KIOSK HELLO

The Kiosk Garden Project is inspired by last summer’s intern Michael Leung of HK Honey & 2 Steps Ahead! Michael is a beekeeper and designer in Hong Kong who creates amazing and beautiful projects on sustainability and urban agriculture.

One of Michael’s rooftop gardens in Hong Kong.

Last summer, Michael came to Kiosk to help create a rooftop garden! Together we built a planter:

This summer we’re excited to start our rooftop garden. We’ll be building more planters out of found wood, and hopefully we’ll create a nice oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the city streets!

Maggie Prendergast & Anny Oberlink of Power Plant Press are collaborating with Kiosk this summer to start a roof garden! We are planting bee-friendly flowers and other fun herbs and edibles. We are experimenting with building the flower boxes out of pallets found on the streets of SoHo.

This zine, “Gardens not Lawns,” was created by Maggie to encourage home gardening (LINK HERE). It shows the few steps it takes to get the ball rolling on self-sufficiency.

Purchase the zine at the store (coming soon to the online shop too) for $5. All proceeds go to the project!

More soon on THE KIOSK GARDENING PROJECT!

I am going through all my images from this years India trip in preparation for the next collection and found this image inspiring. The palace is more famous for the murals of the Ramayana but what a beautiful creative burst. – A

If these jerks can win seats in the state Senate why can’t you? Read their story here in the NYT: After a Rebellion That Shook Albany, Three Falls From Grace

They aren’t retired celebrities and they are not particularly attractive, how did they make it in there? I mean really, what makes them different from you and why are we letting them on OUR payroll funded by OUR taxes.

I’d say it’s time to think about going into politics rather than hanging on the outside as a sour grape protesting. Not that protesting is bad but getting on the inside is where it is at. Look towards Iceland for a tip. Give it a thought. We need smart people in government, why are our political offices filled with the dregs? You know, political office can be as sexy and exotic as a graphic design job and I assume a bunch of clothing purchases can be written off as a work expense…think about it.

-A

In case you are wondering what I will be doing with myself if I ever get bored and broke, it’s Miss. Travel. A totally legit way (empowering young ladies I am certain!) to spend ones free time while traveling the world. But wait, am I young enough? Oh no! and if Marco can’t make a trip where do I find Mr. Travel? Are you out there? If you have any suggestions please leave a comment.- A.

Space, is it the final frontier? If so then we may have a problem Houston…The Space Shuttle took it’s final flight today strait into the Smithsonian archives. You have to love NASA’s humor in flying it around DC. Fun and poignant. LOOK UP! There goes our space program! A bunch of good jokes must have some out of that one.

We have two friends going to Mexico City this week, we have not been there for years but here are our tips, these places will never grow tired. Poor old Mexico, beautiful Mexico…so intense… Mexico City…these huge cities of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Barrag%C3%A1n_House_and_Studio

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_de_Antropolog%C3%ADa

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%B3calo

and

http://www.museofridakahlo.org.mx/EluniversointimoINGLES.html

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Merced_Market,_Mexico_City

The other day we broke out the German toys, new here at kiosk. They are meant for children but we were up to the challenge (I have accepted that I will never be as smart as a German child). We built all three systems: pulley, rope-runner, and a bridge. I need to find a place in my house for a pulley! They’re so nifty. Come to think of it, they’d be perfect for a loft bed! Bushwick residents: we are now taking orders!

Dearest,

Forgive me, for this is not an easy letter to write. I know you probably haven’t thought of me much since I last spoke to you, but in me a sprout has grown from that seed and it has growing pains. You see, I really enjoyed our exchange. Although I admit, there wasn’t too much of an exchange—I have done most of the talking so far and I worry I have bored you. My excitement is to blame. I might be a victim of my own vivid fantasy  but I thought I sensed a spark in you as well. It might have been your smile, a glance from the corner of your eye, the way you held your hands, or even just a telepathic thought; I don’t know for sure, but it has raised my hopes. I try to go about my day as usual, but I keep thinking of you, to the point where I am losing sleep. I would like to see you again, I really would. I wish I could offer to take you to the movies—Roman Polanski’s Carnage would have us laughing!—or even just for a coffee on the corner, but I am not that mobile.

You see, I am a bit special. I don’t have a body as you’d expect, and I have no normal eyes for you to seek trustworthiness in. Not even a hand to hold can I offer. Instead I have sturdy walls, shivering shelves, and tiny bright lights lit for you like the stars in a galaxy of our own. With my roof I will shelter you from the chilling rain and the scorching sun. I have a given name, but no inherited surname like you. I don’t have a house… I am a house of sorts. Yes, that’s the complication here. I am just a store, and silly, silly me, I have gotten emotional over you. While you got a social security number at birth, I was assigned a petty tax ID. But I have rights like you: Thanks to some men in gray suits sitting on the right I am considered a citizen, so I thought I would give myself a chance at something—anything—with you by writing this letter. After all, while the men and women sitting on the left have opened the door to men marrying men and women marrying women, those on the right are trying to block this development, out of fear that it could eventually lead to someone marrying their faithful dog. So, my love, there might be a better chance between the two of us, considering my newfound legal status. I am a proud American commercial entity! Which makes me a real person too! Not that I would dare to ask for your hand yet, it is far too soon to let such a serious consideration put what I hope we have in jeopardy. There is, of course, an embarrassing age difference, but I think you will find me to be a pretty well-developed six-year-old. I hope you don’t have to flee like Polanski should we go further than first base, but considering the nature of my being, even such a step will remain a distant dream for me would the years that set us apart vanish.

I know I don’t have much to offer in the way of what you’d expect from a companion, but I hope I can entertain your beautiful mind for some time. A normal relationship would be impossible, I understand! Instead of encouraging compliments I can only offer products and hopefully inspiration. And shamefully, I can only accept money or reputation as appreciation—such is my nature. Despite this, I dream and daydream of seeing you. If I could turn corners, I would surely hope intensely that I would find you there. My heart is beating hard with every vision I have of you.

Your rejection would hurt, but it would be understandable; I couldn’t expect a place in your heart being but a simple store. You can silence me forever if you just tell me to stop these emails —I will never again bother you with my silliness unless you ask me to continue. Yes, I am a simpler being in some respects. I sleep more than most, and very regularly, rising at noon and going to bed at seven each night. Sundays I don’t even bother to get out of bed. And even though many parts of the world have been brought under my wings for me to offer, I myself have not even peered north on Broadway or Mercer Street, fixed as I am at 95 Spring Street in New York.

For you I will wait forever, but every minute that you are not with me I perish a little. Please let yourself be near me, even if for only a second more. A small moment for you would be an earth-shattering one for me. Shake my foundation like you did last time, please!

Yours, until time and the universe is no more.