Why WordPress is the Best Blog Software
This post is available for free syndication. You are welcome to use this on your blog, website, newsletter, ezine etc. The only condition is that you use it whole, unaltered in any way and with any links as they appear here. In most instances these articles have appeared under my pen name, Steve A. Wolfe, elsewhere. Occasionally they are published here first.
All of these posts are or probably will be published on Ezine Articles
(This has also been published at another of my websites: Easy Blog Creation.)
There are many blogging tools around, but WordPress is now regarded as the best blog software. This means that more people are working on it, making tools for it, and are generally involved and invested in it than in any other platform.
Easy Set Up and Customization
A huge amount of time and energy has been spent making WordPress easy for the non-geek to work with. What used to take a lot of work and a fair amount of knowledge can now be done with a couple of clicks of a button. This includes changing the entire look of the blog and adding plugins. There are literally thousands of themes available for download and they can be previewed and integrated into a blog within seconds. Plugins add functionality to a blog, for anything from the boring stuff like spam filters to fun stuff like social network integration and video integration. Again, a couple of clicks and the job is done. Read more…
Categories: Blogging and Web 2.0 Tags: best blog software, content management system, making wordpress easy, themes and plugins, Why WordPress
Calming Down – 5 Simple Tips
Life is stressful and we all need ways of calming down. Here are five such ways that require no specialized equipment or expensive club memberships. Read more…
Categories: Health Tags: best for relaxing, breathing through the nose, calming down, life is stressful, mouth breathing
Minimalist Interior Design – Below the Surface
Minimalism
Minimalist interior design came about as a direct result of the Minimalist art movement which first surfaced in the 1950s in New York and dominated the art world through the 1950s and 1960s. The art movement came from the overarching movement of the time, Modernism. This is why the terms Modernism and Minimalism are often used almost interchangeably when discussing design. While it is accurate to say that a minimal approach is a modern one, the reverse is not always true.
Minimalist art is self-contained art; external references and emotion are avoided. Interior designers who work with minimalism tend to broadly follow this ideal. The approach to minimalism in interior design is less rigorous than it is in the art world. This is to be expected as a building’s interior has to serve a function beyond the aesthetic–it has to be conducive to the act and to the art of living.
There are several distinct objectives within minimalist interior design and the task of the designer is to make these rationales come together as seamlessly as possible. This is no easy task and involves a lot more than knocking down a couple of non-supporting walls and painting everything white.
The Spiritual
The first objective is the spiritual. Minimalist interior design aims for a sense of calm and peace. People’s surroundings have a huge impact on the way that they feel and consequently act. To this end colors tend to be extremely pale or white so as not to induce an emotional response. The use of whites and pastels on walls also maximizes the reflection of light giving a soft, diffuse illumination that is not harsh or uncomfortable. The minimalist interior designer uses light to define the forms and the spaces where other designers would use materials and finishes.
Open plan designs are favored as this type of architecture promotes a calm, detached feeling. Patterns and textures are generally not used unless they are essential to an object’s function. An unfinished brick wall could easily be incorporated into minimalist design as the texture is directly related to its function, but wallpaper with an image of bricks would be about as anti-minimalist as it is possible to be.
The Practical
The second objective is the practical. Multi-purpose objects are important in this regard. The floor that is also a radiator, windows arranged for the gathering of heat as well as light, and even the sofa that converts to a bed all follow the minimalist ideal. This multi-purposing ethos also extends to the use of spaces within the home. A committed minimalist will not be happy until every space serves at least two distinct functions.
Energy Efficiency
Thirty years ago this third objective would have been a subset of the practical. The importance of energy conservation in the light of recent discoveries regarding climate change and potential fuel scarcities means that energy efficiency is now an essential part of minimalist design. In fact it could be argued that it is impossible for a home to be considered an example of minimalist design without a serious attempt at energy conservation. At the very least the house should be insulated and all windows double- or triple-glazed. A purist would argue that the minimalist needs to go beyond these standard measures and look at non-fossil fuel options such as geothermal heating or solar panels.
If a designer meets these three objectives, the design produced would undoubtedly be a minimalist one.
Concluding thought
Of course many will slap a coat of white paint on the walls, rip some carpets up, and put a few openings in walls and label it a minimalist interior design, but for a design to be truly minimalist a bottom-up approach is needed. The functioning of the home, spiritually, practically, and energy-efficiently, will to a very large extent dictate its appearance. This is true minimalism and it comes from below the surface.
