See shells “A box without hinges, key, or lid,Yet golden treasure inside is hid.” —from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit There is no simpler example of the miracle of life than the egg. It is to an animal what a seed is to a plant; it contains the genetic information, as well as the nourishment, that […]
See shells “A box without hinges, key, or lid,Yet golden treasure inside is hid.” —from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit There is no simpler example of the miracle of life than the egg. It is to an animal what a seed is to a plant; it contains the genetic information, as well as the nourishment, that […]
So you want to build green, eh? You’ve come to the right year. Five years ago—heck, two years ago—if you were searching for an architect to design your sustainable house, a builder to put it together, or a store to supply its fixtures and finishes, you would have had far fewer choices than in 2008. […]
Haven’t been keeping up with our Green Scene section for the last couple of years? We forgive you. Here, in very condensed form, is some of the vocabulary you’ll need if you want to build a green home, green your current home, or just impress your friend the architect. Certifications LEED: Nationally touted green building […]
Way back when the 21st century was young and the president was just a horse’s ass instead of a deceptive, calculating horse’s ass, I worked for a Realtor in Bethesda, Maryland—one of the top-selling Realtors in the nation, she’d have you know. And the first thing she did when she got yet another multi-million-dollar listing […]
Sometime in the mid-19th century, a small village in southern Albemarle County known as Mount Israel took its official name from a leading resident, Roland Bates. By then, the town was already bustling due to its place alongside the commercial thoroughfare that stretched from Staunton to Scottsville. It was called Plank Road because the lush […]
Last time we took a good look at the ecoMOD house in Fifeville, it had yet to be transformed into the high-concept dwelling designed and built by a team of UVA students. Back then, it was a ramshackle mid-19th-century home that had narrowly escaped demolition. So when it caught our eye this time—looking urban and […]
Just like The Economist is kind of one-stop shopping for the thinking person who doesn’t have time to read The Wall Street Journal every day, More Intelligent Life is one-stop shopping for those poor, busy souls who don’t have time to religiously read The Economist, Salon, ArtForum, The New York Times’ Style Section, etc. The […]
Where’s the Prime beef? You may be asking yourself this question. Turns out, the USDA’s grading for top-quality beef—after Prime, it’s Choice, then Select, then…you don’t really want to know—isn’t readily available around here. There are probably two reasons for that: One, it’s not readily available anywhere—only about 3 percent of beef produced in this […]
Johanna Fateman is a modern day Renaissance woman. She’s a writer, member of electro-feminist punk band Le Tigre, has an MFA in painting and runs a hair salon in New York’s West Village.