Root Simple

When it came time to replace an old, poorly built fence I headed to the Fine Homebuilding website and found a design by Michael Crow (“A Privacy Fence with Appeal“) that, I think, matches our 1920 bungalow.

Re-growing spring onions Make a pallet coaster Paper sundial kits 1,700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities Operation Breakthrough: America’s Failed Government Program to Industrialize Home Production

Image from the deep internets.

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I watch so many how-to YouTube videos.

I’ve been absent for awhile due to a mountain of volunteer responsibility that devolved upon me in recent weeks.

Church members propose urban village for congregation A Very Moynihan Train Hall Thanksgiving: ‘Wow, I Can’t Even Sit Down?’

Sifting through a year’s worth of photos on my phone revealed a few themes for our 2022: a lot of cats, some mushrooms and an insane year of politics here in Los Angeles.

I’ve got a pile of objects that I’ve kept around with the idea that I’d write about them someday.

First the weirdness of Victorian Christmas cards.

Defenestrated Back in 2021 I wrote about windowless buildings.

Detail from Canterbury Cathedral.

All Saint’s Margaret Street.

How to take care of your avocado trees Polyrhythms played on two Igbo cowbells LA City Council meeting now with more cowbell Outrage: future generations will laugh in horror and derision at the folly of facadism Weirdcore and the Eerie Atmospheres of Post…

We made it almost three years but finally caught the Covid.

Projector Using Old Smartphones Truss Frame Shelving Unit With Home Theater Separated Bike Lanes Means Safer Streets, Study Says COVID-Denying Medical Group Implodes Over Founder’s Extravagant Spending Delicious meals for $20 a week: June Xie on changing…

Pencil/Tool Case From a Bike Inner Tube Yet more proof that crypto is just one big Ponzi scheme Cocktail of the week: Rockwell’s whisky and ginger highball – recipe In Jordan, an Ancient Bread Tradition Rises Again

Staircase of the Red House.

Image: DSA-LA I got sucked into local politics out of a desire to help make our car-centric city a safer place to walk and ride a bike.

In leaked audio, LA City Councilmembers Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo, and Kevin de León discuss redistricting, are extremely racist Make a metric clock William Shatner: My Trip to Space Filled Me With ‘Overwhelming Sadness’ Yet another gender reveal party d…

Stereo photos for your viewing pleasure The Herbalism Community Is at War With Itself Over Abuse Allegations McMansion of the week Strange house of the week Mixing it up with Garfield

Skypace by James Turrell.

Driving an EV does not make you pro-environment ‘Too many close calls’: why some US cyclists quit riding bikes on streets 12 Tiny Homes Destroyed and 10 Damaged in Fire at the West LA VA Cats Stealing Food in Still Life Paintings Dig this floor plan Okay,…

September in Southern California brings heat waves, fires and smog.

Cancer breakthrough is a ‘wake-up’ call on danger of air pollution Milwaukee, 1870s & 2022 Mr.

It’s hot as hell!

My Pomona comrade and shop collaborator Jimmy has a habit of suggesting woodworking projects that, while not fulfilling vital needs around our old houses, somehow just need to get built.

The HGTVification of America Should It Be Easier to Take Away a Driver’s License?

Bragging rights if you know where this is and leave a comment . . .

My friend Jimmy makes furniture in my woodshop.

Medicine cabinets in the Pacific Ready Cut catalog.

How to make poor man’s fiberglass In Poland, People Are Roleplaying as Americans Oprah’s ‘happiness guru’ designed apartments to maximize joy — and they start at $5 million Bank of America Memo, Revealed: “We Hope” Conditions for American Workers Will Get…

The performance collective Fulu Miziki, which means “music from trash” hail from what they call a “bad neighborhood” in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There’s a Window Preservation Alliance TikTok’s Viral ‘Pink Sauce’ Makes Everyone Want to Puke The coolest guy on TikTok A deeply weird Zillow listing

What the inside of an iPhone6s looks like.

Michael Grave’s original plans for Portland City Hall had a little town on top via @jmfowl.

I’ve been obsessed with making frames for the past week so excuse this link to some very nice . . . frames Strawberry Hibiscus Butter Great podcast episode on the problems with AI–extra points for mentioning my thesis advisor George Lewis Thames barge bre…

Meme using a photo by Edward Burtynsky.

Yes, someone once thought this was a good idea.

Enter the phrase “brutalist McDonalds” into Dall-E and you get this.

Since this winter I’ve been experimenting with growing edible mushrooms both indoors and outdoors.

Crypto posters on telephone poles–signs of a bubble?

Governor Gavin Newsom shoveling something with Stewart and Lynda Resnick.

Doctor dog treating sick cat, 15th century I am losing my mind over the kitty grabber The Cult of the Veiled Prophet Landlord Lobbyists Pour Nearly $2 Million into LA County Political Ads This gas would have stayed in the ground if it wasn’t for bitcoin O…

Have a place in your heart and home for a sweet little cat?

Our ballots just arrived in the mail here and, in lieu of my usually links roundup, I thought I’d speak to my neighbors to suggest that you vote for Hugo Soto-Martinez for council district 13.

The early war on sleep: Arkwright’s Cotton Mills By Night, 1782 by Joseph Wright of Derby.

Billy Bragg sings the Internationale William Morris How I Became a Socialist Vision zero is going well here in LA Riding a bike in American should not be this dangerous Texas Plans to Punish Companies That Move Away From Fossil Fuels Buckets and Hydroponic

One of this month’s cat sitting clients.

I went on a Los Angeles Mycological Society mushroom foray with Bat Vardeh of Foraging and Mushroom Hunting Women of SoCal, on the 9th way up in the Angeles Forest.

I’ve taken a break from Twitter for a few weeks and so missed friend of the blog Peter Kalmus’ arrest this past week for locking himself to the JP Morgan Chase building in downtown Los Angeles.