I arrived a few hours early for my presentation at Gravel and Gold in San Francisco’s Mission District. I had a problem: my new MacBook Pro laptop wouldn’t accept the plug-in from my Epson projector. I’d been to the Apple store on the way over, and couldn’t find the right connector. The three owners of the store, Cassie, Lisa, and Nile weren’t dismayed. We tried all kinds of variations, but nothing seemed to be working. Lisa kept saying, “Don’t worry we’ll figure it out.” I wasn’t so sure. Finally she took off in her car and came back with a borrowed projector. We transferred the data to one of their laptops, then couldn’t get the projector going. We tried various combinations, with me having my doubts, but Lisa saying, “We’ll get it working.”

Finally one of their friends came in and knew just what to do, and 10 minutes before starting time we were in business. I started by talking a little bit about the first Whole Earth Catalog, and how it and the Dome Cookbook by Steve Baer were my inspiration for getting into the publishing business. Then I showed slides from the three main builders featured in Builders of the Pacific Coast. Finally I showed some slides of tiny houses, the subject of my next book. (Actually, in retrospect, these were photos I grabbed at the last minute and they weren’t really representative of the great material I have for this book.)

For me it was a pretty wonderful evening. The store is unique, with eclectic clothing, art, jewelry, crafts, and items you’d never think of until you see them there. Good vibes. The median age in the audience was, I’d say, 30. It’s great to be connecting with this generation. Someone asked what I thought of Dwell magazine. I said I couldn’t figure out who lives in those houses, but there seems to be no warmth or soul (or funk) evident in the Dwell style. Further, that people like us are interested in shelter that is full of life and warmth and the touch of the human hand.

Gravel and Gold has been mentioned in the New York Times and Vogue magazine and seems to be catching on. It’s at 3266 21st St., between Mission and Valencia in San Francisco. Website here. Blog here.

Photo by Evan Kahn

“These scenes of wrecked buildings and unique structures are actually huge three dimensional works of art done on the side of buildings. Since he first started back in 2002, John Pugh has been fooling many for years with his 3D murals.”

https://is.gd/c8RPy

No sooner do I exult about Spring and sunshine and blue skies and green grass than Winter kicks back in. Tuesday night Eric and I headed south, running along the coast from Muir Beach, up trails leading to ocean lookout spots. We could see bands of rain out on the horizon, moving in from the ocean. It started drizzling and suddenly got a lot colder and just as we got to the top (maybe 1000 ft. above the ocean) and started heading back, it started hailing. No trees for shelter. So here we are running down a fire road, high winds, getting pelted by hail, freezing water running down our legs into shoes…It may sound like I’m complaining here, but in reality, the discomfort was worth it when we got into dry clothes and in to the pub, and beer and hot shepherd’s pie. It was an adventure! “If it doesn’t kill you, it’s good for you,” invariably true.

The rain (1″ this week) and new storms next week are good. Our local lakes are full, but Lake Shasta can use as much rainfall as it can get.

Then yesterday I ran down to the beach and found a bunch of new graffiti. I love this art form.

Tsonoqua (Wild Woman of the Woods) Mask by Wayne Alfred – Kwakwaka’wakw (Namgis). At Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver, BC, Canada

“Wayne Alfred was born in 1958 in Alert Bay (on Cormorant Island — about 3 kilometres off the Northeast coast of Vancouver Island). Alert Bay remains one of the most important artistic and culture centres on the Northwest Coast. Its isolated location protected the community from much of the effects of assimilation and remained not only a heritage village but also one of the most continually developing cultural areas on the coast. It is the home of the largest free standing totem pole in the world and the U’mista Cultural Centre which houses a major historic collection which had been returned from major museums as part of the changes to the Cultural appropriation legislation of the Federal Government.”

https://www.spiritwrestler.com