First I hold the entire universe in my mind then I paint /  by Mirena Rhee

First I hold the beginning in my mind and then I paint,

I hold all the black holes in my mind,

And then I paint,

I hold all the trees in my mind and then I paint,

I hold the entire universe all the planets all the galaxies slowly spiraling away,

I hold all the space in between,

And then I look at my brushstrokes from the previous day,

They have little ridges just like the rocks,

And I am like thats funny.

I'm totally fucking alone.

My job is to see /  by Mirena Rhee

My job is to really see.

Painting is seeing.

I'm glad someone is looking at this particular part of the universe.

I want to make sure that at least one creature in the universe is seeing this thing properly. All its details and play of light and shadow and three dimensional shapes.

Minimalism for the New Millennium - The couch /  by Mirena Rhee

I watch people move all the time in New York City and I'm astonished at the lengths people go to to move some bulky furniture.

I used to do that too.

Every piece of bulky furniture you buy will end up costing you thousands of dollars over your lifetime, and thousands of hours of your life.

First, you are going to spend hours looking for the right piece.

Then you have to buy it.

It means you have to spend the hours to earn it.

It will most likely replace something you need.

Then you have to move it in place once it arrives.

It's going to take the space in your head and in your room of something truly important, like having fun and working on creative projects you love.

Then you have to fill it with stuff, butts, or whatever.

You're going to spend hours putting things in and out of it over its lifetime.

You're going to end up buying more stuff so you can put stuff in it.

You are going to spend hours taking care of it.

It's going to take the place of air in your room.

It's going to take space in your mind.

It's usually going to be brown.

And then one day you are going to stop liking it.

You are going to start hating it.

It's going to eat you alive for days.

You are going to try to sell it or put it in storage.

Or you will need to move and take it with you.

The moving company will come, wrap it up, load it on the truck, transport it, unload it, put it up in the new house, and unwrap it.

The time's going to come when you are going to be fed up with it anyway.

You are going to try to sell it or put it in storage.

This will cost you hours of your life and the storage is going to cost you fees over your lifetime.

You're going to begin the vicious circle of trying to find a new piece.

Once I bought a $5,000 couch from Macy's.

I think I spent 3 weeks after taxes working for it.

It took me two sets of movers to move it upstairs.

It took me another set of movers to move it to a new place.

I loved it but for the most part, it was just there.

At some point, I used it as a bed but I could have just slept on a futon on the floor.

I sold it to a gay couple who loved it and I was happy to get rid of it.

But before that I had other people come and sit on it and didn't like it and didn't buy it.

The thing is that I still think about it.

Free your space and your mind.

Always keep in mind that bulky furniture will cost you years of your life.

I currently do not own any furniture.

I only use whatever I find on the street in New York and will happily put everything back.

Just ordered my Elon Musk biography at the New York Public Library /  by Mirena Rhee

Make sure to go to your nearest public library and order your copy. This way libraries know that it's in demand and will order copies.

I'm thinking it would be really useful to have a picture book for kids so they are inspired to build things rather than watch other people do things.

I think Elon Muskery should be taught in schools.

Ended up pirating it though, together with the audiobook. They should get an elon musk AI voice to narrate it though because it sounds a bit lethargic for the kind of intensity elon usually speaks with, should come with the style and delivery.

The evilest things in the western civilization besides suburbia are the couch, and the kitchen cabinets /  by Mirena Rhee

People have kitchens with tens of cabinets in them as if they have herds of roasted pigs waiting to be put away. Why do you fucking need more than one plate per person? What kind of special utensils are you going to be chewing with?

Imagine The enormity of the atrocity of the thousands of suburban kitchens in the suburban homes. It's cabinets upon cabinets of evil, particle board of the destruction of civilization. It is just the fact that people need this just to chew lunch.

I think restaurants are the fourth evilest thing. Why would I want to go in a room to watch other people chew. Drinking and chewing is okay though I think. With friends.

Some ideas instead of kitchen cabinets:

Paintable wall space where you and your kids draw daily.

Aquarium without fish.

Space to make regular art installations at home with found objects.

Room to jump rope.

Room for your favorite hobby like carving sculptures from found wood.

Large books illustrated with the greatest art in the world.

Poetry books and empty journals to write poetry. Whatever poetic you found throughout the day you write it down.

A wall where you write your dreams in large letters daily.

A wall where you paint large cartoons of funny things.

A small zen garden that you could rearrange daily.

Maybe light sculpture.

Disco ball and a dance floor.

Maybe a swing or at least a rope.