Attention Inventory: Kyoto gurus, Angel food cake, Sunscreen endorsements
Nothing succeeds without taking stock
Attention Inventory is a list of what’s front of mind—and meant for making your own.
This month, observing workday habits, spongey desserts, summer necessities, and some other nonsense. Pay attention to what occupies your time (and mind)….
1. We Do Not Work Alone
In Kyoto I basically lost my mind visiting the home and studio of potter Kawai Kanjirō (1890-1966). The house is inconspicuous and modest, a living archive of details that reward a closer look; the embodiment of sturdy, substantive permanence, a la:
Long wooden benches framed around tables designed for long lingering sessions. Brass utensils and custom bamboo light fixtures. I was really into some stools made out of repurposed mortars for pounding rice.
There’s a lot to learn from Kanjiro, but a souvenir that’s stuck with me came from the little stapled booklet I picked up while I was there that transcribes an interview from the early 1950s. Though a student of the Zen Buddhist tradition, Kanjiro’s perspective was guided by a reverence for—and a trust in—the unknown: the unknown self that comes out of us, the unknown possibilities that influence us. And a belief in anyone’s inherent capacity for expression and creation.
“[When] I want to see a new self…I work. The unknown self drives us on always. It is ultimately faith that lies at the bottom of it all. We do not work alone.”
2. Angel Food Cake
I’d like to collectively ~ lift up ~ the idea that we need to bring Angel Food Cake back.
Recently a friend made a cheesecake, which felt close. Then another friend shared this similarly fluffy option. And yet, not quite.
Is there anything more delightful than the spongy, ethereal cloud of an AFC topped with whipped cream (…honestly it should be Cool Whip) and a few sliced strawberries?!
Where are my Angel innovators? Call me.
3. Offer to Host
If I think about the best experiences I have had, the relationships that matter to me, the conversations that have nourished me from the inside out…they have often happened at my house.
Look: I don’t want to host. It’s so much cozier and easier to just cocoon myself in my obsessive Virgo control issues and rot while waiting for someone to invite ME over.
But to host is to open up a way bigger life, where the intimacy of your inner world is required to face the reality of what you project.
Notes:
- For the love of god, cook something easy. Do NOT try a recipe for the first time.
- Remember that no one cares. They are happy to be invited. They are happy to have the burden lifted.
- Do learn how to make a proper martini.
- Always put out a snack (corn chips! the briniest olives you can muster! a crispy cornichon! a thinly sliced radish and a hunk of room temp butter with a mountain of salt!)
Everyone just wants to be part of something.
4. SPF Evangelism
I have 3 sunscreen recommendations for you, for no reason other than I have done a lot of research and I care about your wellbeing. [And though I wish I was profiting off this….I just cannot bring myself to care enough to figure out how.]
1. This is—full stop—the best sunscreen I have ever used. I’m not even going to explain it because it just does everything you’ve always wanted a facial sunscreen to do.
2. And if you’re like, ‘Lady just give me an Amazon link’…honestly this is great and SO affordable. I wore this daily on a trip from hell to San Antonio amid 99 degree days, high sun, infernal humidity, and lived to tell the tale.
3. An additional middle-of-the-road alt to the above that I have bought and repurchased. DO NOT buy this off Amazon, it’s fake (…lol literally who has the time for this??)
5. Vaster, Narrower Knowledge
I have been wanting to expand my education around design history. I’d like to understand a little more of the threads between what I resonate with and its larger history, to see more context. (i.e., don’t just tell me the chair is a Jeanneret knockoff but tell me why I care about Jeannert?)
Maybe this is a question, not an endorsement, but this curiosity has put my brain into “return to the source” mode: wanting to know more, but with narrowed input. I’m auditing a course in the fall related to the history of design, and am curious in the meantime for where you go to seek broad understanding of an idea, a subject, a theme. Do you have any favorite design documentaries or books?
Send a postcard,
LP
love this, from a trying not to rot virgo
A great source to watch and learn!
https://youtube.com/@historyofid?si=4w8SyflNEB1ce0wk