Emily Davidow
Streams of Consciousness
Posted on 03.15.08 by Emily

Oprah’s online book club event with Eckhart Tolle for A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose is truly wonderful. You can watch it on her site, download (video, audio and transcript) or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. The most exciting part is the use of Skype, allowing people from all over the world to participate in the live event using video chat. Whether you’re interested in the topic, technology or both, it’s worth registering (free) to see how it works and check out the extended materials.

 

In the amazing TED Talk above, Dr. Jill Taylor (author of My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey) reaches the insights Oprah and Eckhart discuss through a stroke. As a neuroanatomist, she was able to observe her own stroke from the inside out. She uses a real human brain as a prop, showing how differently the left and right hemispheres experience the world, outlining an anatomy of enlightenment and “circuitry of peace.”

Her talk highlighted for me how we are literally out of balance individually and collectively. “Modern” education focuses almost solely on the left brain and undervalues development of the right side. We need to develop the whole thing and use everything we’ve got. Bring back arts, music and movement and add in meditation. (Of course, if you use more than 5% of your brain, you don’t want to be on Earth anymore…)

Filed under: better world and consciousness and creativity and culture and happiness and health and interconnected and science and senses and video and webstuff


Poems On Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn
Posted on 03.12.08 by Emily

Just returned from a delightful talk with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Bokara Legendre at the Rubin Museum of Art (filmed for her series on LinkTV, so surely you can see it soon too). It was too dark in there to take notes, but he read a couple of poems I love, so I’m sharing them here with you.

Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are, Coming to Our Senses, Full Catastrophe Living, and Arriving at Your Own Door, opened the conversation with a gorgeous poem from which the title of his latest book came:

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

— Derek Wolcott

The second poem Kabat-Zinn used was by a poet from whom the name of yours truly was inspired. (Thanks Mom and Dad):

Me from Myself — to banish –
Had I Art –
Impregnable my Fortress
Unto All Heart –

But since Myself — assault Me –
How have I peace
Except by subjugating
Consciousness?

And since We’re mutual Monarch
How this be
Except by Abdication –
Me — of Me?

— Emily Dickinson

During the discussion, he defined meditation as “attention in service of self-understanding and liberation.” He also used “awarenessing” as a verb in places where you might expect to hear “thinking” instead.

Both he and Bokara somehow started to blame technology for accelerating time, to which I respectfully disagree. Oddly enough, my brother gave me a book on just that topic this week, The Mayan Code, which asserts that time acceleration is a manifestation of the acceleration of consciousness. So perhaps it’s Jon Kabat-Zinn and Bokara who are responsible for this phenomenon through talks like these! Your thoughts (and awarenesses) welcome, of course.

Filed under: better world and books and consciousness and creativity and culture and emily approved and happiness and health and interconnected and love and people and poetry and senses


links for 2008-03-04: Secrets of Happiness and Hyperbolic Geometry
Posted on 03.04.08 by Emily

links for 2008-02-10
Posted on 02.10.08 by Emily

Filed under: activism and animals and art and better world and consumerism and creativity and culture and design and emily approved and environment and flowers and food and gardening and links and nyc and senses and sustainability and technology


GhostGarden and More GPS Games
Posted on 01.29.08 by Emily

Ghost Garden

The surreal romance of aristocratic expat Lucy and castaway Jack enchanted me as I strolled through Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens in early January, following their love story on a handheld HP GPS device preloaded with Anita Fontaine’s spooky sweet Ghost Garden, part of the 2008 Sydney Festival. As I traveled through the gardens, certain locations would trigger animated scenes that revealed the story, set in the 1800s. I could feel the past, present and future all melting into one, and I got excited imagining the day when it be easy to create my own site-specific adventures for people to discover as they’re traveling through a space.

Garmin Colorado400T
That day turned out to be less than a month away! Wherigo is a flexible gaming platform that Garmin is embedding in their new Colorado 400t Handheld GPS unit (Pictured at right. Thanks, Brady!) Wherigo Builder allows anyone to build alternate reality games, tour guides, local reviews, real estate marketing apps, scavenger hunts, pub crawls or Victorian love stories that are site-specific by mapping out zones, creating a story and then sharing it online. (Alternately, you could write it directly in Lua, a programming language whose name means “moon” in Portuguese and is also what World of Warcrafters use to build on top of their platform.) If you have a PocketPC Device, you can download the Wherigo Player and start playing.

Anything similar for the iPhone’s fauxGPS maps or soon to be true GPS?

For now, you can enjoy my Emily Approved Sydney recommendations in Google Maps and in Google Earth.

Filed under: art and consumerism and creativity and culture and design and emily approved and gardening and love and senses and technology and travel and video and webstuff


NZ Notes: Sorry S.P…. I’m leaving you for Antipodes
Posted on 12.06.07 by Emily

Antipodes Sparkling Water from NZI love bubbly beverages: Champagne and sparkling water are always my drinks of choice. Among the sparklers, Antipodes stands out.

