Author: doodledweller
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Quality, Quantity
As parents, we love and want the best for our children. Depending on our cultural upbringing, our surroundings, and who we are, the love for our kids is manifested in different ways. And in this modern age that brings a plethora of offerings, the choices of what to provide for them can be overwhelming. Some…
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The Creative Kid
One way to gauge creativity is the assessment of divergent thinking – the ability to come up with many responses to a question, to be contrasted with convergent thinking – the ability to come up with the correct answer to a problem. For example, to answer the question “how many uses can you think of…
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Kid Lit
There is an on-going public debate over what is appropriate for kids – what they are not allowed to read. That more than 4,000 unique titles were challenged in public libraries and school libraries in 2023 demonstrates the book ban movement’s reach of intensity. When we look at the books being challenged, it is evident…
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The Signature of All Things
I close my eyes and imagine where I would like to be at my death. I think I’d want to be like Alma, hugging a tree far from home, perhaps a magnolia in Tahiti or a cinnamon in the Amazon. Alma Whittaker, the heroine in Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of All Things, was the gifted…
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The Tee
The Tee was birthed in the late 19th century when American miners and stevedores cut their jumpsuits into separate top and bottom garments to cope with the summer heat. By 1913, it became a standard issue in the Navy’s uniform as undergarment. To be worn under a uniform, the crew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirt has…
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Wear Your Scarves
I’ve been collecting scarves. They’re beautiful art works printed or embroidered onto quality fabrics, and best of all, they are affordable. There are so many ways one can wear scarves. You can wear them over your head, wrapped around your neck, draped over your shoulder, belted across your waist, or as an accessory for your…
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The Folds Make The Clothes
When does a piece of cloth become clothing? In ancient Rome, the formal dress was the toga, to be worn during civic occasions. Using a large piece of wool cloth, between 12 to 16 meters in length, it was only folded into pleats and tucks to become an outer garment. To wear an ancient Roman…
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The Cook’s Apron
I wanted to design an apron for home cooks like me, those with penchants for random experiments in the kitchen. Which is to say that though I do not work in a restaurant, I spend lots of time cooking, from baking croissants, coagulating tofu out of soybeans, to fermenting ciders. Consequently, spending lots of time…
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Good Tastes
“What does finesse translate to? It translates into giving a shit.” – Anthony Bourdain To say that folks are interested in fine food and fine dining feels like an understatement. Given the contemporary circulation of books and magazines, television series, and movies about food, it would be more accurate to describe it as an obsession,…
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Bún Bò Huế
The city of Huế seated the last dynasty of Vietnam, the Nguyễn dynasty, until the country became a French colony. Feeding kings and lords, nobilities, commoners, and monks, Huế cuisine has become a class of its own, boasting around 1700 dishes, many being served in little plates and bowls, reminiscent of Hong Kong dim sum…
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