Just skip the Wikipedia entry on Wabi-Sabi and go buy Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers. It’s mind-altering.
Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent and incomplete”.
I’m not a fan of Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits blog (too much listy self-help going on for me) but I did enjoy his books Zen Habits and Zen To Done. His new book, Focus is available as a free PDF as well as a “Full” version with videos, extra chapters (some by guest writers), and interviews.
via mnmal
How did I just hear about this?!
Christ… and ALICIA SILVERSTONE will be there!
… and a bunch of unknowns like David Pogue, John Hodgman, Ken Burns, and Nicholas Negroponte.
[EDIT: I was taking that lords name in vain, he will not, I suspect, be there.]
A friend gave me this for my birthday. Awesome book. I want to tear it apart and frame pages of it.
aja:
A book by one of my favorite artists. Buy immediately.
(I can’t believe I missed the chance to get a signed copy. This is the punishment for having 15,000 unread RSS posts.)
The Twelve Stages of Bread
From: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice:
- Mise En Place – Everything in it’s place is the organizing principle.
- Mixing – In which three important requirements must be met.
- Primary Fermentation – Also called bulk fermentation, win which most of the flavor is determined.
- Punching Down – Also called de–gassing, in which the dough begins to enter its secondary fermentation and individuation.
- Dividing – in which pieces are weighed or scaled, while continuing to ferment.
- Rounding – in which the pieces are given an interim shaping prior to their final shape.
- Benching – also called resting, or intermediate proofing, during which time the gluten relaxes.
- Shaping and Panning – in which the dough is given its final shape prior to baking.
- Proofing – also called secondary or final fermentation, in which the dough is leavened to its appropriate baking size.
- Baking – which may also include scoring the dough and steaming, but in which three vital oven actions must occur.
- Cooling – which is really an extension of baking but must occur before cutting into the bread.
- Storing and Eating – in production baking it’s primarily storing, but home baking usually emphasizes, ahem, eating.
I really love the concept of mise en place. I definitely try to have everything laid out when I’m in the kitchen. But outside of the kitchen I never consider getting everything in place to create. I’m going to try that.


