Some very expensive grapes.

Top-notch Japanese grapes fetch a record $5,400: http://disq.us/8j5pz8

Martha Stewart digs drones via http://boingboing.net/2014/07/10/martha-stewart-digs-drones.html …

Lead abatement, a wise economic and public health investment http://www.riskscience.umich.edu/lead-abatement-wise-economic-public-health-investment-report-finds/ …

Can using sunscreen increase your risk of dying? http://www.riskscience.umich.edu/can-using-sunscreen-increase-risk-dying/ …

“The universe is comprised of subjects to be communed with, not objects to be exploited.” – Wendell Berry via @LarrySantoyo

For these links and more, follow Root Simple on Twitter: Follow @rootsimple

Photo: Bill Wheelock.

When I was unable to attend this year’s Dwell Magazine convention I asked my friend and neighbor Bill Wheelock to make sure and get a photo of any square toilets he might see for the Root Simple blog. Thank you Bill!

Don’t worry, I’m not pondering dropping $1,000 on a square toilet. But, thanks to my curiosity about this modernist design phenomenon, square toilets are now haunting me via contextual ads all over the interwebs. Now wherever I wander along the tubes of cyberspace there is the square toilet accompanying me on the journey.

The grape arbor at the Getty Villa is simple: just a bunch of lashed together poles set in concrete and covered in vitus californica. It was the inspiration for the grape arbor I built several years ago and will blog about this week.

#plantfriend #vitiscalifornica

Now you can follow us on Instagram–we’re rootsimple, of course. The photo above is our favorite 2sq ft of garden. #yarrow #lavender #whatsthatgrass #plantfriend.