Our New Linoleum Floor

...by Forbo. We returned to this material for two reasons: it’s historically appropriate for our 98 year old house and we like the more muted and natural colors of Frobo’s linoleum line. And we also found out that the kitchen floor of the Gamble House was recently redone with Forbo linoleum. “Linoleum” has become a generic term associated with all kinds of sheet flooring materials, but real linoleum refers to a product made with solidified linseed o...

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Essential System #3 – Sew Your Own Damn Clothes

...lution of technique, of skillful means, aimed at this world, as it is now. Technology might find its proper place in our lives if we experienced such a shift in perspective–in a society oriented around technique, we might find that we desired far less gadgetry. We might start to prefer slowness to speed, subtlety and complexity to products aimed at standardized mind. Rather than projecting the spiritual quest and the search for the good life onto...

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iMac Drive Upgrade

...ieved at great expense. The leadership is authoritarian and opaque. We use technology to mediate our experiences. The headquarters is in California. The cult is called Apple and I’m in deep and have been for a long time. Since 2010, most of the thousands of posts on this blog have their origins on the dusty drive you see above. I always think of the way Umberto Eco described the Apple cult and its main competitor, Indeed, the Macintosh is counterr...

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A Close Shave

...fashioned safety razor does not give as close a shave, but at least he’s not giving the Man lots of dead presidents. Sometimes it’s best to revert to the previous era’s technology, like trading in your SUV for a bicycle. The trade is some convenience for a righteous independence....

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