The Book of Tea

Kakuzo Okakura describes the history, varieties, and ceremonies of tea.

Cardboard wallet

Easy to make and sturdy. A simple vehicle for plain old cash.

Austere sensibilities

Even when she had to make some one a present of the kind called 'useful,' when she had to give an armchair or some table-silver or a walking stick, she would choose 'antiques,' as though their long desuetude had effaced from them any semblance of utility and fitted them rather to instruct us in the lives of the men of other days than to serve the common requirements of our own.

— Marcel Proust

Pocket address book

The Scully company makes a nice plain one.

Hitsuzendo

Zen calligraphy.

Friggebod

Swedish mini-house.

Minimal dishes

Keep only one type of utensil per person.

Heavy wooden doors

Reassuring.

Microfilm

Unlike digital mass storage, microfilm doesn't suffer file format conflicts or require software management. It is legible with just a magnifying glass and light.

Komponierhäuschen

Mahler wrote music in "composition huts" — single room huts with little more than a piano inside.

Manuel Blancafort

Federico Mompou's friend and fellow composer. Wrote tranquil piano music like Peces de joventut. His music served as a "diary without words" for his nature walks.

Root cellar

Stores your winter food without electricity.

Great Depression cooking

Watch

This is the first in a series.

Raku pottery

Notably hand-molded tea bowls.

Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia

Read Lyn Rodley's account of hermitages carved in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Abacus

It's not a circuit; it does its job in full view.

Straight razor

Rather terrifying, but probably manageable if you've grown up using one. Promotes an ethos of quality and maintenance over quantity and disposal. Honing and stropping must feel satisfying.

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey

"About ten years ago I took a job as a seasonal park ranger in a place called Arches National Monument near the little town of Moab in southeast Utah. Why I went there no longer matters; what I found there is the subject of this book."

Candle reflector

Perhaps a few mirrored sconces would be enough to see by.

Land

In a world of paper millionaires, true wealth is immovable property.

Patina

A worn library counter, hollowed stairs, darkened chair arms.

Leather shoes note

Salty slush damages leather, causing swelling and lumps. Wipe salt crust off with vinegar and apply shoe cream.

Leather shoes

For those who find brand logos distasteful.

Primary sources

For instance NOAA and C-SPAN in the US.

Chicken stock

Don't waste the chicken carcass. Make your own stock.