It’s been a long journey for me to become a full-blown tea fanatic. It turns out I just needed to find the “right” tea! These organic whole flower infusion teas by The Qi are beautiful to look at and are so deliciously sippable. The founder Lisa Li sources her single-origin flowers (Rose, Chrysanthemum, Blue Lotus) from a high mountain farm in Shangri-La, Jiangxi, and Hainan, an island province of China. It has become an effortless daily ritual for me, and I’ll admit, an addiction — but what a healthy, nourishing addiction to have! Here is a referral link for $5 off (a pop-up window will ask you for email address to get the code). — CD
When I subscribe to a YouTube channel, I like to be surprised by the next episode. My favorite four YouTube channels these days are crafted by inspiring creators who keep me anticipating what in the world they might do next. They are all makers with an upbeat perspective. — KK
In order of the unexpected:
Ali Spagnola. Ali is a genius musician, a painter, a maker, a savant, and a comedian. She takes great care in making totally silly things, and does them with humor. She loves to try things that aren’t going to work. Her astounding musical transformations are worth subscribing alone.
Beau Miles. An Australian adventurer who settled down with a family and creates mini-adventures around his settled life, like walking 96 km to work carrying nothing, not even money. He has a lovely can-do spirit, and the miraculous ability to find adventure in the ordinary.
Simone Giertz. Simone is an unabashed maker, but likes to make “stupid” things that are closer to art – like her famous chopping the top off of a Tesla to turn it into the Truckla, a Tesla pickup truck. Her projects are dreamlike and friendly weird, and also inspiring.
Van Niestat. Brother of famous YouTuber Casey Niestat, Van is charting his own path with idiosyncratic mini-videos that are either book reviews, or love letters, or personal confessions, or documentaries about an idea. His channel is young; I’m not sure where he is going but for sure it’s not where the rest of YouTube is headed. He is an original.
I’ve always liked Craftsman screwdrivers because they’re indestructible and have a classic look, so when I saw this set of six small Craftsman screwdrivers for the price of a fancy coffee drink, I couldn’t resist buying them. It includes three slotted and three Phillips head drivers. I used the smallest Phillips driver to repair some eyeglasses. — MF
I follow two bots on Twitter to break up its relentless seriousness. Systemantic Quotes posts one-line riddles about the antics and behavior of all systems derived from the book “Systemantics, or the Systems Bible.” Such as: “In dealing with the shape of things to come, it pays to be good at recognizing shapes.” Every four hours the Magical Realism Bot posts a one-sentence “story” written by an AI. These summaries are surreal, mostly absurd, but every once in a while, it’s a core of a decent idea. Other bots to follow are welcomed. — KK
During the colder months I need to apply skin moisturizer after I take a shower or else my legs itch like crazy. I recently started using The Body Shop’s Wild Argan Oil Body Butter and I love the smell and feel of it. Argan oil comes from the fruit produced by a tree of the same name. It’s edible, too! — MF
We don’t have a bathtub in our home so luxurious baths are not a possibility for me, but these aromatherapy bomb fizzies by Floroma are designed for showers and are the next best thing. The key to using these is to place them near where the water hits, but not directly beneath. They’re scented with 6 different essential oils (eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender, lemon, rose and orange) and the smell is so relaxing and makes the entire bathroom smell really good. — CD
This TED article outlines the 7 types of rest you might need and how to go about getting it. The 7 types are: physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social, and spiritual. Obvious advice would be to make sure you are carving out time for exercise, sleeping, screen-breaks, nature, and meditation. But two types of rest that I’ve never had words for before are emotional rest and social rest. Emotional rest is giving yourself time and space to freely express your feelings. (I think my twice-monthly therapy sessions satisfies this.) And to experience social rest spend time with positive and supportive people that “revive” you, and stay away from the relationships that drain you of energy. — CD
Last year a college student named Annie Rauwerda launched Depths of Wikipedia, an addictive Instagram account with screenshots of unusual and fascinating Wikipedia entries. I’ve learned about Revenge bedtime procrastination, Broken escalator phenomenon, the Fregoli delusion, and a lot more. — MF
For 40 years I’ve been photographing the disappearing traditions of Asia. This week I launched a Kickstarter campaign for my oversized 3-volume book set that captures this wonderful otherness. I crammed a continent of images into 1,000 pages. The book, Vanishing Asia, is a time machine that will take you to a place where everything is done differently, before the world was all the same. I guarantee it will inspired you. My goal is to maximize the number of fans who get the book rather than maxing revenue, so I’ve discounted the Vanishing Asia Kickstarter way below the retail price. I hope you join me in this adventure and back the book. — KK
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a sub-$250 rowing machine, but the Sunny has proven to be a solid machine. It was easy to assemble (and came with a screwdriver, hex keys, and wrenches). Operation is smooth and very quiet. Resistance is magnetic and adjustable from 1 to 8. The tiny-display “computer” that tracks calories, times, and strokes is hard to read and not illuminated, but I use the countdown timer on my phone or watch anyway. — MF
After I shared last week’s graphic — How long would it take to hack your password — Recomendo reader John McConnell reached out to share that pass phrases are the new passwords. — CD
The password thing is very true. A guy named Jason Fossen (one of the absolute smartest Windows people on the planet and author of the Securing Windows SANS courses … ) showed me this back in 2017 and he actually did some calculation to push the chart all the way out to 100+ character passwords. Pass phrases are the new passwords and if long enough are virtually unbreakable at this point. Even without special characters. Your favorite passage from an obscure book is a good starting place. My pass phrases are about 40-50 characters each.