Coming from a deep natural aquifer to the surface in Whakatane, New Zealand, Antipodes has real mouth appeal. It’s less aggressively carbonated than my usual brew, San Pellegrino, and it’s easy on the eyes too.

Dressed in classic Mrs. Eaves, Antipodes complements any table without overpowering it. The oviform bottle echoes the round beads streaming up when opened. It’s a happy thing to hold.

I know, I know… you have issues with bottled water. I do too. But a girl’s gotta have a vice, and until I can pour sparkling from the tap, I’ll order the bottle. (When out… technically I could make my own at home.) If it makes you feel any better, Antipodes is the first premium water to be certified carbon neutral in production and export, and they plan to be carbon neutral to any table, hotel room or home anywhere in the world by 2008.

Antipodes is currently served only in hand-picked great restaurants around New Zealand, hence their restaurant list is a good guide to the restaurants I want to try. You can order Antipodes by the case for home delivery in the United States through New Zealand Natural Goods, but at $60 for 12, I’d have to consider it a design element to justify it. Oh, wonderful! Oprah already did.


NZ Notes: Auckland Hilton: White & Bellini
Posted on 12.06.07 by Emily

Lychee and rosewater brulée with brandy snap wafer

Overlooking Waitemata harbor’s expansive blue vista, the White Restaurant at the Hilton Auckland features a cool palette, warm service and delightful meals.

Starting with our first favorite meal of the day, highlights of the breakfast buffet include poached pears with vanilla beans, blueberries with cinnamon sticks and apricots with cardamom pods. These are delicious over the bircher muesli, as are the fresh melon selections.

The coffee is also excellent, but there are a couple of terms you need to know if you’re not from down under: Flat white is the local favorite, which has less milk than a latte, less foam than a cappuccino. Long black is a double shot of espresso with a little hot water, basically a stronger americano.

Lunch favorites (click to see):

Arriving late afternoon at the Bellini Bar downstairs, we are pleased to note that nothing is wasted — the cocktail menu features the “poached pear and vanilla julep”, which is basically breakfast muddled with torn mint and bourbon. As a blueberry girl, I’m partial to “Russian spring punch”: fresh blackberries and blueberries shaken with 42below vodka, freshly squeezed lemon juice and a hint of sugar, topped with Cloudy Bay Pelorus.

Of course, not everything is perfect. There’s wi-fi at the bar, but you have to pay an extortionate fee of NZ$14 per hour or $29 per day. To add insult to injury, if you’re staying at the hotel you have to pay again in the rooms (where wi-fi is not available) to connect via ethernet. Perhaps it’s for the best… otherwise you could end up drunk video iChatting your friends in Calcutta out loud from the bar.

White Restaurant & Bellini Bar
at the Hilton Auckland
Princes Wharf, 147 Quay Street
Auckland, New Zealand 1010
+64 (09) 978 2000

Filed under: culture and emily approved and food and senses and taste and technology and travel


Sweet Potato Lentil Kale Soup Recipe
Posted on 06.10.07 by Emily

Sweetpotatolentilkalesoup-1

I love everything about this soup — the way it looks, the way it tastes, the different textures and how easy it is to make. It makes a fine meal all by itself. If you try it, I’d love to hear your experience.

1 c. dried lentils (your choice… this time I used French green, but have had lovely results with red and the black beluga ones too.)
6 c. low-sodium organic vegetable broth (or cooking liquid of your choice)
1 onion, chopped up
a few cloves of garlic, smashed or sliced
3 sweet potatoes or yams, all chopped up
1 or 2 bunches of lacinato kale (or greens of your choice)
1 splash of olive oil
1 tbsp curry powder (or to taste)

Splash a little olive oil in the bottom of a big pot and sauté garlic and onion for a few minutes until fragrant and translucent. Then toss in everything but the kale and bring it to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then toss in the kale. Simmer for 15 minutes more, then serve. Excellent with a crusty grainy bread or brown rice. Enjoy!

Filed under: ask emily and emily approved and food and happiness and health and love and senses and taste

Comments: 2 Comments


Ask Emily: Gifts for New Moms
Posted on 05.22.07 by Emily

Q. Hey Emily…

You are of impeccable taste, i know this… Who would you have deliver flowers to a newborn and her mommy in the East 50’s, NYC?

Thanks,
Serious Businessman

A. Hi Serious Darling,

My favorite welcome home gift for new mommies and babies is Manhattan Fruitier’s beautiful organic fresh fruit basket with a teddy bear, rubber ducky and crocheted booties. Feel free to add in flowers and chocolate as you wish.

