Wait, It’s September Already?
Yes, that’s right. Blink and Summer will be over. But not just yet, as we have three more Summer Saturdays to explore.
Let’s get to it…here’s what I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering this week. (After the Subscribe button…would love to have you on board and it’s totally free.)
Watching: Never Too Small (A Channel About Small Living Spaces)
Okay, I mentioned a couple of weeks back that I’m semi-obsessed with the content from Living Big in a Tiny House — the YouTube channel that lives up to its name — and so I can thank/blame the YT algorithm for delivering this recommendation: Never Too Small.
If Living Big… is a testament to independent places that are mostly nature-adjacent, then Never Too Small brings you a much different take: how to live if you are in a big city and have to shoehorn all your stuff into a really small apartment space.
(Also, and bear with me here, there’s a little bit of a “hey, we’re architects” angle to these stories, and/or an “access to capital” thing that makes these places work.)
For starters, take a look at this chap, a New Zealand architect who converted a garage — which his charming Kiwi accent calls a “GARE-ij” — into an apartment that needs to be seen to be believed.
This next one is in Milan, and is a much-smaller space than the New Zealand one above. Ultra-chic; and it helps that the designer has also worked designing hotel experiences, so some of the little touches are really fun. (TV cart on wheels that serves as a room divider?)
Finally, this one is in Lisbon and…the courtyard? Oh. My. Goodness. The transformation must be seen to be believed.
Never Too Small has its own print magazine, and you can subscribe at this link.
Reading: ‘Semisesquicentennial Frustration,’ An Essay from John Puccio
This was excellent. John Puccio has been a friend for more than 20 years, and his writing on his Substack — called Sailing to Byzantium — goes deep into American History.
In this particular place, John spends time researching just where in the town of Chatham, New Jersey — John’s former hometown — General George Washington may have visited a family that suffered a brutal Revolutionary War loss in their family.
You can read more at this link below. I loved this article, as it channeled my own inner Ken Burns.
Listening to: Two Recent Song Obsessions…from Wednesday and Ladytron
I’ve got a buddy from school named Ken and we like to send music recommendations back and forth. He sent me a song from the band Wednesday and I had to share it here; in part because he found it, sent it to me, and then…like magic…I seem to hear it everywhere. (Bonus points for the 12:5 aspect ratio in this video.)
I responded with this: a live KEXP performance by the band Ladytron that I cannot get out of my head.
Please enjoy, especially lead singer Helen Marnie’s IDGAF energy, and her glorious gray hair. We Stan.
Rediscovering: NBC’s ‘Get High on Yourself Week’
It was a September 1981 NBC experiment, of sorts; it also may have been part of a Hollywood producer named Robert Evans fulfilling his public service requirement after a cocaine possession charge.
Much has been said this past week about Ryan Reynolds remarking that the 80s traumatized him; this video may be part of the reason why.
Finally: My Interview with ‘Handy Ginger Gal’ on The Vandy Program
Yeah, this was big fun: what happens when a couple decides to decamp from Canada — think COLD WINTERS — and move to Costa Rica? Ginger spills the details.
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend, y’all!
Dave