Slide Show Last Night at North House Folk School

Well, I was nervous. I was, ulp, the featured speaker of a 3-day symposium on sustainability and to tell the truth, I’m more comfortable with a lower profile. Plus this was a bunch of competent people. By the time the room filled up, there were 100 people, and I’d say that just about every one of them could build and/or grow and/or create wonderful objects with their very own hands.

   Plus the the MacAir, as it is mysteriously wont to do, was not speaking to the Epson projector (in a language the Epson could understand). I was sweating it. Helpless with the complexities of the digital world. (Doing slide shows with a Carousel projector back in the day was way less risky. Slides in slots. I could see them, etc.)

  We finally got rolling, with some tech advice from the crowd. “Hit option-command-escape.” Well OK.

It was the 12th slideshow I’ve done now, and people all over the country seem to be interested in tiny homes. I told them something that has occurred to me lately,that it’s not necessary for everyone to live in a tiny home. The message here is to go in the direction of smaller. Rather than larger.

   I’m doing a talk at noon today on communication, how I get pics and info into regular books, e-books, newsletters, and blog posts. Methods, materials, techniques. Photography and interviews and email communication. Then back to Duluth and home sweet home Monday. What a great trip this has been!

About Lloyd Kahn

Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands. He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include Shelter, Shelter II (1978), Home Work (2004), Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008), Tiny Homes (2012), and Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers. You can check out videos (one with over 450,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube:

2 Responses to Slide Show Last Night at North House Folk School

  1. Preaching to the choir has at least one advantage, Lloyd — they're less likely to disagree with you. I'm sure you and your slides (eventually) were a hit. Downsizing does work. We have a little house on a big lot, and our dog loves it.
    K

  2. My wife and I just happen to be in town for a half marathon on the Gunflint Trail. We really enjoyed your presentation and thoughts. We are on the down hill side of our careers and have been discussing how we should down size. You made a statement of how tiny homes would be a great idea for young people to start out. We are talking about early retirement and having a "tiny home".
    Thank you for sharing. We felt very lucky and honored to have the chance to listen to you.
    Thank you to the North Folk School for letting us sit in on your night.

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