Los Angeles: A New Beginning

...d the mayor. “That way you’d be safe and you wouldn’t get stuck in all the self driving car jams. Maybe more people would use them.” “That’s insane. It will never happen,” replied Lauren. “I mean, it’s over 120º for most of the summer here now thanks to climate change.” “Maybe that’s why we need ttttttt . . . trrrrrrr . . . trrreeeees . . . trees,” replied the mayor. “What’s a tree?” asked Lauren. “I think it’s some kind of self growing thing that...

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Self-Righteousness Fail: We Bought a Car

At least we got something interesting to drive. Image: Paleofuture. Back in March, a video producer who was texting-while-driving slammed into me and totaled the early 90’s hatchback that Kelly and I shared. We went from a one car household to a car-free household overnight. A combination of environmental guilt and distaste for car shopping led us to a six month car free living experiment in Los Angeles. That period ended in late September when w...

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LA ecovillage: self-reliance in a car-free urban homestead

...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdQGozSavz8 Johnny, who shot that nice video of us for faircompanies.com just made another video about our friends at the LA ecovillage. It’s well worth a view. Some of the most amazing folks in Los Angeles live there. And I like that fact that’s it’s an ecovillage smack dab in the middle of my beloved hometown. Make sure to also check out Johnny’s blog Granola Shotgun....

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SIPS and Kraut at Project Butterfly

...on.com ] In this workshop, we will be learning two projects :: Project #1: Making a self-irrigating planter Project #2: How to make sauerkraut! Contribution:: $20 [ includes a delicious light vegetarian meal and drinks ] Location: Project Butterfly Loft 821 Traction Ave #108 Los Angeles CA 90013 Blurbs: “The Urban Homestead…touches on vegetable gardening, poultry, DIY cleaning products and beer making — all outlined with a sense of play and fun. —...

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Making the Shed Great Yet Again

.... Guess what I’m doing over 20 years later? Working on the same shed. Me in 1999. In 2020 I need glasses. The shed has gone through two previous improvement battles starting with shoving a foundation under it, electrification and strengthening the floor followed by a somewhat misguided attempt at insulation and ceiling covering. Over the past few years the shed went from being Kelly’s work space to a place to shove junk we didn’t want to deal with...

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