Lee LeFever
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leelefever.com
Lee LeFever
@leelefever.com
Author of The Art of Explanation co-founder of Common Craft. Currently: Vibes Project - An earnest effort to understand and explain coolness and nerdiness as human qualities. At home on Orcas Island, WA.
What does "The Rule of Law" really mean? This video (2.5 mins) compares it to "The Rule of Man" and explains why violent revolutions were fought to prevent individuals from ruling everyone. Please share. #NoKings
June 18, 2025 at 6:54 PM
A new Vibes Project series called Rethinking Nerdiness is coming soon. Here’s a preview of the intro. Subscribe for free at vibedna.com
March 3, 2025 at 7:20 PM
This captures where I'm going with the Vibes Project: www.vibedna.com/p/lets-zoom-...
January 29, 2025 at 6:35 PM
When I was doing research on the Roots of Cool series, I asked about the Yoruba term "itutu" in the r/Nigeria subreddit. I wanted to validate the connection between "ititu" and the idea of cool composure that is part of coolness today.
A kind user provided a nice summary and example:
January 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Here’s the series finale: a summary of four qualities of “coolness”. If you’re curious, this is a good place to catch up: www.vibedna.com/p/part-5-the...
January 17, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Geez, the Led Zepplin concert film The Song Remains the Same is so dumb. The performances are fine, but the fantasy sequences… yikes.
Also, Robert Plant used to have some bad teeth.
January 11, 2025 at 5:52 AM
The most recent Roots of Cool post came out yesterday. It's about the birth of jazz and the musicians, styles, and movements that produced it and made it attractive to Americans of all races. At its heart is the cool quality of authentic expression. www.vibedna.com/p/roots-of-c... #VibesProject
January 9, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The books I read in 2024 relating to the Vibes Project.
December 30, 2024 at 5:16 PM
Tomorrow, I'm publishing Part 2 of my series on the Roots of Cool. It's about the origins of "hipness" and features Cab Calloway (below) and his Hepster's Dictionary, from 1938. Get it in your inbox: VibeDNA.com
December 18, 2024 at 12:22 AM
Next week I’m starting a 5 post series (1 per week) on “The Roots of Cool” which traces the modern notion of coolness across centuries and continents leading up to WWII.
Get the series in your inbox for free: VibeDNA.com
I sent this to subscribers yesterday:
December 6, 2024 at 5:54 PM
An antique music collector found one of the earliest recordings of country music. It was performed in 1891 by New Orleans comedian and musician Louis Vasnier.
Vasnier was a Black man, which contradicts what many people assume about the origins of country music. From the WaPo article: #VibesProject
December 2, 2024 at 6:34 PM
It should surprise no one that our modern conception of coolness has origins in West African culture.
From the book Cool Rules by Dick Pountain and David Robins:
#VibesProject
December 2, 2024 at 5:56 PM
The most bearded I’ve ever been.
November 24, 2024 at 7:22 PM
Over the past year, I created a wall size art installation called The Solstice Wall. It was a passion project that consumed me for months. I documented every part of the process here: leelefever.com/category/sol...
November 15, 2024 at 4:52 PM
Since 2017, I’ve lived on Orcas Island, off the coast of Washington State, with my wife, Sachi, and dog, Piper. Orcas is ~55 sq miles with ~5k residents. We built a home during the pandemic and I’ll be here forever. I’m often in the garden, on the water, and building things. This is Piper:
November 15, 2024 at 4:52 PM
It’s not ALL clouds and rain in the #PNW in November
November 14, 2024 at 6:56 PM
Today’s haul from the garden. A neighbor gave us Chesnok red garlic a few years back and that’s about all we grow. #gardening #garlic
July 4, 2023 at 5:05 PM
We'll soon install a bit of original art on this wall. See the line the shadow casts? It moves up the wall as the sun sets. On last year’s solstice we marked the line in 15 minute increments. Soon we’ll use the lines for an art installation that’s sundial-like. #SolsticeWall
June 1, 2023 at 2:30 PM