On my short list of under-appreciated items that every homestead should have is a lightweight movers’ hand truck. I use my hand truck far more than I ever guessed. I use it to haul appliances, bulk beverages or bottled water, boxes of books, 5-gallon tubs of paint, bags of soil — anything remotely heavy that I prefer to roll. If you have a garage of stuff, you’ll use it. And it’s the savior when you help friends move. It’s cheap, too ($40), considering it will outlive me. Taller, slightly heftier ones are slightly more expensive ($63). — KK
If you’re in the mood for a documentary but aren’t sure what to watch, bookmark this list of Esquire’s best documentaries for 2021. Some of the documentaries, like Peter Jackson’s Beatles documentary won’t come out until later this year (but be sure to check out the sneak peek). — MF
I took one Art History course in college, but everything else I’ve learned about the art world has been piecemealed and picked up through occasional museum visits. But since I created a free account on Artsy my whole aesthetic world has opened up. Every day I get an email digest of contemporary art for sale, current collections in galleries all over the world, and features on up-and-coming artists. (You can set your preferences to receive only one email per week.) I don’t plan on actually buying anything, although I am coveting everything created by Leonora Carrington. When I see something that draws me in, it takes me down a rabbit hole of artist bios and their work and if they’re on Instagram I immediately follow. I’ve been slowly muting the meme accounts, influencers, and friends who overpost selfies, and I’m curating an Instagram stream of beautiful art to inspire. — CD
The book The Good Ancestor is my pick for presenting the best practices of long-term thinking. It makes the case for why generational-scale thinking is beneficial, and summarizes what we know about implementing this framework. The aim is to make sure future generations succeed, which sometimes works against the easier goal of succeeding right now. For a teaser, you can watch a 30-minute talk the author, Roman Kzrznaric, did for the Long Now Foundation (which I co-chair). — KK
Here is a scary visual: the time it takes a hacker to brute force your password. I’m not sure how accurate this is, but considering I still have some passwords that are 8 characters or less — and those can be cracked in under 8 hours — this chart is enough for me to calendar a time block for password management. — CD
I was dealing with a stubborn shower drain. Backed up and it smelled bad. Liquid Plumr had no effect. A hose and plumber’s bladder made the water drain slowly, but it clogged right back up again. I bought a jar of Green Gobbler Ultimate Main Drain Opener and poured half into the drain and let it sit overnight. The next morning I poured in a quart of boiling water. Problem solved, and the bad smell is gone. — MF
Like many writers and programmers I like to listen to a loop of music over and over again as an inducement to work. It’s similar to writers who work in a cafe for its background hum. The familiar sound induces a flow trance that makes it easier to concentrate. Some loopers will loop a different track for a different project, but I have looped the same song for a decade. My loop is a Gregorian chant, Hymn of the Cherubim. In fact, as soon as I hear it now, I am primed to write. Popular tracks to loop include video game music, because these were intentionally engineered to work in the background and help focus. Tons of music, including video game tracks, can be found on YouTube, and the cool part is that you can loop YouTube. Right click on the Play button and choose Loop. — KK
I am always on the lookout for the next new thing. I found one in vtubers. Vtubers are virtual characters that are streamed before an audience in real time, puppeted by their master behind the scenes. They have long been predicted in science fiction, such as William Gibson’s Idoru. These virtual characters appear live today on Twitch and YouTube, and interact with fans or guests in real time and use the latest motion capture technology so they appear “realistic”. They are rapidly gaining audiences. Their human host is acting out their role in their home, and voicing them. Their virtuality permits the characters to go in a new thousand directions, creating a new fictional space. Rather than point you to particular streams, I suggest this pretty good article describing one of the most popular vtubers: CodeMiko is the Future of Streaming. — KK
If you’re going to click on an exposé about exploitative companies who discriminate against BIPOC, you should start here. CC Paschal’s essay about her experience as a producer for Gimlet called “Hidden in Plain Sight” is beautifully vulnerable and powerful to read. It is also incredibly infuriating, so be warned: it will crack your heart open. — CD