celt-grrrl's Profile

Has anyone tried the Brica fold and go travel bassinet? It seems like an affordable option for a small apartment *and* for travel, but I'm wondering what others think. I like the idea of folding it up and storing it away when appropriate.

ErikaKN, thanks for the link. Based on your recommendation, I took a look at Double G's website - and I love how in every residential setting, the designers incorporate open shelving, tons of books, and, perhaps inexplicably, a white bunny rabbit (either in ceramic or as a plush toy)! Books and bunnies are good with me any day. :)

Sheesh. I'm a bit surprised by some of the comments here - the original post/article led me to expect a cogent discussion of how to entertain overnight guests in a small space. The more snarky comments are useful nonetheless, inasmuch as they remind me that hospitality should be a profound gesture of the heart and a thoughtful gift of time to someone I care about, rather than a spasm of anxious pandering to overweening visitors.

So here's my science-nerd comment of the day: apparently, hamsters hoard food when they have experienced a period of extreme deprivation. Such periods activate specific neuropeptides (both in hamsters and in humans) that offer a positive feedback response to the behaviors associated with food storage (in other words, food storage makes you feel good - the behavior ends up generating feelings of comfort and soothes stress responses). I must admit that, after going through a lean financial period myself, I noticed that storing several weeks' worth of food (beans, rice) actually caused a specific psychological reaction in me: I felt soothed and less anxious about the future. I've stopped storing that much food because I was concerned that I was creating some sort of false illusion of comfort and security for myself. I can certainly understand why some would want to engage long-term, bulk food storage practices - we live in uncertain times, and I do think this kind of behavior has a physiological (i.e., neurobiological) basis and effect. It feels good to prepare for events you can't control. It feels good to believe that you have done everything in your power to maintain your well-being (and that of your family) should some unexpected disaster occur. Moreover, there could be an evolutionary motivation for this kind of behavior in some people: they work to safeguard the viability of a group by preparing very carefully for a dystopic future. I'm not saying that those who store food in large quantities are wrong, scary, crazy, or in any way misinformed; rather, I'm saying that I find it interesting and intriguing that some of these behaviors may have an origin (or at least an observable pattern) in the way our brains are hard-wired. *dodges expired cans of tomatoes being thrown by other posters*

I'm a researcher studying medieval religious history, and while I can appreciate the portability of e-readers (and their potential in the classroom for storing and managing pedagogical resources like textbooks), I find that books allow me to flip back and forth between chapters and footnotes much more easily - so for scholarship, I prefer actual books. When I'm reading philosophy or historical theology, I prefer a book because it allows me to underline text and comment/write/diagram in the margins - which facilitates a kind of interaction with the text that an e-reader just doesn't allow. Also, I've had the opportunity to work with medieval manuscripts, and it's an amazing experience to actually read the words that were carefully hand-lettered by some anonymous monk in the 14th century onto the smooth leathery vellum pages (some of which still maintain the look of skin, giving the book a kind of identity as a living thing). Pulp fiction paperbacks may be expendable and thus appropriate for e-readers, but some books are worth preserving and honoring - and here I don't just mean ancient manuscripts, but also out-of-print and rare books, books that facilitate research and scholarship, and books that allow the reader to interact with difficult concepts in a highly personalized way.

This tour made my day - thanks so much for sharing such inspiration! Makes me feel courageous enough to try some new arrangement possibilities with my own collections (of books, pottery picked up on numerous travels, small paintings from local artists, etc.). The pictures here make me feel as though I can breathe - the place seems so relaxed and welcoming, yet super-creative and whimsical - all, without seeming over-wrought or precious (more like... human, in the best sense of our amazing capacity for creativity, wonder, and culture). Thanks again. Your home is delightful.

What a great balance of elegance, humor, and guts. And the doggie in the boat! Love!!

Wait... did I spy a pair of gold-tone giraffe (or perhaps dragon? horse head?) sconces in the before photo? Those things are wackadoo enough to qualify as cool. Especially with a spray-paint overhaul. The after photo is lovely, of course - fresh, clean, composed and wonderful. But golden giraffe wall sconces!!! We'll see them in next season's Anthropologie catalog, I'm sure.

Poor wee little church! At least now it's a restful *and* a productive space - something its original builders were hoping for when they first constructed it, I'm sure (although to an entirely different purpose).

I say, give 'em the old motion-activated dropping spider routine: http://www.buycostumes.com/Dropping-Black-Widow-Spider/58411/ProductDetail.aspx?REF=AFC-party&AID=10482495&PID=1609763&SID=tfc_-_24_10_110630_fe0da59fed236cb7b9e35a1f2eb52566%3A0000

...It might not deter the most dedicated thieves, but the potential for inspiring involuntary fear reactions (and therefore lots of lolz) is quite high, I would think.