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Washing Dishes
I made this video several years ago and it popped up today on www.democraticunderground.com, which seems to be a political blog.
Still doing dishes the same way…
Norman Castle with Underground Springs in San Francisco
Kirsten Dirksen amd Nicolás Boullosa continue their amazing and prodigious coverage of “…simple living, self-sufficiency, small (and tiny) homes, backyard gardens (and livestock), alternative transport, DIY, craftsmanship and philosophies of life.”
I can’t believe how many videos Kirsten has made and photos Nicolás has shot, it seems like they post videos and photos weekly. All stuff I’m interested in.
This one really got me because I’m a native San Franciscan, and never dreamed of a place like this in the city.
Check out faircompanies.com
Why You Should Forget What You Think You Know About Housing in L.A.

Photo by Lawrence Anderson, a really good architectural photographer
Formosa 1140, a condominium building in Los Angeles designed by Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, sits next to a public green space that was created out of part of its lot.
Article in New York Times on multi-family housing, May 5, 2023, by Julie Lasky
Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?
With a shrinking population and more than 10 million abandoned properties, the country is straining to match houses with curious buyers.
www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/realestate/japan-empty-houses.html
From Maui Surfer
Also:
Man, 89, built his own ‘Hobbit House’ in Highlands where he lives almost entirely off-grid
Great-grandfather Stuart Grant, 89, moved into the cottage he bought as a wreck with no roof and no doors in 1984, while he was renovating a house.
But he found it so satisfying doing DIY on the quirky outbuilding which dated back 200 years, that he decided to make it his home.…
From comment on blog by Anon, Feb 13, 2023
Shelter for Humans
Lloyd Kahn (born 1935) is arguably the most influential pioneer of the DIY building movement that emerged in the counterculture of the 1960s. Besides being trained as a carpenter and having built many homes by hand, he also has a special talent for presenting information in an easy-to-understand form, a skill he puts to use as editor-in-chief of Shelter Publications, where he releases books on building and fitness.
His first contact with the craft of publishing was in 1968 when he became a key contributor to the creation of the Whole Earth Catalog, which led him to publish two books on dome building and then, in 1973, the book Shelter (which went on to sell over 300.000 copies).
The name Shelter is significant here, as it describes the essence of why we build. When we speak of architecture we think of monumental structures or at least buildings for an elite, and not of the homes built to meet our most human needs. This is what I find so empowering about Kahn’s emphasis on building traditions outside the architectural canon: The message that you can still create your own home, without being rich or a professional. Much of what is presented to us today under the label #cabinporn has little to do with this utopian spirit that encourages a forgotten self-efficacy beyond what money can buy.
I Spent 3 Years Alone Building a Log Cabin
From Kevin Kelly
Your Computer Is Not Going to Build a House for You
This the last part of a 7-minute video titled “Shelter – A Video about author Lloyd Kahn” made by Jason Sussberg (shooting 35mm film!) in 2009, when I was 75. He shows Lesley and me doing stuff around the homestead.
Jason included a minute or so of me skateboarding, with the sound guy on his crew (a skater) skating behind me and alongside me with the heavy 35mm camera.
Then I sat on the curb (in front of my skateboard) talking about housing.
Sorry this is so blurry, Jason’s work is clear, we copied this from YouTube.
256888
Whatever Happened to Small Homes?
Article from NYTimes, Sept. 25, 2022 by Emily Badger
Whatever Happened to the Starter Home?
Note: This article shows the timeliness of our book Small Homes.
Sent us by Maori Surfer