The Map is Mostly Water | Simon Sarris | Substack

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[subscribers only] Office Hours & Tidings

The Map is Mostly Water Office Hours are open For about 2 days. What do you need feedback or advice on, what questions do you have, what secret trouble…

4 hrs ago •

Why Buy a House (or Land)?

A lesson in ignoring economics

Apr 15 •

March 2024

notes on building blocks

Mar 14 •

December 2023

Efforts and Goals and Joy

There was joy in concentration, and the world afforded an inexhaustible wealth of projects to concentrate on. There was joy in effort, and the world…

Dec 31, 2023 •

November 2023

Audiobooks Are Books and They’re Also Practice

Speak low if you speak love. — Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing I’m very fond of audiobooks. There is something endearing, maybe even romantic, about…

Nov 11, 2023 •

October 2023

Let the world dawn on you (influences pt. 2)

I know the houses too. As I walk along they seem to run forward in the streets to look out at me from every window, and almost to say: "Good-morning…

Oct 7, 2023 •

August 2023

[subscribers only] Ask me Anything

And I thoroughly understand that the god is this way: To the wise, always a poser of riddles in divine speech, but to the foolish a teacher of l…

Aug 13, 2023 •

July 2023

Reading is alluring. It has a nameless quality beyond satisfying desires for information and pleasure. Despite more colorful and interactive media…

Jul 17, 2023 •

Everything I know about gardening

I have been sharing pictures of flowers growing around my house, mostly little things like poppies and roses, or my fields, and several people have…

Jul 2, 2023 •

June 2023

Agency and Schooling (and gardening)

Dear friends, Over at Palladium I have written School is Not Enough. The beginning may be familiar to some readers, the post is an elaboration of my…

Jun 7, 2023 •

April 2023

Sympathies (influences pt. 1)

One of my goals in life is to become head waiter of a refined cafe (white apron, silver tray), with tables set in a quiet and shaded garden. The patrons…

Apr 24, 2023 •

Designing a New Old Home: Light

In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. — Robert Louis Stevenson, Bed…

Apr 12, 2023 •

March 2023

A lot with a little

Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest, Lend less than thou owest — The Fool, King Lear Some works are better for their brevity. Fan…

Mar 10, 2023 •

February 2023

Dispatches from childhood

Humility is the virtue of seeing each sunrise as truly new. Little children have no trouble with this perspective, they could not live any other way…

Feb 23, 2023 •

January 2023

The Oak and the Reed

Dear friends, there is a tale, The oak one day said to the reed: You have good reason to curse nature — A simple sparrow for you is a heavy burden. The…

Jan 8, 2023 •

December 2022

How to Cook for Odysseus

Health is not merely about one’s diet, but it feels like a natural place to start. What follows are a few beliefs of my own.

Dec 30, 2022 •

What is Good Within Social Networks

I think we are still in the early days of social networks. We are only just beginning to figure them out. We certainly underestimate how positive and…

Dec 2, 2022 •

November 2022

[subscribers only] Ask Me Anything about My Home (or Yours)

This is mostly in relation to Designing a New Old Home, landscaping, and timber framing a Goose Palace, though if you have other questions feel …

Nov 18, 2022 •

Designing a New Old Home: Materials and Hardware

After your floorplan, and along with your use of sunlight, the materials you choose will make the biggest difference in the mood that inhabits your…

Nov 16, 2022 •

Sketches of Beauty, Shades of Remoteness

A little moth asked the other day, what makes something beautiful? I wonder and doubt if I could ever give a fulfilling answer. As a topic it is almost…

Nov 12, 2022 •

October 2022

Building The Goose Palace

The man who is most likely to ruin the place he loves is exactly the man who loves it with a reason. The man who will improve the place is the man who…

Oct 25, 2022 •

The King and the Hermit

Dear friends, there is a tale, Long ago there lived a king who had two sons. Both children were overindulgent in spending and habits, and the king was…

Oct 6, 2022 •

September 2022

Designing a New Old Home: The Elements

Heating and Cooling and Airflow Ensuring your house works well with the natural world is one of the most crucial parts of designing a home. Like I wrote…

Sep 18, 2022 •

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