Off to Maker Faire Tomorrow

May 18, 2012 at 9:27 pm

This is a huge event. The orientation is science/math/robot/gizmo (Burning Man lite), but there’s a corner called the Homegrown Village, where I’ll be doing Tiny Homes slide shows Saturday, May 19 at 5:30 PM, Sunday, May 20 at 5 PM.

The Faire is a photographer’s cornucopia.

Gen. info: https://makerfaire.com/

Homegrown Village schedule (including gardening, coffee, beekeeping, backyard chickens, etc.): https://shltr.net/KZt0jS

Cool smartphone app for event by O’Reilly: Maker Faire

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In Praise of Barns

May 18, 2012 at 3:57 pm

I’ve always loved barns. Whenever I drive in the country, I seek them out. I shoot photos from the outside, and invariably, since they are seldom locked, from the inside. Many is the time I’ve stepped inside a barn and been stunned by the beauty. The architecture of necessity. My kind of cathedral.

   For years I’ve been meaning to do a book on barns, and have quite a collection of barn books. (This isn’t all of them.)

   I just discovered a drop-dead book of barn photos. I read it in bed last night and ended up putting about 20 markers in on pages with beautiful photos.

   It’s Hand Raised: The Barns of Montana, by Chere Justo & Christine W.Brown, with photos by Tom Ferris. It’s the best barn book I’ve ever seen (and all these barns are in the state of Montana!). See: https://shltr.net/tomsbarns for lots of photos from the book.

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LK Radio Interview in Minnesota

May 17, 2012 at 7:10 pm

When I was in Minnesota, I did a radio interview in Grand Marais at radio station WTIP; this transcription just arrived. I talk about the tiny homes book, the ’60s, and the new generation (20 yr olds) who are discovering the Shelter book.

  I also did a GIMME SHELTER newsletter last week, which I send out to about 600 people at erratic intervals. It’s here: I’m in this 3-month promo blitz (well, blitz for me), and I feel a little odd about all the self-promo, but by golly, it’s just the way things work these days. My goal is to get people to pick up the book and look at it.

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2 Great Old Books on Building

May 17, 2012 at 2:39 pm

Recently someone told me about these 2 books and I got both of them used. How to Build Your Home in the Woods by Bradford Angier (1952) is on building a log cabin (and rustic furniture and details like door latches etc.). The Sunset Cabin Plan Book is a gem from 1938, with drawings and floor plans for very small homes. It’s like the predecessor of Lester Walker’s (also excellent) Tiny Houses. Check out Amazon and also Abebooks (which is often cheaper than Amazon on used books).

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Banner Year Expected For Local Salmon

May 17, 2012 at 1:26 am

Janny Hu, May 6, 2012, SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle): https://shltr.net/KnjCUX

“…Now, thanks to better water management and ocean conditions, biologists are predicting that as many as 820,000 fish – the most in at least seven years – will return to spawn in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta this year.…”

It’s so great when there’s good news like this. Drawing is from one of my treasured books, The Fishes of Alaska, printed 1907 by the Bureau of Fisheries, US Department of Commerce and Labor. The pen and ink drawings are delicately hand tinted.

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Anyone Have Recommendations on Hearing Aids?

May 16, 2012 at 8:54 pm

I need to get one (my latest road trip proved that), but I’m reluctant to get a $2000-$3000 one because I know I’m going to forget about it and jump in the ocean or in a creek or wash my hair. I just don’t have the constant presence of mind to remember to take it out when I get wet (which is often). At the other end of the price scale are $39.95 hearing aids (well, amplifiers), so I figure that there must be hearing aids in the $300-$500 zone that are in between. Anyone have any experience?

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