Derek “Deek” Diedricksen: Micro-Architect & Tiny House “Mad Scientist” from TINY on Vimeo.
“Derek “Deek” Diedriksen is a tough guy to pin down.
His love of tiny architecture is first on a long list of creative pursuits—including radio DJ, comic book artist, musician (currently heading a Rage Against the Machine tribute band), blogger, author and full-time dad.
His blog, Relaxshacks.com, and his book, “Simple Shacks, Humble Homes” is devoted to micro-architecture and living in small spaces, but the structures he builds aren’t necessarily meant for living in full time. Closer to forts or pods, his “Hundred-dollar-homeless huts” and greenhouse-office-shelters are inspired by the salvaged materials that Deek finds in local dumps, thrift stores and second-hand building lots. A sort of D.I.Y. mad scientist, he’s been featured in the New York Times, NPR, Readymade and Make Magazine.…”
https://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/11/tiny-house-mad-scientist/
Placard says:
“Alana Chlarson — ‘Cry Baby’ feels the effect of the economy.
Ceramic, underglaze, acrylic paint.”
This afternoon. New to me.The artist is ZZ.
“Personalized postcards became a fad in the early 20th century; you could get any photo printed on photo paper stock and send it in the mail. The following are postcards of homesteaders in front of their new residences in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana, taken between 1907 to 1920. The subjects are dressed in their finest garments; they sent the cards to family members in other parts of the country to show off their new lives.
Credit: Collection of Michael Williams/courtesy Michael Williams.”
https://www.slate.com/slideshows/arts/homestead-postcards.html#all
Mike Shumann, sports anchor (among other things) on local ABC News, did a story on me skateboarding a few months ago and it’s appearing tomorrow night at 6:45 on Channel 7, ABC News in San Francisco. Also at 9:50 0n Channel 13.
I spent a great few hours in Golden Gate Park with photographer Abe Mendoza on a Sunday morning, and then Mike came out and we sat in the sun and talked. He did his own filming, a Renaissance kind of newsman. Mike was a wide receiver with the 49ers in the Joe Montana days; he’s the real deal.
I get all this media attention as a skater but in reality my skills are quite minimal. It’s just that I’m so old. I’m in awe of real skateboarders, they are unbelievable (and muchly under-acknowledged) athletes –coordination, grace, guts.
I slept most of the weekend. Getting back from the Green Festival marked a turning point por moi. I was exhausted. The end of 2-year’s work on the tiny homes book. The last 4-5 months pedal-to-metal to get it done. I’ve been neglecting the physical for the mental (if you call it that). I haven’t been doing my homesteading chores and worse, have neglected what Plato termed the “gymnastic.” I haven’t balanced out Mac work with physical exertion.
The three trips I made this month all had to do with the book. Selling foreign rights in Frankfurt, overseeing printing in Hong Kong, and early display at the San Francisco Green Festival. Whew! I have the image of bulldogging a steer, staying with it until it’s grounded. A bit hard to realize it’s done. Still a big promo campaign to wage, but the stress is gone, thank the lord. Jim Morrison said something like, when you finish making a record, you’re released to work on the next one. True that.
I’ve got a lot of the local world to explore now — beaches, woods, trails, roads, lakes. I went down to the beach last week and was stunned by the beauty. It was so deep and meaningful. We are told how fucked up the world is every day, yet my heart was bursting with joy. I felt so privileged, and all it took was a mile or so walk. ( I realize that I repeat the same thing more or less frequently, but goshdarnit, the wild world just reaches out and grabs me again and again.)
Plato’s “music:” Boz Scaggs on radio doing Lend me A Dime hits just the right note this sunny/cloudy cool coastal day. A new week, a new year.
Stacy “…felt like it was time to draw a line in the sand and make some important decisions about her future and her security. She went on Craigslist, found a room available in an apartment close to her work where she could walk, and split living expenses with her roommates. She sold her car, bought a bicycle and cut her expenses down as much as possible. She paid down her remaining student loans and credit card bills. Once those were paid off she began looking at her long-term housing options that would allow her to live life without being married to a job. A friend told her about a really cool website called Tiny House Blog that features lots of cool, inexpensive homes and ideas about living simple. She decided this was the approach she wanted to take. Now that her debt was eliminated from cutting her lifestyle back, she could throw more money at her savings to purchase a tiny house. Sure enough, faster forward a couple years and she was fired from her job. Her company was feeling the cutbacks from the recession and was forced to let her go. Stacy felt she had saved enough money to look for a tiny house to purchase. She went online and found one exactly right for her. She purchased it, parked it in a friend’s back yard, found a part-time job at a local market and was good to go. Even though her job was only part-time, she still managed to set money aside each month because of her extremely low monthly expenses. Now she worked less and saved more. She did this by realizing that her housing was her biggest expense, creating a plan, taking action and sticking with it.…
https://tinyhouselistings.com/tiny-houses-the-ultimate-recession-proofer/
Outdoor bathing for a Berkeley tiny home:
