public bench

Photo

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:23:25 -0400

Photo

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 00:38:08 -0400

nprfreshair: Jazz great Dave Brubeck has died at 91. Above, his...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:12:56 -0500

Jazz great Dave Brubeck has died at 91. Above, his 1966 performance in Germany of “Take the ‘A’ Train” with Paul Desmond on alto sax, Eugene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on drums. Brubeck’s finger-work starts around the 3:50 mark.

Listen to the Fresh Air interview with Brubeck here. We’ll rebroadcast it on Friday.

"Good grammar is credibility, especially on the internet. In blog posts, on Facebook statuses, in..."

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:36:11 -0400

“Good grammar is credibility, especially on the internet. In blog posts, on Facebook statuses, in e-mails, and on company websites, your words are all you have. They are a projection of you in your physical absence. And, for better or worse, people judge …”

- Kyle Wiens, “I won’t hire people who use poor grammar. Here’s why.” Harvard Business Review, July 20, 2012.

"Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination."

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:25:57 -0500

““Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination.””

- Jane Jacobs from a 1958 essay Fortune magazine recently reprinted

"Attempt Mount Effortless"

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:09:06 -0500

“Attempt Mount Effortless”

Photo

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:08:54 -0500

Photo

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:32:13 -0500

Garden Shed from Finland

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:45:38 -0500

Garden Shed from Finland:

via dezeen.com

oldboychoi: abbyjean: Filmmaker Ian Cheney came to New York in...

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:01:21 -0500

oldboychoi:

abbyjean:

Filmmaker Ian Cheney came to New York in 2009 realizing how difficult it was to have a place to grow food. So he planted his mini farm in his old Dodge and the Truck Farm was born! (via The Pop-Up City)

a raised bed garden in the back of a pickup.

Wheel Raised Beds

Photo

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 21:55:01 -0400

Open a book - Open your mind

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:28:17 -0400

Open a book - Open your mind

letterstomycountry: liberalsarecool: “Please Raise My Taxes”...

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:26:40 -0400

letterstomycountry:

liberalsarecool:

“Please Raise My Taxes” via LinkedIn town hall meeting with President Obama.

For those who can’t watch clips online, question came from a man who retired at a young age, thanks to the success of a start-up company he worked for that “did quite well” (the man was later identified as the former director of marketing at Google). He asked the president, “Would you please raise my taxes? I would like very much to have the country to continue to invest in things like Pell Grants, and infrastructure, and job training programs that made it possible for me to get to where I am.”

We all benefited from someone investing in us.

We’re a massive, modern nation with a vast economy. We face real challenges, and they’re not the kind of challenges individuals can hope resolve on their own — we need cooperative solutions built around shared action.

This is kind of what Elizabeth Warren was getting at: a lot of people in this country were able to take advantage of certain opportunities with the help of government programs; whether it’s Pell Grants, temporary & disability assistance, guaranteed federal loans for graduates students (like myself), or what have you. When those programs are in jeopardy due to a lack of tax revenue, there is a case to be made that those who willingly took the benefit of those programs (and became successful as a result) should contribute to their upkeep so “the next kid who comes along” will have the same access to opportunities that you had.

This isn’t to say there aren’t principled arguments to be made against government aid for all the things I just mentioned. Libertarians make these arguments all the time, and I don’t find them unreasonable. But essentially what you’re dealing with are two worldviews in which society looks different in a lot of fundamental ways: I guarantee you that if we stopped having the Federal Government guarantee loans for graduate students, for example, less people would be able to go to law school or Med School, because there’s no way private companies would underwrite as many students. And while this can be argued as a good thing for the legal profession, the same argument cannot be made for the Medical profession, which continues to be desperate for new blood.

Sedona, Arizona - truly red rock

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 23:53:36 -0400

Sedona, Arizona - truly red rock

"Agriculture is the new golf."

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 01:11:11 -0400

“Agriculture is the new golf.”

- Ed McMahon, Urban Land Institute http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903392904576510492421141056.html

Bike Sharing Ahead in NYC

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 23:17:27 -0400

Bike Sharing Ahead in NYC

Vancouver’s pop-up park

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:02:42 -0400

Vancouver’s pop-up park

Peddling Pretty Pedals at Paris Design Week

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:56:07 -0400

Peddling Pretty Pedals at Paris Design Week

San Francisco continues to create innovative parks and public...

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:47:37 -0400

San Francisco continues to create innovative parks and public spaces - affordably

architectura: Mike Dempsey’s 12 Design Business Tips Can also...

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 16:41:56 -0400

architectura:

Mike Dempsey’s 12 Design Business Tips

Can also call this “12 life tips”