Alexander Stuart

Magnetic blocks and light box Our son, who is six, is lucky enough to be at a school and in a kindergarten class (with two outstanding teachers) where the importance of block play is fully appreciated. Far more than mere entertainment or diversion, blocks are important tools for learning about spatial relationships (in our online world, too many of us think in two dimensions rather than three), collaboration with others, building design (Frank Lloyd Wright credited childhood block play with inspiring his love of architecture), problem solving - and even urban planning. Our son's class has allowed the growth of "Block Town" - as the children themselves named it - over a period of two months. It now covers almost the entire floor of one classroom, includes an airport runway, a hotel, office buildings, a police station and an aquarium...and has consumed every block available! The children have also made extensive use of tape to bind blocks together into vehicles a

I love this video by Tyler Shields and also the song, Butterflies & Hurricanes , by Muse . Check out more of Shields' fascinating work at TylerShields.com - and thanks to our wonderful friend Felicia Lambreton at Chic & Cultured for pointing me in this direction.

I was emailing a British friend, Mark Willenbrock , in Morocco and he emailed back, "I am in the Sahara." I remarked that it was amazing that he could email from the Sahara on his Blackberry (especially when I can't get iPhone reception in parts of Topanga Canyon) and that I hoped he would enjoy some hot mint tea while he was there - some years ago, when I visited the Sahara, I was invited into a rather grand tent by a local Berber tribesman and served delicious hot tea in a glass on a silver tray. Moments later, this photograph arrived, also from Mark's Blackberry. It struck me how extraordinarily connected our world is - I was sitting in Los Angeles at about 5:30am and he was taking tea in the Sahara. ( Tea in the Sahara is also the title of Book One of Paul Bowles' magnificent novel, The Sheltering Sky .) ( Photograph by Mark Willenbrock. )    

      I love the ocean with a passion, so it was a special thrill to take Hudson (who's six) out kayaking at Malibu - the first time he's been in a kayak. It was a little rocky but we were extremely cautious: life vests, of course, plus a carefully selected point to launch and beach the kayak. Hudson is a good swimmer but even so we stayed fairly close to the beach and did everything we could to ride the rhythm of the waves, which were just beautiful. (Many thanks to our friends for the use of the kayak:) Photographs by Charong Chow and Alexander Chow-Stuart

    I like the Google Lennon "Doodle," created to mark what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday. (He was born on October 9, 1940.) His murder was a tragedy, his music and world view shine on...like the moon and the stars and the sun.