Manhattan Fruitier
manhattanfruitier.com
105 E 29th St, New York NY
212.686.0404 and 800.841.5718

Best flowers for Manhattan delivery:

banchet flowers
Banchet Flowers
banchetflowers.com
809 Washington St, New York NY 10014
212-989-1088

Also worth checking out:
Belle Fleur
134 5th Ave
212.254.8703
bellefleurny.com

Bloom Flowers
541 Lexington Ave Mass
New York, NY 10022 (212) 832-8094
www.bloomflowers.com

Lenox Hill Florists
1140 Lexington Ave New York, NY 10021
(212) 861-2787
lenoxhillflorist.com
Note on Apartment Therapy

Jane Packer (in the Conran Shop)
328 East 59th Street New York, NY10022
janepacker.com

Utowa Floral Gallery
17 W. 18th St., near Fifth Ave.; 212-366-0891
http://www.utowa.com/flowers/index.php

In Brooklyn:
Outside NY

99 N 10th St 11211 Brooklyn NY
718.782.4800
http://www.outsideny.com/flowers.html

Filed under: ask emily and consumerism and design and emily approved and flowers and food and senses and shopping


NY Design Week Highlights: Haute Green & ICFF
Posted on 05.21.07 by Emily

HauteGreen

 190 507610526 68B94E7Ae3 S 192 507634609 6F4Bd80D48 S 227 507637899 B664631A22 S 224 507637245 F45C4D5D5C S 230 507639339 D87810C5F1 S 194 507638913 1170527C3E S

HauteGreen’s 2nd exhibition of sustainable design that’s both aesthetically pleasing and friendly to the environment offered many delights. I’m not sure how I’ve lived so long without The Green Light, by xDesign (Natlie Jeremijenko, Amelia Anon, Will Kavesh), a botanical lamp, terrarium, and airfilter all-in-one. I also loved My Secret Garden, a rug made from discarded blanket scraps by Studio Jo Meesters, and Our Flesh and Blood, a chest of drawers made from reclaimed intricately carved furniture, an FSC-certified plywood base and drawer fronts screened with images by Art With Function. More photos from Haute Green.

ICFF

  • corona solar lightsThe Corona solar light, designed by Shane Kohatu and Emi Fujita, is a solar powered outdoor LED lighting system that can be staked to the ground, attached to a wall or placed on a tabletop. It uses no glues or fasteners, and is easy to diassemble for recycling.
  • loll designs + douglashomer adirondack chair that glows in the darkAfterGlow, a glow-in-the-dark recycled plastic adirondack chair made from 100% post-consumer recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE), a number two recyclable plastic (i.e., milk jugs), developed as a collaboration between Loll Designs and Douglas Homer.

  • May all your days unfold as delightfully as Molo design’s paper and textile seating and textile softwall (used as a bar setup at ICFF). Their felt rocks rock, naturally.

  • Amaridian offers modern, sexy, tribal furniture and accessories from South African designers, including rocking bench and bug screen.Amaridian at ICFF

  • Mio: Nomad architectural systemMIO’s cork ModuTiles and cardboard Nomad architectural system. Also their softbowls, featured also at Haute Green. Ok, we love everything they make, especially the recycled cardboard PaperForms acoustic weave tiles/3d wallpaper. Appreciate how their catalog lists the materials, design and origin positive aspects of each item (renewable, recyclable, compostable, recycled, closed-loop manufacturing).

  • transneomatic at icffFernando & Humberto Campana’s TransNeomatic container made of re-used scooter tire and natural wicker for Artecnica’s Design With Conscience project that pairs designers with artisans around the world. Transneomatic bowls are produced in Vietnam using scooter tires rescued from landfills.

  • PIE’s undulating furniture handcrafted from natural materials such as water hyacinth, liana, bamboo and rattan. Furniture collection is available at Vivavi. Founders Bannavis and Michelle Sribyatta founded PIE (Project Import Export) in Spring 2005, the same season they welcomed the birth of their son, π (~3.14).

  • Amenity Home’s adorable non-gender-specific Home Nursery collection made from 200 thread count organic cotton with non-toxic dyes with a foresty theme.amenity home nursery collection

  • YiAhn’s Bassinet that converts to a toy bin and bookshelf, then a chair and table as your child grows.
  • Valentin Vodev’s roller buggy stroller/scooter goes straight to my skating heart.

  • Picture 108I’ve loved Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec’s Cloud Shelving System since it was introduced. In fact, the only reason my walls aren’t lined with them is that they’re made from polystyrene, and I can visualize them offgassing just like the vaporous body they resemble. NeotericHome offers an eco-friendly version made from bamboo. Alas, the main reason my walls won’t be lined with these is that they’re 5.7 times the price of the original. (Disclosure: I don’t actually remember seeing this at the show, but it’s on their postcard.)

  • Design Boom’s DesignMart featured fun cash-and-carry accessories: “Chicken in space” theme embroidered laptop bags, clutch purses and accessories by Mandarin Orange. After washing drip-dry-dishes from giffin’termeer, each piece can stand upright, so the water runs off with no need to towel dry. Mixko’s “English Summer Pendant” with a cottony cloud and glass rain drops.

Filed under: consumerism and culture and design and emily approved and fashion and furniture and love and nyc and observations and senses and shopping and taste


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