Who Needs Windows?

...nd humidity fluctuations are bad for old documents. And did we mention the building leaks? This brutalist building, on the national register, has to stay. Officials are pondering new uses for this hot, leaky and windowless monolith. Bank of America Building 101 S. Marengo Ave. Pasadena You just have to love the Google street view of this mid-century relic. It doesn’t get more basic than this–a stone cube for bank workers. A conspiracy theory circu...

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Saturday Tweets: 12 Hours in an Ikea, Bike Helmets, How to Fix Drywall and Much More

...elmet debate: 'You don’t make it safe by forcing cyclists to dress for urban warfare' https://t.co/TVjtv9SdrK — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 21, 2017 Behind Lucky Peach’s Closing, Colliding Visions https://t.co/jU5RJ7rsMm — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 22, 2017 Fix a Hole in Drywall https://t.co/qxcZfgBxbk — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 23, 2017 Turkey splits up fight between roosters https://t.co/xPqOPqRgMU — Root Simple (@rootsi...

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For the Locals . . .

On that foot sign Alissa Walker, one of my favorite journalists, covers urban design here in Los Angeles. She wrote a great piece on our nieghborhood’s iconic podiatrist sign. Walker agrees with me that we need much more than kitschy signs to mark our neighborhoods. She concludes, We need more reminders of what history predates our presence. We need more streets that are designed to connect us instead of being fast-forwarded through in cars. We n...

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Chicken Coop Deconstructed

...n. Dust and spiderwebs flew everywhere. They practically had to be dragged back to the classroom at the end of the period because they were having so much fun they didn’t want to stop. The old chicken coop is now stripped down to the studs. As soon as we can get the supplies, we will start rebuilding. The students will get some real hands on construction lessons and get to build it themselves. Once the paint drys the school will be ready for a big...

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Coffee Grounds in the Garden

...ton State University, Coffee grounds will buzz your garden. Coffee grounds build humus, boost nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc, bind pesticides and toxins, prevent bacterial and fungal infections and feed earthworms. Authored by Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, Extension Urban Horticulturist and Associate Professor, this peer-reviewed pamphlet also provides a set of suggestions for using coffee grounds in the garden: Coffee grounds should be composted before...

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