For the last year I’ve been saving URLs of websites, blogs, anything on the internet on the subject of tiny houses. I ended up with over 100 URLs and about a month ago I started going through them and printing out photos and text, which I then file in folders in a filing cabinet. I have maybe 70 file folders now. I have 2-3 weeks more of checking out the blogs and websites. Each reference I go to usually leads me to find other things on the web.
I have no idea right now what the book will look like. After I have all the files assembled, I’ll go through them and make notes and start figuring out the categories, and the flow of the book. Then I have to contact all the bloggers and photographers. I’ll then do non-electronic layouts, sizing photos on my 10-year-old HP color copy machine ($250 new). I’ll get Lew to look stuff over. It will then go to David for artistic tune-up, then to Rick for book construction.
I’ve got some wonderful material. There might just be a movement out there of people simplifying their lives, taking care of their own shelter needs with their own hands. Sort of looks like that to me. This is gonna be a great book! We’ll try to keep up our standards of 1000 photos per book. The vast amount of material we have in our books means that we can only pay a few major contributors. But we do offer blog and website publicity for all participants.
-Above photo from: https://www.betterbarns.com/. These guys are an example of what’s out there.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2010
How to become the chicken coop Frank Gehry
Haven’t laid my hands on a copy yet, but it looks like author and publisher Lloyd Kahn has another winner, in this case a painstaking reproduction of a turn of the century catalog The Gardeners’ and Poultry Keepers’ Guide: Illustrated Catalogue of Goods Manufactured & Supplied by W. Cooper Ltd. Kahn says, on his blog,
“It’s hard cover, linen-looking finish, foil stamped, printed on off-white paper — a book lovers’ book — the kind that us bibliophiles love to touch and thumb through (and feel secure in the knowledge that no stinkin’ ebook will replace the “hard” copy). Also, it’s useful: it gives homesteaders, gardeners, builders, and architects still-practical designs.”
I’ll note one detail I like in the chicken coop in the catalog above, the “dry run.” I included a small dry run space in my coop and the chickens really like it–a place for them to hide out when it rains.
Alan Weisman recently wrote the book, The World Without Us. Last week he gave a talk as part of the Seminars About Long-term Thinking put on by The Long Now Foundation. Stewart Brand summarized the talk in a brief piece titled Humanity’s impact, nature’s resilience, closing paragraph of which was:
“Weisman’s message is one of reconciliation. Wherever humanity backs its impact off even a little, nature comes swarming back. From the new part-wolf coyotes taking up residence in New England to the rare and exquisite red-crowned cranes prospering in Korea’s Demilitarized Zone, accomodating nature always rewards humans.”
https://longnow.org/seminars/02010/feb/24/world-without-us-world-us/
Shot this photo in September. I didn’t take note of what type car it was, but it looks rare.
The storm is just hitting as I write this/ Earlier this morning I walked out to the cliffs and watched the dark clouds swirl in. The wind was blowing 30-40 mph. Yeah! The air was like elixir. This is what I call a beautiful day. Decided to go skating, since no one was in town. No surfers, fishermen, tourists. No cars. There’s a section of cliffside road that’s been closed to through traffic, so it’s much safer to skate. I made about 3 runs; these days I focus on shifting weight from left foot for left turn to right foot for right turn. I’ve been thinking lately about all the automatic reactions in one’s body that deal with the complexities of balancing. I never thought about this when younger but now being, um, older, I tend to observe my physical actions more. Skating helps me keep open the brain-body connection. On the last run I held my umbrella out to catch the on-shore wind blowing up from the beach and it pulled me up the hill (somewhat).
“It is not so novel anymore that a cell phone comes with a built in camera; it’s now the norm. But a certain phone fitted with a camera that produces high-quality macro images which rival those of stand-alone cameras finally prompted me to give up my Canon.
This slideshow is a compilation of some of my favorite iPhone shots, using its macro lens feature.”
-By Trevor Reichman on February 25, 2010 on Treehugger
Saw this beauty in London in September (2010). Review of it:
Worried about a nuclear attack? Got $2.3 million? Here’s a “luxury home with its own private airport,” built on top of a 9-story underground missile silo, with the top 2 stories converted into a 3-bedroom, 2-1/2 bath underground living space. It’s in the Adirondack Mountains in N.Y. state. Here’s how the real estate agent describes the underground structure:
“The Silo has a climate constant/approx, 58 degree earth ambient temperature. It is 52′ diameter x 178′ deep / 9 floor steel superstructure. Entire steel superstructure hangs from gigantic spring suspension system designed to absorb shock of a direct nuclear hit.”
Just the thing for some wealthy Tea Party patriots awaiting the Rapture.
-Available from 20th Century Castles, LLC
-Originally discovered at: https://www.treehugger.com/, a great website
From last week
“Passive ventilation, utilization of rainwater as a natural cooling system, and blending with the surrounding landscape makes this home ideal for outdoor living. Global Architectural Development designed the Exploded House located in Bodrum, Turkey.”
https://www.buzz-beast.com/2010/02/exploded-house-is-ideal-for-outdoor.html
For the last year I’ve been saving URLs of websites, blogs, anything on the internet on the subject of tiny houses. I ended up with over 100 URLs and about a month ago I started going through them and printing out photos and text, which I then file in folders in a filing cabinet. I have maybe 70 file folders now. I have 2-3 weeks more of checking out the blogs and websites. Each reference I go to usually leads me to find other things on the web.
