Creator tutor
I watch a LOT of YouTube videos about making stuff. Mostly people in their workshops making furniture, or props, or costumes, or miniatures, or their own tools, or weird art. One of the best teachers in this maker-verse is Laura Kampf. Based in LA, she calls herself the Janitor of LA because she likes to pick up junk and turn it into useful stuff. I like her style, both her style in videos and her style of creations. She is a born teacher, and more than most makers, manages to extract teachable pithy advice from what she does. As just one example: she says the best art pieces come from pairing worn, old junky things with new glossy parts for contrast, so the artifacts are hybrids — slick new knobs on a rust box — which is true but it would have taken me a long time to notice that. — KK
Reset your nervous system
This is a reference card of nine somatic exercises for resetting your nervous system. Three of them made me realize I’ve been instinctually self-soothing for years: the physiological sigh helps me expel anxious energy, situational humming has been happening without my awareness since childhood, and the butterfly hug helps slow me down and relax. I didn’t realize humming was self-regulation until I was an adult, after enough annoyed people pointed it out and I looked into it. If you read through the rest, you might recognize a few things your body already knows how to do. — CD
Travel advisories world map
The U.S. Department of State website has an at-a-glance travel advisories world map that shows the safety of different countries. You can click on any country to see the full travel advisory. I was surprised to see that many European countries, such as Germany, are at Level 2 (Exercise increased caution), while Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan are at Level 1 (Exercise normal precautions). — MF
Copy and paste, intact
Copynpaste is a one-tool webpage for moving text between apps without losing its formatting. Paste in something bolded, italicized, or otherwise styled, choose where it’s going, and it converts the formatting into the language that app understands, all privately in your browser. The tool feels related to another one I’ve recommended before and still use at least once a week: ConvertCase, which does exactly what it says. — CD
Irregular newsletter
Neal Stephenson publishes impossibly long science-fictiony novels. He also is a keen observer and writes an irregular Substack with much shorter essays featuring his eclectic interests. He doesn’t post often on Graphomane, but it is always interesting when he does. — KK
Keychain reading glasses
It’s a hassle to carry reading glasses everywhere I go. I bought some ThinOptics Keychain Reading Glasses that bend in half and slide into a case the size of a car key. They pinch comfortably on my nose, so they don’t need arms. They are nearly flat and incredibly lightweight. — MF
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Hi, readers of Recomendo. I’m a good friend of Kevin’s and have written a fair amount about his ideas. He gets the last word in my 5-volume series on consciousness, emergence, philosophy, business, geopolitics, and the future. Choosing Our Futures, The Collected Essays of James Ogilvy.
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I’ve been using ThinOptics for years now. I’ve changed to the ones with the flat case, but it still means I always have reading glasses with me. I’ve even worn out the case and ordered a replacement.
Love the somatic exercises! The cold water splash is interesting. I used to surf in cold water so was repeatedly getting splashed in the face. Surfing is one of the very most centering things I’ve done-wonder if the cold water splash has anything to do with it? Always left the ocean feeling very relaxed…