This is authentic |

Shelter Island deliciousness

The pizza menu at Reddings Market on Shelter Island.

This week, we visited some friends who are renting a picture perfect house, right on the water in Shelter Island. It has everything you could want… a big yard for the kids to run around in, equipped with an amazing old fashioned wooden playhouse (with real window boxes, a toy kitchen, a picket fence– the works!) Plus, right out front, the beautiful bay with a sweeping view of both sunrise and sunset.

If you looked up perfect childhood summer memories in the dictionary (remember dictionaries?), the first photo would be of this place.

The only thing they don’t have on site is an endless supply of food. For that, we headed over to Reddings Market, a great local gourmet market that alone makes the ferry ride worthwhile. — Read more

Monday, monday (on a rainy Tuesday)

links

My current reality. Right now. As I type.

We’re finally back home where we belong, and my daughter is enjoying a week at one of her favorite places in the world, the Waldorf-inspired summer camp where she learns how to build fires, grow veggies, climb trees, knit, create puppet shows and spend time outdoors rain or shine. She is in heaven.

I, on the other hand, am sitting in front of this computer.

In honor of how jealous I am of my daughter’s digital free mornings (this rainy afternoon will most certainly involve a movie, alas) I give you a few technology related things to ponder…

A town without wifi or cell phones…

Turns out posting too many photos of yourself on facebook may very well signify a trouble with having relationships in the real world. No kidding.

A digital potty. A DIGITAL POTTY! WTF?

The new Spike Jonze movie (coming out in November) is all about a guy who falls in love with his operating system. The trailer made me cry, because it is so convincing.

Wearable technology is fast becoming the new normal. Be afraid. Very afraid.

Maybe it’s not all that bad… Jeff Hancock makes a really good case that the permanence of the information you put out into the web might actually keep us more honest.

But then again, if digital technology is supposedly so great, why are all these silicon valley geeks sending their kids to a screen-free Waldorf School?

Monday, monday

links

Man am I glad to be back home in Brooklyn after 5 weeks of exploring the Bay Area. Not that we didn’t enjoy ourselves immensely, but nothing beats laying down in your own bed again.

And while we’re on the topic of my homecoming, here are a few related links for your viewing pleasure:

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros know all about home. (see above)

A island resurfaces in the middle of Prospect Park.

The development of the Domino Sugar factory in Williamsburg has been extremely controversial, but at least we can now check out what fresh deliciousness is growing in the raised beds at the new Havemeyer park.

What does home mean these days, anyway? The brilliant travel writer Pico Iyer thinks it’s the place where you become yourself. I agree.

For photographer Nan Goldin, home has always been where her friends are. A new show of her photographs called “Wish You Were Here” opened this weekend at the QT Gallery in East Hampton, NY.

Even if you’re the type that needs to go to the middle of nowhere to find yourself, you’re still going to need some kind of shelter from the elements. Consider the yurt.

Now I know we’re all supposed to be streamlining our lives, but sometimes a girl’s gotta go buy something amazing for her pad. It’s just a fact of life. If you live in NYC, I suggest you check out Williamsburg’s RePOP to add some one of a kind vintage flair to your abode.

Monday, monday (on Wednesday)

links

In honor of this week’s travel theme, here a shot taken from a boat off the coast of Mumbai in February of last year. Where it was really hot. Unlike how it is right now in San Francisco…

The most beautiful travel backgammon set you will ever lay eyes on.

Cats and dogs mark new territory by spraying. I prefer a different sort of aromatherapy to make myself feel at home in a new place.

If only this jacket had been available before we took off to San Francisco, I would have owned it, and been comfortable (instead of slightly chilly, which has been my constant state for the past 5 weeks)

Why stay in a hotel when you can sleep in a treehouse?

This is my favorite travel blog. I want to do everything they do.

The internet where I’m staying right now is horrible, but after I read about Hasan Elahi’s TED talk on what he did after being accidentally put on an FBI watch list, I patiently endured the 30 minute download time in order to watch it. And it was worth every second.

Commuters are travelers, too. Now more than ever, Americans are driving solo to work. And NPR has the graphs to prove it. Evidently we didn’t get the memo on climate change.

Hold, monsters!

links

My regularly scheduled Monday post full of links to various places of interest on the web is going to be a bit late in coming today. So in the meantime, enjoy this masterful performance of the Modern Major General’s song by the inimitable George Rose. (with cameos by Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline)

Links are on their way…

A better bottle

kids

The newest addition to the stuff-I-always-carry-in-my-bag club.

