I Spent a Year Making a Bed

How’s that for a click bait title? But I really did spend almost a year on this with most of that time eaten up teaching myself how to do marquetry and inlay work. As I mentioned before, my first attempts didn’t go well and I spent a lot of time searching for advice on how to do this particular style of Art Nouveau work that almost nobody does anymore. Sanding and finishing metal and wood right next to each other also proved difficult and I’m not...

Read…

The Root Simple Workshop

...bright orange/white/black color scheme. Our friend Lee Conger noticed the labeling on these cabinets that point to our overly eclectic interests: It’s like our heads need to be KonMaried! And fencing purists will note that the label should be “epee parts” not “swords.” Our three bikes and cycling accoutrements are kept locked to a pole. Always lock your bikes, kids, even when they are in the garage! The one last touch I want to add to the worksho...

Read…

Post Petroleum Lecture – a reminder

...Times (New Society 2006) envisions the world as it will be transformed by peak oil and climate change, and offers a prescription for re-inhabitation. As one of the founders of the Eco village Network of the Americas (1994) and the Global Eco village Network (1995), Albert used his lifetime of eco-community living skills to create an incendiary meme, sparked by dedicated individuals and fueled by the pressing necessity of changing the way in which...

Read…

Our Favorite Searches

...eless promotion, but we think we’re the only source for a pizza recipe for peak oil fans. Of course, sticklers for detail will point out that we did not grow and grind our own flour. We’ll get to how to do that soon. “injera get bad without refrigeration” We made a very successful batch of the Ethiopian bread injera back in March without any refrigeration involved. In fact refrigeration would probably prevent it from fermenting as it’s supposed to...

Read…

Bike Lane Blocking, An Angry Rant and Something You Can Do

...walk and bike. Film crew blocking Spring St. Bike lane. Via @ColinBogart. Speaking of which, I want to conclude this angry and gloomy post with an opportunity for my fellow Angelino cyclists. While we have a few (not enough) bike lanes, those bike lanes are often blocked by film crews, Uber drivers and Highway Patrol officers picking up a burger. The LA County Bicycle Coalition has set up a reporting page to collect data on blocked lanes. The info...

Read…