The Museum of the American Cocktail

October 27, 2017

...our fair city and is rumored to be opening a San Pedro venue next year. I’ve attended two free events in downtown LA, one a tasting of the spirits made by a Central Coast distillery, Calwise Spirits, and another tasting of the many offerings of the venerable French distillery Combier which still uses a facility designed by Pierre Eiffel. Note to self: remember to spit out the spirits when you do a tasting of 20 bottles or the next day won’t be all...

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More on Federico Tobon

Mr. Homegrown

August 28, 2017

Animals, Bees, Cats, Podcasts

5 Comments

...we talked about during the podcast, specifically the type of CNC router he uses (the ShapeOko 2 ), his social media rules, a video proving that he’s trained his cats (!), his hand sewn bike messenger bag and a shot of the LA Eco Village rooftop beehive. We talked for hours before and after recording and could talk for many more. Topics of future conversations could include, for instance, the clever milk crate drawers below the ShapeOko 2 and the t...

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Three Important Points to Remember When “Kondo-ing”

Mr. Homegrown

July 6, 2017

Domesticus, Tidying up

13 Comments

...you hold every object and ask if it “sparks joy” (the Japanese word Kondo uses is tokimeku which Wikipedia translates as “flutter, throb, palpitate”). It an item doesn’t spark joy you are supposed to thank the object and let it go. This part of Kondo’s philosophy is heavily influenced by her Shintoism. In Shintoism, what we Westerners think of as “inanimate” objects contain a kind of spiritual essence. In practice, we’re all Shintoists. Don’t bel...

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Why You Should Have a Cat Fountain

Mr. Homegrown

May 4, 2017

Animals, Cats

9 Comments

...clean out the pump twice a week and change the water frequently. The pump uses a small amount of electricity and costs just $1.29 a year to run. You need to be careful when you remove the pump from the bowl so as not to rip off the suction cups that hold it to the bottom of the bowl. As a side benefit the fountain adds the sound of running water to our living room, thus giving the space the vibe of a yoga studio or West Coast chiropractor’s offic...

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Searching for Energy Vampires

Mr. Homegrown

April 27, 2017

Water and Power

13 Comments

...ould discover any hidden energy vampires. Unsurprisingly, the refrigerator uses the most power and costs around $81.67 a year to operate. At the risk of turning this blog post into an exercise in appliance virtue signalling, that’s not too bad. We keep the freezer full which helps conserve a small amount of power (empty space in the freezer or fridge takes more energy to cool). The fridge is often full of way too many condiments on their way to be...

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