I first laid eyes on these glass water bottles in my friend Nancy’s well stocked tote bag. Nancy is one of those women-who-I-am-always-copying. Everyone needs one in their life. She always has the baby blanket that folds up all tiny whlist still being totally warm, the all-natural sunscreen that doesn’t go on like wet chalk, the perfect summer sandals, the coolest kids books… I could go on, but I won’t, because then you will all just go off and befriend her and have no need for this or any other blog for that matter.

But the credit for actually purchasing the fabulous Lifefactory water bottle goes entirely to my daughter, who saw one in a store a couple of weeks ago and insisted we buy one immediately.

And she was right. Not only for the obvious reason that water out of a glass bottle just tastes way better, but the surrounding silicone sleeves are medical grade and BPA-free, so that a) you don’t have to get all worried about horrible poisons seeping into your kid’s body and b) when the glass bottle you just bought gets dropped (which is inevitable) it doesn’t break. Simple, yet oh so important. Plus the colors are lovely and Disney character free. Which may very well be the best part, as far as I’m concerned.

Oh and they come in adult sizes too, should you decide to really go for it.

Buy the right stuff

food - places

The Bi Rite store in San Francisco looks like a little unobtrusive grocery store that’s been around for half a century, and yet…

When I walked into this little market on Dividsadero in San Francisco, I was suddenly overcome with the desire to take out my camera and photograph everything. And then I realized that I’d had this exact feeling before, in this exact place, about 7 years ago when I was last in the city by the bay.

Much like Diner (and Marlow & Sons, and Marlow & Daughters, etc etc) Bi-Rite is actually an empire disguised as a little neighborhood market. But what a lovely empire it is. — Read more

Monday, monday

links

Man did I want to be Mrs Peel when I was a kid. Actually, I still do.

My daughter hates anything spicy, and by that she means that if she can detect even the slightest hint of pepper, it’s a no go. She does, however, love paprika, so I’m always on the lookout for recipes with that delicious flavor so tht dinner doesn’t always end up tasting like bland mac + cheese. This purple cauliflower dish fits the bill and looks beautiful to boot– we’ll be trying it this week for sure.

Here’s an interesting look at 10 surprising things about parenting in Japan.

A letter from F Scott Fitzgerald to his 11 year old daughter about what one should and should not worry about.

Just relax and let Kim France tell you where you go shopping for the home in NYC these days by bookmarking her list of 10 current faves. She makes these lists for a living.

Maybe if I had this cookbook, I’d finally become one of those people I’ve always admired who can cook on the fly.

The most beautiful beach tennis game I’ve ever seen.

Weekend in Bolinas

places

Psychedelic graffiti on the beach in Bolinas.

Last weekend we were lucky enough to get to spend the weekend with some friends in Bolinas, a tiny town on the Pacific coast north of San Francisco.

Not sure exactly where it is (because these days nobody uses maps, so when you’re driving, all you have is a tiny phone version of your immediate area and some annoying woman telling you the next step like two seconds before you’re supposed to make the turn so you either miss it or endanger the lives of all the people in the car as you swerve to make the exit… But that’s a topic for another day.)

Plus they’ve taken down the road signs leading to the place, because the residents don’t want anybody coming to visit.

Feel free to read the rest of this post if you’re curious and want to see more photos… — Read more

We are not alone

misc

A humpback whale jumping out of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Columbia. Photo: LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom via DIGG

I have been making a point lately to unsubscribe from all of the e-newsletters that flood my inbox each day. It’s like I think that I can’t possibly survive without them, and yet I almost never (ever) open any of them.

Instead, I skip them, only to do a massive purge every few weeks. Which takes forever and makes me feel like a loser because I didn’t open any of them. And all of that information is forever lost to me so now what am I going to talk about on the rare occasion that I speak with another adult at a party? Why oh why did I even bother going to college in the first place?

Etc, etc. I could go on forever.

But for some reason, the daily newsletter from Digg still arrives. And while I delete it half the time, the other half of the time I open it and find something really cool. Like this photograph of a whale leaping out of the water.

I love whales. Always have. I think they are smarter than we are. And I think it’s important to remember that we are sharing this world with creatures that are so much more dignified and beautiful than we could ever be. We owe it to them not to f*ck it all up.

Just a thought…