This made me giggle. Nature is silly. Did you know the Red-Lipped Batfish is a thing?
The Lonely Funeral Project
“Two decades ago, some poets in the Netherlands decided that people not having anyone attend their funeral was an unacceptable ending for a human life. In 2001, a poet named Bart Droog began attending the funerals of people who had no one to attend them and honoring the dead with a poem based on whatever was known about their life. A year later, Dutch poet and artist Frank Starik took the idea even further, launching The Lonely Funeral project to ensure that someone who cares consciously acknowledges the life of a person who has died.
The idea was to create a network of poets who would find out whatever they could about the person, write a custom poem about their life and read it at their funeral. As of 2018, over 300 “lonely funerals” had been attended by poets in Amsterdam and Antwerp (where Flemish poet Maarten Inghels launched a Lonely Funeral project seven years after Starik’s).”
Read More about The Lonely Funeral
(via this article)
Cassette Label Generator
This Cassette Label Generator lets you make an old-school cassette label from a Spotify playlist. The best part: It comes with a QR code one doesn’t actually have to own a cassette player to listen to it. SO FUN!
(via)
Do Not Panic
This poster by David Schmitt made me smile.
Erwin Wurm
Erwin Wurm’s absurd art makes my heart sing.
No Idea
This No Idea Pigeon poster made me smile.
Painted Rocks
These painted rocks by Elizabeth Salocka delight me to no end.
Global Fridge Poetry
Imagine playing fridge poetry with the world. Enter playhtml.fun/fridge.
Retro Phone for Smartphone
Yep, I’d totally use this.
Play Phrase
Go to PlayPhrase.me and type in a phrase of your choice and it will show you snippets of movies where this phrase is being said. Way cool! I tried, give me cheese please and where’s the butter.
The First Non Generative AI Model (very analog)
Prompt-Brush 1.0 is a project by graphic designer Pablo Delcan that satirizes and challenges the growing field of AI-generated art. In a project he dubbed “the first non-AI generative art model,” Delcan invited the public to submit text prompts, which he then manually illustrated by hand using a brush and black ink. You can buy the result as a book.
Be My Eyes
The level of excitement I feel when I get a call from Be My Eyes and can help a blind person with whatever they need help with, is indescribable. This is the version of the internet I want to revel in.
Be My Eyes connects the blind with seeing humans. I have helped folks with making sure their mustache was trimmed perfectly straight, what color tie to pick, or. where to push a button on an oven. You get the idea.
Leaf Button Cover
Leaf Button Cover. So simple. So sweet. So sold out.
E. Jean Carroll
I had the pleasure to meet E. Jean Carroll last week. What a force. She reminds me of my eccentric aunt Hugi who was my biggest role model of living a courageous, creative life.
Peanuts Tattly
These Peanuts Tattly make me happy.
Ladybugs Tattoo
Probably my favorite Tattly.
Haiku Vandal
My daughter (18) carries Haiku in her pockets. She sprinkles them in random places or gifts them to humans she encounters. This makes my heart happy.
Tha Maximum Size of a PDF
This made me laugh: The maximum size of a PDF is not limited by the format itself, however, Adobe Acrobat imposes a limit of 15 million in by 15 million in, or 225 trillion in2 (145,161 km2)
An Old New House
Reposting this personal story from my Instagram Account as this resonated with so many of my followers.
Last month marked the anniversary of our adoption of a truly magical house. Her name is Finne.
She was built in the 1830s and from what we know was a loving and communal home to families in Salem NY. Then, a gentleman lovingly took her apart, piece by piece, labeling every beam and creating detailed instructions on how to rebuild her.
He listed her on Craigslist, hoping to find someone who will bring her back to life. He did. Cue Hudson Valley based builders Bex and Dave.
They drove their truck up and moved her three hours south. They schemed her rebirth and eventually started pouring her a foundation. They then poured a tremendous amount of love into her, expanding her original footprint. A year later they listed her for adoption, mid October of 2023.
That night, I was out for dinner with Tim and happened to see the listing pop up.
Just a few days earlier, I made the intention to buy a house upstate that could hold all of our grown-ish children and be a physical manifestation of our love. There she was!
I saw photos of Finne and gasped. I slid the phone over to Tim and he started reading the history of the house. Then he gasped.
The next day we were the first ones to see her. Before walking in, I told ‘my team up there’ that if this was my house, there better be a clear sign.
We walked in and were taken aback by Finne’s beauty. The original old wooden floors, stairs, exposed beams and extremely tasteful designed details all around.
We sat in the staircase for an hour, talking about life with the broker. On my final walk through of the house, I noticed a book on the nightstand, that was put there by the person who staged the house, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s one of my all time favorite books and I had started reading it for the 5th time two days prior. I chuckled. I hear you universe. I hear you loud and clear.
After a sleepless night, I spent a ridiculously long time writing a heartfelt offer letter to the sellers. Their broker responded with “Thanks. We have 6 showings this weekend and it will go to the highest bidder!”
My heart sank. I knew I could not participate in a bidding war. And I accepted the fact this might have been it. Onward!
The next morning, the weekend of the 6 showings, my broker calls me and said “The owners just read your letter and canceled all the showings. They accepted your offer and your application for neighborly friendship!”
Gasp! Tears were shed.
Fast forward legal schmegal. We closed on the house on 11/13/23 and have called her our home ever since.
Finne is gentle and majestic. She is wise but also silly. She loves to host and wrap guests in her warm energy. (Yes, houses have personality/soul!)
We love her so. But the biggest score of all is that we now call the humans who lovingly brought her back to life, Bex and Dave, our friends and neighbors.
The end.
One Minute Park
Need a bit of a break. Can’t go outside? Try One Minute Park.
