Bob Wise said, “Try it out.” I hesitated, not having been on a skateboard for 3+ months. “Come on,” he said, and we went outside. He showed me how to use the handheld wireless throttle, and it was remarkable. I’m gonna go back and suit up and take it for a longer ride. Fun! No intention of buying one ($1500), but Wise seems to be OK with me taking a cruise. It’s got forward/backward controls, you use the latter for braking. It’ll go uphill. I now have an arm brace for my recently fractured wrist, slowly working my way back into skating. A lot more careful from here on out.
Three to four years ago, I did a lot more writing of posts than I do now. These days I’m working on other digital forms of communication (takes time) as well as our old school hold-in-your-hands treasures called books, and in the midst of writing, photographing, editing, and laying out our next major book, Small Homes.
Once in a while I like to slip in a post as of the old days. Can we talk?
It’s been raining like mad. Marin county reservoirs are spilling over. Shasta Lake, NorCal’s big one, is at 81% now—a welcome relief after all the sad years of bare banks. Went out a few days ago with friends to see cascading waterfalls; power of our magic mountain. Toots: “Love the Rain”:
Small Homes, Our Next Book
The book is growing daily. It’s a lot like gardening. I am having a lot of back-and-forth emails with builder/contributors, often in search of large enough photo files. (What works on a monitor won’t work in high-quality printing.) I’m over half-way through, doing layout with a 5-year-old Brother color copy machine, scissors and scotch tape before they go to Rick for InDesign/Photoshop precision, enhancement, and preparation for our printers in Hong Kong. You can see 17 sneak previews here: https://www.theshelterblog.com/?s=preview
Scotland Shelter Exhibition
There is a festival of architecture in Scotland now, sponsored by the Fife Contemporary Arts Center. It’s called “Shelters,” and features an entire room exhibiting our work, with photo and page blowups, and our building books on tables (below). It’s open now at the Kircaldy Galleries (Kircaldy is about 12 miles north of Edinburgh, on the east coast of Scotland) and runs through June 5, 2016.
I’ll be doing a slide show presentation on May 10th, at Kircaldy Galleries, titled “50 Years of Natural Building,” chronicling our building books from Shelter in 1973 up to the present.
The Shelter Blog
We have finally increased the amount of original material on our blog (as opposed to mostly references to material already posted elsewhere). Check it out: https://www.theshelterblog.com/. Note: when you go looking for it, you need to type in the “the” to get the correct URL. If you type in “shelterblog,” it will go to the wrong place.
Driftwood Shacks: Anonymous Architecture Along the California Coast
My first ever art exhibit; I’m pretty excited to be doing this. On display will be about 24 of my photos, shot on various northern California beaches over the last 15 years. At the Bolinas Museum, opening reception April 2, 2016, 3-5 PM, 38 Wharf Road, Bolinas, Calif
(Of interest only to people with injuries.) My broken wrist (skateboarding) is maybe 80% healed (hmm, Shasta 81%, wrist 80%—all to the good!). I explored a lot of modalities, including comfrey (also called “knitbone”), calcium citrate, bone broth, prunes and bananas (yes!), marijuana patches and salves, stretching, and wrist braces. Info on my previous posts (including over 30 comments here: https://www.lloydkahn.com/2015/12/20/did-i-say-i-was-going-to-give-up/ and I’ll soon be doing a special post updating the methods for hastening healing. (I did a lot of research.)
45 Years of Publishing
I can’t believe it. I’m 80, and have never been busier or more productive in my life—and in an extraordinary profession full of wonderful, intelligent people. I don’t even mind all the email and business stuff, but I love shooting photos, doing layout, and especially having the chance to do an exhibit of my photos.
This is exactly the kind of building I’d be looking for if I wanted to live in a city (or town) these days. I’d first check to see that the foundation was solid, and there were no rotting floors to deal with. (The roof looks pretty good, and the eaves do not seem to be sagging, which usually indicates the foundation is not disintegrating.) It would be exciting to fix a place like this up.
Bob Wise said, “Try it out.” I hesitated, not having been on a skateboard for 3+ months. “Come on,” he said, and we went outside. He showed me how to use the handheld wireless throttle, and it was remarkable. I’m gonna go back and suit up and take it for a longer ride. Fun! No intention of buying one ($1500), but Wise seems to be OK with me taking a cruise. It’s got forward/backward controls, you use the latter for braking. It’ll go uphill. I now have an arm brace for my recently fractured wrist, slowly working my way back into skating. A lot more careful from here on out.
