Month: July 2011

• July 5, 2011

  A successful life is a plentiful life

  my phone a rose ‘no service’ — To say that a life is “successful” is to say, minimally, that: You have access to abundant good food. “Abundant”: just enough, not too much. “Good”: locally grown, ethically raised, sufficiently satisfying. Your work nourishes your soul. “Work”: the manifestation of self through activity. “Nourishes”: makes lighter, raises up,…
• July 3, 2011

  Payment is also love

  In the following, I offer a set of norms concerning how money ought to be understood.  I also describe where money  figures into my overall account of running a way of life business. The fact that, under late capitalism, money is often nasty and brutish does not dissuade or defer me; it can be otherwise; we…
• July 2, 2011

  Into the tea room…

  The following excerpt is from Okakura’s The Book of Tea (1908). Okakura’s little book describes the emergence of the tea ceremony in the sixteenth century as well as the importance of tea to the “divinization” of small things within Japanese culture. Only listen: The simplicity of the tea-room and its freedom from vulgarity make it truly…
• July 1, 2011

  Faces of busyness & patience

  Update: Wanna be less busy? There’s still time! No “Skype Walk-in” this Saturday, but there are still openings for the upcoming “Skype Workshop.” Would another day work for “Skype Walk-in”? Let me know! — 1. The man in Midtown values the objects of sense above those of contemplation. He checks his BlackBerry, his watch; touches his pant leg;…