There is a lot of skateboarding on city streets, a lot more than last year. Both motorized and foot-pumped, very few guys wearing safety equipment. They all look so graceful — and fearless. Weaving in and out of traffic. Spectacular. Also a bunch of those one-wheel handle-less motorized Segways and Segway knock-offs, requiring, according to a reviewer, a “fearless mind-set.”…The Jane Hotel, where I’m staying is in the West Village, was built as a hotel for sailors in 1906 and—factoid: was used to house the survivors of the sinking of The Titanic in 1912. It’s a great place…If you’re willing to put up with a small room, with bathroom down the hall, rates are like $115 per night, and this is NYC!… On Wednesday I borrowed one of the hotel’s free bikes (Schwinn one-speeds, took a while to get used to using foot brakes again)—and pedaled along the river down to the Javits Center, where I’m attending Book Expo America, in about 5 minutes…Went to see the play “Travesties” last night, got ticket for $39; it was brilliant, hard to describe…NYTimes reviewer Ben Brantley wrote: “Senility is a joy ride in the exultant, London-born revival of Tom Stoppard’s ‘Travesties’…This account of a clash of three cultural titans — James Joyce, Vladimir Lenin and the Dadaist poet Tristan Tzara — in Zurich during World War I is related decades later by an ancient witness (one Henry Carr, of the British Consulate). His recollection is, to put it kindly, capricious.…”…Watched the Warriors pull it out of their hats last night on the screen at the Blind Tiger Ale House in the village with a pint of Greenpoint Harbor Other Side and a decidedly pro-Cavs, but friendly young crowd…

Then the best sushi I’ve ever had at Blue Ribbon Sushi on Sullivan Street in Soho…I’m now at Stumptown Coffee Roasters, 30 West 8th Street, it’s 10AM and I’m heading over to the book convention, which has already been incredibly productive for me, hanging out with brother and sister book lovers…

This exquisite painting is from one of my treasured books, Old English Country Cottages, edited by Charles Holme, published in 1906. It’s a paean to the English cottage, with wonderful pen and ink drawings by Sidney R. Jones, as well as 14 paintings (such as this one) interspersed throughout the 168 pages. I picked up a tattered copy in London in the early ’70s. It’s apparently been recently reprinted, but it looks as if there are copies of the original available from Abe Books for about $30-$40 (from the UK).

Right now, “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” by Otis came on Sirius radio, such a lovely song. It’s 50 years old.

I seem to be in a period of dicking around with extracurricular pursuits. I’ve been playing the jug and my box bass today along with a CD of The Memphis Jug Band, recorded in the 1920s. These guys preceded Robert Johnson. Jug, kazoo, harmonica, vocals. It’s all there, blues in rudimentary form; I play the jug with sliding notes, like Jab Jones does here:

Usually I play the jug like the Mills brothers did with their voices, with a plucking sound.…hey, listen to the next one, Blues in the Bottle by the Jim Kweskin Jug band.…My friend Louie got me started with a blowgun he made; I bought some darts and have been practicing with a target outside the office.…The little book we just did, Driftwood Shacks, opens up a whole new octave for me with books; I don’t think they’re very saleable, but they are fun to produce, and can be done at a reasonable cost. I love giving books away, not having to sweat marketing, etc. If we can keep the machinery rolling here, I think I can do a couple of these little books each year.…I am looking forward to doing one on my 12 years exploring Baja California Sur…

Been gathering seaweed, drying it, grinding it into powder/flakes, and putting it on just about everything…Am starting to go clamming seriously, both for littleneck clams (cockles), and the deep-in-the-mud horseneck clams; clam broth, steamed clams, clam pasta, and (with the white meat of horsenecks), clam cakes…I’m working on a garden chair made out of old split fence posts…Also fiddling around making abalone shell neck pendants; dust from the cutting, grinding, and polishing of abalone shell is a serious lung problem, so I’ve got a dust collector that attaches to my shop vac, and just got a grinding wheel with a water trough from Grizzly Tools…Our homestead is working pretty well; we’ve been on this half-acre for 47 years now; new batch of baby chicks coming in a couple of weeks; this time, Rhode Island Reds and Auracanas, both heavy layers; I’ve had enough of the beautiful, but not-so-productive birds. Will however probably keep the little Silver Seabrights, they are so beautiful…Taking off tomorrow for the Rebuild Green Expo in Santa Rosa Friday, Feb. 23rd., for people rebuilding after the fires…Over and out…

The December/January issue of The Mother Earth News has a 5-page article on our book SMALL HOMES.

Note: We are offering a 50% discount on our books SMALL HOMES, TINY HOMES, and SHELTER for the rest of November, with free shipping, Christmas gifts?

Details at: https://www.shelterpub.com/building/

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