Timeless

Early on in this project, I blogged a few times about my watch. The band had broken and I kept making new ones, improving the design each time. The watch itself finally stopped so instead of buying a new battery, I've been living without a watch. It's made me pay closer attention to my surroundings and I've discovered that clocks are everywhere. I'm less anxious as I wait for the bus or the train because I'm not watching the minutes tick by. Instead, I read a book. Or just stand still. And if I MUST know the time, I just look at my phone.

Close Call

Saturday night I found myself in a situation that wouldn't have occurred back in the Midwest. It was Saturday evening and I had spent the day out and about with some friends. I decided to go out with them that night, but I was far away from home in flip flops and cut off shorts. I could borrow clothes...but Brit and I wear different shoes sizes. What to do?! I was prepared to break the oath and just buy a new pair of shoes, but I was able to find these used Diesel boots at a local clothing swap. Phew!

These clothing swaps are all over NYC. They're brilliant! On Sunday, I traded in 3 items I don't wear and got 3 new ones in return (for $2.75). Why aren't these places all over the Midwest?!

TMI

So, I stopped shaving a little while ago. Partly because I ran out of shaving products and was resisting the urge to buy new ones, part laziness, but mostly out of curiosity. I've been shaving since I was 11 and have been pretty consistent ever since. I wanted to know what my body looked like with all its natural hair. My hypothesis in this experiment is that the body is designed with hair so it must serve a function. Here are the results:

Underarm hair definitely serves a purpose. Odor hasn't been as big of a problem, I sweat less, and arm movement is more comfortable. My skin doesn't stick to itself like it used to. The only downfall; it's summer and I'm too embarrassed to wear tank tops because I feel too self-conscious.

Leg hair doesn't seem to serve much purpose. I feel very masculine with leg hair so I'll probably go back to shaving my legs, but only in the summer. And only to just above the knee.

I also found this great article at salon.com that looks at America's obsession with shaving from an outsider's point of view.

'As Is' Aesthetic

A key component to the Nothing New Project is the appreciation of subtleties; accepting things "as is." I took some pictures around Bushwick to help illustrate what I mean.

furoshiki!

Who knew that I'd have to furnish two new apartments in the year-span of this project? Sunday I moved into my new address in Brooklyn, New York. Eleven months of self-induced concientious consumerism has prepared me for this new culture. I can no longer drive over to Target to pick up "essentials" for my apartment. There isn't one. The practice of creative reuse has now become more necessity than novelty.
During my short stay with Amy, she showed me this blog about furoshiki. Above is my square-of-muslin rendition of furoshiki sock holders.