For much more about decluttering and minimalism check out Minimalist Woman
Or if free minimalist recipes and cooking tips is more your thing Minimalist Cooking
Categories: Minimalism Tags: anti-minimalist, geothermal heating, Minimalist Interior Design, open plan designs
Minimalist Interior Design – More Than Just Surface
Minimalism
Minimalist interior design came about as a direct result of the Minimalist art movement which first surfaced in the 1950s in New York and dominated the art world through the 1950s and 1960s. The art movement came from the overarching movement of the time, Modernism. This is why the terms Modernism and Minimalism are often used almost interchangeably when discussing design. While it is accurate to say that a minimal approach is a modern one, the reverse is not always true.
Minimalist art is self-contained art; external references and emotion are avoided. Interior designers who work with minimalism tend to broadly follow this ideal. The approach to minimalism in interior design is less rigorous than it is in the art world. This is to be expected as a building’s interior has to serve a function beyond the aesthetic–it has to be conducive to the act and to the art of living. Read more…
Categories: Minimalism Tags: interior design, living space, minimalism design, minimalist interior, Modernism, open plan
Understanding Modern Art – Pablo Picasso and Cubism
Cubism – A Working Definition
Cubism originated in the first decade of the twentieth century. It is an abstract art form where the normally observed view is dissected by the artist and then put back together again, but with the conventions of representational art removed. Complex shapes are reduced to basic geometries, depth cues are removed, and faces which would not be visible to the observer from one position are nonetheless represented on the canvas. It is definitely one of the more academic art forms and the first branch of Cubism, Analytic Cubism, was well named.
To understand Picasso and Cubism it is important to know something about both the artist’s development and the state of art at the time. Read more…
Categories: Art Tags: Analytic, Braque, Cezanne, Cubism, Fauvism, Gaugin, Gris, Matisse, Pablo, Picasso, Synthetic
No-Knead Bread – A Great Recipe for Baguettes
This is a really simple recipe for no-knead bread that makes crusty chewy baguettes that go well with everything from plain butter to soups, dipping oils and stews. It is not an artisan bread and doesn’t require nearly the same level of skill or knowledge about the subject. It is a good basic healthy bread, though, with none of the preservatives, flavor enhancers and sweeteners often present in store bought bread. Not a trace of high fructose corn syrup anywhere! Read more…
Categories: Recipes Tags: baguette recipe, basic bread recipe, homemade bread, No-knead bread
Understanding Art – What Is Minimalism?
Most of the great artistic movements can be seen as either an extension of a preceding movement or as a reaction to one. Minimalism falls into both categories. It was a direct and forceful reaction to Expressionism in general and to the raw emotion and anti-intellectualism of Abstract Expressionism in particular. Minimalism was, however, firmly rooted in one overarching movement of the time and that was Modernism, which had already started a reductive process. It also provided the bridge between Modernism and Post Modernism. Put simply, it sought to do away with all external references, especially emotional and historical, and to create art that was completely self contained. Read more…
Categories: Art, Minimalism Tags: abstract art, minimal writing, minimalism, Minimalist art, modern art. post modern, sculpture
Organization – How to Declutter Your Life
There is certainly no shortage of writing on the internet about how to declutter your life. There are lots of lists of suggestions such as:
- Spend 15 minutes a day decluttering a room
- Get rid of any clothing not worn in the last twelve months.
- Reduce the amount of storage space in the home.
- Keep a chart and highlight days when decluttering is done.
- Throw out two things for every new thing introduced into the home.
These lists are all well and good but they all tend to suffer from one problem, and that is putting the cart before the horse. They address the symptom as opposed to the underlying condition. Read more…
Categories: Minimalism Tags: declutter, how to organize, lifestyle, organization, stuff
Food Safety and Hygiene – The Basics
The importance of food safety and hygiene cannot be overstated, as millions of people become sick every year due to not taking the proper precautions when preparing food. Although most do recover, thousands die. The most vulnerable are the young, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 70% of foodborne illness outbreaks occur in foodservice operations and about 20% in the home. Within the foodservice industry the outbreaks were divided roughly evenly between restaurants and hotels, nursing homes, daycare centers and schools, private gatherings, and other settings. Read more…
Categories: Health Tags: CDC, Cross contamination, food poisoning, Food safety, handwashing, hygiene, USDA
Simple Tuna Salad Recipe You Can Make Before Work
Not only is this a simple tuna salad Mediterranean style, but it is also an extremely healthy one. No processed ingredients are used and best of all, the top stays firmly on the mayo jar! This recipe will provide enough for several large plate servings where it is the main attraction or for many more where it is part of a larger catering operation such as a buffet. Of course if it is just for yourself then scale back accordingly. This salad is best made before going to work as the flavors really intensify while it is stored. Read more…
Categories: Recipes Tags: fast tuna, fish, nutritious salad, olive oil salad, Tuna salad, tuna sandwich
