Samantha Bee
Samantha Bee is the only one of he Jon Stewart fraternity — but Samantha Bee was in there — the Jon Stewart sorority? — well …
Breathers
America is Poised
America is poised between just another sunny day and living forever with radioactive fallout. Blame it on the Confederacy that hadn’t the decency to admit …
Wednesday in Paris
Rhythmic Parisian shopping carts by Sloan Nota It's now going on 10pm in Wednesday Paris -- the local supermarket is closed. Who knew? Following the …
After They’ve Seen Pareeee
Tonight I fly off to live a long-held dream — to live a month in Paris, France. The apartment is rented, the list of succulent places is set, …
Ceramics, Drifting Clouds
Cloud image, copyright free from free-images.com I was basking on a bench today while small clouds drifted slow as sun-softened cows across the sky. Because today I saw the …
Anti Randomness
I’m a firm believer that if you toss a handful of pick-up-sticks — or an armload of giftwrap rolls — in the middle of a …
Art of Tuesday, 021416
Sophie Dickens, British Sculptor (all artworks shown here are from her website) Sophie Dickens has a sense of dynamics deep in her bones. The bodily mechanics …
Architectural Message of Chartres Cathedral
Medieval accounts tell of riders passing amid long fields until at last they see the spires of Chartres Cathedral begin rising into view. On the brink …
Jewelry Raw & Cooked
If you show people two objects and ask which is a bing and which a bong they can often agree. Theories have been spun to explain this but …
I Can’t Get There from Here
Thinking about that which cannot be thought about. The emerald stashed in the heart of a Japanese temari ball — you’re delighted by the expert working of threads …
Stone Tools & New Tools
The first stone tools were made by animals 1.1 million years before those animals evolved to be early humans. They could well have looked like this reconstruction of an …
Hitchhikers
Among the delights in viewing a firehose blast of images is that you get unexpected ahas. Ever notice how common it is for one species …
Four Golden Hats
Golden hats (or Gold hats) (German: Goldhüte, singular: Goldhut) are a very specific and rare type of archaeological artifact from Bronze Age Europe. So …
Face It
If you can’t paint, don’t try selling us your paintings. I get impatient with the profound smudge, the swashbuckle of off-the-shelf colors, the — …
Mighty Lak’ a Rose
A Francis Meilland rose It would be appropriate to levitate softly after sniffing a Francis Meilland hybrid tea rose. No bold gestures for this subtle bloom please. …
Arctic Wonders
The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago Arctic Peoples display at The Field Museum Imagine walking through a museum exhibition of the Americas’ preEuropean cultures, …
Light in Chicago
Chicago hotel interior, upper floor Above is a detail of the historic building that houses my Chicago hotel. I’ve spent an afternoon admiring …
Of Utopias and Turkeys
At the end of this post you’ll find reference to a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that starts September 17. Free, no mandatory tests. Think …
Feelingful: Laura Ford
Beast and Espalier Girl, by Laura Ford via shanathegrinch The Welsh artist Laura Ford creates works addressed to your core. These are not Yayoi Kusama’s …
Xu Bing, the Real Thing
Xu Bing’s Phoenix is worth seeing with your own eyes. Mass has been instilled with grace, a legendary Chinese bird carries a message about China …