Wordsmithing: Pilgrim

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For approximately 90o years now, according to OED,  those of us with wanderlust might properly be defined as a person

on a journey, a person who travels from place to place; a traveller, a wanderer, an itinerant…

…in short, a pilgrim.  That, according to the first entry defining the word according to its oldest usage.  The second definition gives the now more familiar context of journeying to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion, but qualifies that by adding that a pilgrim makes a journey as an act of respect, or homage to a place of particular significance or interest (without necessarily any religious context).  Getting the utility of this word into more widespread practice would be progress, indeed.

The Tale of Two Pomegranates

/ Amie Inman / 5 Comments

The color red defines the current fruit season in India.  (Bananas don’t count because they are always in season, and yes there are indeed red bananas…)  The fruit stalls are piled with apples and pomegranates.  What lacks in variety is made up in abundance, as well as the flair for display.

But this season pomegranates reign.  Native to Iran (culturally Persia), the fruit traveled through India, mostly in the north of the country (Pune is famous for pomegranate production), but also in our southern state of Kerala.  The Middle East, Mediterranean and southern Europe were also fertile ground for the Punica granatum, and when the Spanish brought it to the “New World” it completed the global circuit nicely. Continue reading →

So, San Jose

/ Matthias Jost / 2 Comments

But how is it? It’s certainly not a beauty compared to other bigger cities. The Google Earth image above provides a kind of accurate representation of the first impression–not much to feel at first glance.  But this city has its own very charming sides, and I enjoy being here.  Continue reading →

From Halloween To Día De Los Muertos

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On the fringes of our intent at this site, where culture is sometimes king, sometimes queen, and sometimes jester: a pause to refresh our memory of what many of us consider a not-so serious cultural artifact.  The traditions associated with October 31 in the USA represent a rich co-mingling of sacred, sacrilegious and purely commercial interests; in Mexico and elsewhere those of November 1 or so represent mostly sacred, family-focused interests.  But both share, at least in recent times, an orientation toward humor and its ability to soothe fears.  In that specific path of tradition, the following seems just right for the transition from October 31 to November 1:

Supporting Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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Horace Kephart is, or should be, in the pantheon of anyone working on entrepreneurial conservation initiatives in or near wilderness areas.  Particularly if you have ever been lucky enough to camp in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Even more so if you have also walked through Cornell Plantations.  The book that Kephart wrote, Camping and Woodcraft, has supported both of those amazing places financially.  You could take a look at the contents of this book here or here for a free ride.  But according to this article the royalties from the book were originally donated by Kephart’s descendants, several of whom attended Cornell, to the Plantations.  The article (from which the photos here are rendered) also states that proceeds…

…from the new edition benefit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

We will have to investigate further how that works, since Amazon offers a new edition that does not look like the one mentioned in that article.   If you have any information to share on this, please post a comment here.  Meanwhile, anyone who would aptly describe their life as biophilia-driven might understand why this man spent his Continue reading →

Crabby and Ant-sy (In The Best Possible Way) in Colombia

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Guest Author: Nicole Kravec

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I woke up smiling and drenched in sweat.  It took me a moment to remember exactly where I was, as my exuberance to investigate Colombia’s diversity resulted in new accommodations nightly.  But as I peeped my head out of the hammock and became further enveloped by the Caribbean humidity, I was content with the decision to spend a few days in one place.   I spied a horse grazing near the backpacker tents, heard gentle ocean waves rolling, and smelled fried plantain patacones patties.  Continue reading →

Blue Marsh Hawk

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A female Blue Marsh Hawk (Orthetrum glaucum) photographed in the Periyar Tiger Reserve. In some species of dragonfly, the male and female are remarkably similar. Blue Marsh Hawk males are similar to females, although their ‘face-plate’ is significantly darker and the abdomen is lacking the prominent yellow stripes present on the females. Continue reading →

A Closer Look

/ Crist Inman / 1 Comment

Yesterday’s link to that last post in Robert Krulwich’s series on camouflage reminded me of the experience I had two weeks ago, while taking a photograph of some sea lions perched on the top of an outcrop of sun-absorbing, smooth black rock.  Those seemingly lazy creatures climb up from the waters below to recharge in the sun.

From where I was standing taking this photograph I did not notice anything other than the same kind of rocks in front of me.

Instinctively, I took a photograph of the outcropping in front of me but did not notice anything other than the contrast between the black and white.

I stood in the same spot for some minutes, mainly looking at the sea lions, but eventually looked back down in front of me and snapped another photo. Continue reading →

Different Tastes, Together

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I had a thought once about couples where one person was a vegetarian and the other was a meat eater. It seemed like they could really never share a meal and have the same experience without one person–usually the omnivore–compromising to suit the mutually agreeable meal. To a normal, well adjusted human being, this is a totally banal observation that wouldn’t warrant losing sleep over.

But to us at Studiofeast, we thought it’d be cool to do a meal where an omnivore and a vegetarian could both share the same meal without the former forgoing meat or the latter having to try flesh. That was the seed of an idea that grew into our most recent dinner: a 7 course meal with an omnivore and vegetarian option where each corresponding course looked identical across the meat/vegetable line. And on July 17th, we seated 40 guests–20 omnivores on one side of the table, 20 vegetarians sitting opposite them–and served them our Doppelganger Dinner.

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See the whole story here.  Continue reading →

Mosstrix

/ Amie Inman / 1 Comment

Mosstika: As It Started, Budapest, 2004

Nature calls to us.  All the more so in urban settings.  This is evident in the long history of elaborate parks and gardens in major cities, dating back to Frederick Law Olmstead,  André Le Nôtre and beyond.  Olmstead’s designs were meant to emulate the Savana landscape that strikes so strong a chord in people around the world, whereas Le Nôtre helped define that famously manipulated symmetry of the classic French garden.

Both respond to what we now refer to as biophilia, the magnetic draw that nature has on each of us.  The question we have to ask ourselves is which one is “Art”.  Not an easy task, to be sure. Perhaps the solution is to say “both” and leave it at that. Continue reading →

Krulwich Wonders (click on image)

/ Organikos / 6 Comments

I tried. I told myself, “You get one week to write about camouflage. One week only.”

I love hiding in plain sight. It makes me almost giddy. So last week I went on a camo binge: I wrote about hunting camo, food camo, underwater camo, but I can’t stop. I’ve got to do one more. Just one.

I’m calling it Celestial Camouflage.

Then we’ll move on. I promise.

So look at this:


And the “Fourth R Award” Goes to….

/ Amie Inman / 1 Comment

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Two months ago I wrote about British restaurateur Arthur Potts Dawson and his closed loop restaurant concepts and social enterprise food cooperatives here.   When I came across the Greenhouse I found the perfect follow up.  One would not be amiss to call the Australia based designer/builder/environmentalist Joost Bakker “green-blooded”.  His Dutch flower growing heritage helped forge a lifelong passion with growing things and plant inspired structures, such as greenhouses and conservatories.  His greenery walls invoke the power of nature creeping back into urban environments, making them simultaneously comforting and edgy. Continue reading →