Hauntological Updates

Defenestrated Back in 2021 I wrote about windowless buildings. In that post I mentioned the 10 freeway adjacent Abram Friedman Occupational Center, a monolithic, windowless building ornamented only with a crass Harbor Freight sponsorship ad. Thanks to Steven Sharp, editor of Urbanize LA I now know that underneath all that stucco there’s a handsome 1920s era building: I’m guessing the race to the bottom that is Crapitalism™ and a related disinvest...

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Misadventures in Laser Cutting

...l wood box. Laser cutters can also cut entirely through thin materials so that opens up more possibilities to do things that would be difficult to do by hand. I’m intrigued, for instance, with the possibilities for making three dimensional folding paper cards. You could also use the laser cutter for screen printing, making stencils, wood inlay or marquetry. Many thanks to the knowledgeable staff of the Octavia Lab!...

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Saturday Tweets: Eating Crickets and Making Coffee

Cricket: It's what's for dinner? http://t.co/qdKwzDiIA9 pic.twitter.com/mNUmd5bCak — Modern Farmer (@ModFarm) October 14, 2015 Neonics severely affecting queen bees, according to new research. Via @keatleygarvey http://t.co/jfoJVN5JNB — UCUrbanAg (@UCUrbanAg) October 16, 2015 Banana Spook Cake – A Vintage Halloween Recipe Re-Run http://t.co/zYOyLPuW6p — Root Simple (@rootsimple) October 15, 2015 Top 33 Coffee Projects http://t.co/eWy4mIES...

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Eating the Void: On Making a Raw Café Gratitude Chocolate Hazelnut Pie

I have a small collection of odd cookbooks that have, for the most part, gone unused which is probably a good thing. One that’s collected dust for years is I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Café Gratitude. Friends who have been to this oh-so-California restaurant say that’s it’s good while simultaneously a parody of itself. As the intro to the cookbook notes, The Café Gratitude menu gives you the opportunity to start practicing saying somet...

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Waxed Cloth Food Wrap (Made in a solar oven for bonus self-righteousness points)

...ambitious you could sew in an elastic band to hold the cover tight. How-To Making the cloths is very easy. All you have to do is cut some squares or circles of thin cotton fabric, like muslin. Pink the edges if you have pinking shears–this looks better, but I don’t think the edges will unravel much anyway, because of the wax. Size depends on intended use. I can imagine eventually having a range of sizes and shapes. For instance, I’m imagining that...

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