these nice acacia wood planters that I've been admiring. I just don't need any new planters at the moment. This evening I went to the new restaurant in Decatur. Leon's is "Decatur's new community-driven restaurant and bar." (Expect more on this place later.) One of their good design choices, in my opinion, is the use of the wooden Ikea planter as napkin and utensil storage for each table. The 9 1/2 by 5 inch pot is the perfect size for flatware, and I can imagine a lot of other non-plant alternatives as well.

Walk

2009-03-25T16:37:00.002-04:00

Walk at Howell Mill and 8th

CSAs and Biodynamics

2009-03-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

You're probably all familiar with CSAs or Community Supported Agriculture. If not, a quick jaunt over to Wikipedia will do the trick. But do you know the movement's origins?

The social impulse behind CSAs can be traced through biodynamic agriculture back to Rudolf Steiner a hundred years ago. (Steiner also started the Waldorf School movement.) Steiner's idea of Associative Economics laid the groundwork for the CSA mission. This model is an economic arrangement that fosters interaction among producers, traders, and consumers where appropriate price, true human needs, the eradication of poverty, greater social equity, and environmental impacts are explicitly addressed in the process.

Taking a closer look at biodynamics...

Basically, biodynamics is a form of organic agriculture that takes it a step further, but biodynamics predates the organic movement. In biodynamic agriculture, a farm is conceived of as a living organism. Each part supports the health of the other. The results of this method are pretty impressive.

"In addition to the requirements of organic certification, Biodynamic standards include a biodiversity set aside of 10% of total land, rigorous processing standards that emphasize minimal product manipulation, and perhaps most importantly whole farm certification (versus a particular crop or area). It is the highest paradigm of sustainable farming, offering one of the smallest carbon footprints of any agricultural method."

Visit the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association for more on this method. According to the Association, "biodynamic agriculture is a way of living, working and relating to nature and the vocations of agriculture based on good common-sense practices, a consciousness of the uniqueness of each landscape, and the inner development of each and every practitioner."

Biodynamic products are certified with the Demeter label. Click here to find a CSA in your area.

photo 1: Barefoot Farmer
photo 2: Temple Wilton Community Farm

Antler

2009-03-24T17:04:00.005-04:00

I have posted about antlers before. I really thought this trend couldn't be pushed much further. (You know the antler trend and the whole woodland creature trend along with it.) Then I came across this post on Design for Mankind.

"Antler is an online magazine which focuses on composing a collection of beautiful, inspiring ideas and designs from all aspects of life." Click here to check out the debut issue.

Method Coffee Bar and Tea Lounge

2009-03-23T18:22:00.017-04:00

Yesterday I stopped by Method Coffee Bar and Tea Lounge in Emory Village. This place is marketed as Atlanta's "first handcrafted coffee bar and traditionally processed organic tea lounge." They brew their coffee with a Chemex coffeemaker and offer no artificial flavors or sweeteners. Method has a good atmosphere with nice design that includes nice patio in the front. If I lived closer, I'd be stopping in more often. What I couldn't figure out was why the Starbucks down the block was so crowded.

Click here to read Creative Loafing's recent review of Method.

photo 2: Method on Facebook

Kale Chips

2009-03-22T20:58:00.005-04:00

I had seen a few recipes online for kale chips and finally decided to try them. I don't think I got them quite right, but I'll know what to do next time. 28 Cooks has a pretty good description of the process. My mistakes: too much salt, too much oil, piled the kale too high. A thin baked layer of kale tossed with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and sea salt makes a pretty tasty and healthy treat.

Has anyone else made these?

photo: 28 Cooks

Contrail

2009-03-22T09:09:00.002-04:00

Contrails are typically known as the condensation trails created by the exhaust of an aircraft. This Contrail, on the other hand, uses a thin layer of chalk applied to a rear bike tire to leave a bold streak of color along city streets. Contrail was shortlisted in Design21's "Power to the Pedal" Design Competition. Contrail is described as a "tool for developing bicycle communities," with the chalk lines getting brighter as the Contrail community grows.

These color trails call to mind the artist Francis Alÿs carrying a punctured can of paint around a neighborhood, leaving an enamel trail to record his journey.

via Cool Hunting

Questions don't have answers.

2009-03-21T18:09:00.003-04:00

If you're not sold on conceptual art, maybe you should back up and read this recent article:

"When it comes to a total disregard for facts, nobody tops Joseph Beuys," at least according to the Guardian. Explaining his use of unconventional materials like fat and felt, the artist offered a questionable tale of a plane crash rescue. He had been, so the story goes, volunteering for the Luftwaffe when his plane crashed, killing the pilot. He was rescued by Tartars and wrapped in fat and felt. That's the short version, anyway. Whether this story is true or not is ultimately unimportant. Will Gompertz (for the Guardian) recently described Beuysworld as a world where "facts and fiction are indistinguishable, ... where questions don't have answers, but just offer up more questions."

Click here for the full article.

photo 1: the Guardian

photo 2: masde arte

White House Garden

2009-03-21T10:41:00.005-04:00

A lot has already been written about the upcoming Obama vegetable garden. Michelle Obama describes the garden's most important role as educating "children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables." Sounds good to me. The garden will include 55 varieties of vegetables, berries, herbs, and two bee hives. To read more about the new garden, check out the New York Times (or any other news source that has been paying attention).

map of the South Lawn garden via NY Times: