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TV for cats
My daughter likes having our cats hang out in her room with her when she does her homework, but when they start to bother her by rubbing against her or standing on her papers, she told me she shows them YouTube videos made for cats. I didn’t believe they worked, but I tried one (it shows mice and birds eating seeds) and my cat was engrossed for the entire 14-minute video. – MF

The importance of play
Andy Goldsworthy is an artist I pay attention to. Goldsworthy is famous for his playful, intricate rearrangements of leaves, twigs, ice, and stones in natural settings. An incredibly enchanting documentary about his work, Rivers and Tides, shows him as he works outside overcoming pieces that keep failing, so for a brief moment I see the world as the artist does, as invisible flows revealed by play. Recently the same documentarian made a second film recording a more mature Goldsworthy working on more ambitious projects. This doc, titled Leaning into the Wind, accomplishes the same trick of helping me see the world differently, and via Goldworthy’s example, to take play seriously. – KK

Fall asleep faster
When I have trouble sleeping listening to the Autogenic Relaxation by Meditation Oasis usually knocks me out. The audio guides me through relaxing all my limbs starting with my feet. I rarely make it past my neck. Here is a link to download the meditation. — CD

Duplicate travel items
I have found it useful to purchase a duplicate set of cords, cables, chargers, desktop items, earphones, etc that I carry in a dedicated bag just for travel. Increasingly I’ve added duplicate articles of clothing, shoes, hats to my carry-on luggage. They never leave. That way I don’t have to pack, but more importantly, I don’t ever forget anything. The cost of duplication is minimal for the benefits. – KK

OXO Good Grips silicone pot holder
This pot holder ($10) is a padded fabric envelope with a knobby silicone sheet on one side, Nothing can slip from its grip. I even use it to open stubborn jar lids. – MF

Make your portrait a poem
I love poetry, so this Google AI experiment “PoemPortraits“ was something I enjoyed playing with. I donated the word “supernatural” which then produced a unique two-line poem, pulling from more than 20 million words of 19th century poetry. Then I took a selfie with my laptop camera and the poem became my face. I am now a part of the ever-expanding and evolving machine-created poem. — CD

05/19/19