Before I get into discussing baumschule, I have to point readers to Ben Schott’s adorable little book Schottenfreude, in which he makes up German words to describe special situations he thinks there should be a word for, like “Zwillingsmoral – Reading horoscopes you don’t believe in.” Since German lets you build nouns of incredible length, it’sContinue reading “German Word of the Week: Baumschule”
Category Archives: magpie
Ceramics Saturdays: Vershenkte Teekanne!
One of the neat things about Berlin is that you’ll just find random boxes of stuff on people’s stoops with a little sign that says “Verschenken!” (“give away”). On my way to drop off some knives for sharpening, I picked up this teapot (coffee pot, really) with a dashing little peacock on it. No ideaContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Vershenkte Teekanne!”
Letter of Recommendation: Weleda
Weleda was founded in Switzerland in 1921 on the philosophy of putting as few and as natural ingredients as possible in beauty products. I’ve been using Weleda since I discovered their salt toothpaste at our local co-op a decade ago: I have sensitive teeth and weak gums, and the salt helps with that as muchContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Weleda”
Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up (words, books, and images)
Some really stunning stuff here: A much-more-fun version of the OED’s “first use” annotations for words: Time Traveler by Merriam-Webster. Look up your favorite word and see when it was first used in print; or, scroll back through some recent neologisms to see, for instance, when “spear phishing” became a thing (2004). I feel likeContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up (words, books, and images)”
Koharu X Sia, “Elastic Heart”
This brought tears to my eyes, it’s so good.
Ceramics Saturdays: John Almeda
You can’t tell from this image, but these pots are TINY. The bowl on the left is just big enough for the tip of my thumb to fit into and as thin as an eggshell. And John Almeda throws them en plein air on a tiny portable wheel the size of a big poker chip.Continue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: John Almeda”
Friday Favorites: “Foodly” Clean-up
Hope you’re not reading this week’s list hungry! I’ve wanted this for so many years: How to scale cake recipes for any size pan from the redoubtable Stella Parks. Also, the Serious Eats guide that taught me at least a few of my Unauthorized Uses for the microwave. This is a priceless project: an onlineContinue reading “Friday Favorites: “Foodly” Clean-up”
Letter of Recommendation: David Byrne’s Reasons to Be Cheerful
You’d be forgiven for thinking the world was going to hell in a handbasket–even if you just stick to mainstream news. That’s why David Byrne’s (yes, that David Byrne) Reasons to Be Cheerful newsletter really hit the spot for me. It’s all stories about really amazing things that people are doing around the world toContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: David Byrne’s Reasons to Be Cheerful”
Ceramics Saturdays: Picasso
I’ve never been a fan of Picasso’s paintings, certainly not of his treatment of women, but I surprised myself by finding his ceramics utterly charming when I first encountered them in the Albertina in Vienna several years ago (where I took the picture of the goat dish above). They’re joyful, whimsical even, but paradoxically spareContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Picasso”
Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up
This one’s heavy on cute animal memes that should be nice unicorn chasers for our current omicron state of mind: This momma ferret seems pretty sure her human is one of her babies. I’ve always been fascinated by meteorites, and so I’m looking forward to watching this documentary on them by my favorite wackadoodle director,Continue reading “Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up”
The Rookery 