A blog by any other name...

So you have probably noticed that I changed the name of the blog.  When I started it, I was very focused on simplicity and homesteading (which I still am), but in hindsight the old blog name had started to feel a little bit po-faced; a little bit too earnest.   I decided, instead, to go for something that was more personal; that created a sense of a personal space where I could share some things from my life.  I've always had this idealized little space in my head where I go and hang out, and it's furnished in a certain way that I find particularly cozy - lots of wood and pottery and windows and interesting textiles.  A child of the 70s, the decor was obviously hard-wired into my brain from some dim, long-ago images of home and comfort.  It also has lots of spider plants in macrame hanging baskets, and to this day, I've always had my own term for the kind of interior design I find the most soothing on a cellular level: "spider plants and macrame," hence the new blog handle.

In that vein, here are some images from an amazing book called Shelter by Lloyd Kahn.  Originally published in 1973, Shelter is a book of architecture unlike any I've ever seen.  It's a paper temple devoted to the creativity and ingenuity of human habitations.  From huts and yurts to logs, caves and cars, Kahn exuberantly celebrates the varieties of homes to be found through history into the present day, with an emphasis on handmade dwellings constructed from and in harmony with the environment.  Interspersed throughout are building instructions and stories from the author about homes he has encountered and how they successfully (and often ingeniously) used and integrated environmental materials.  Probably one of the first books to take on the idea of sustainable living, it's definitely "spider plants and macrame."  Check it out.  It's good living for free people.  

{hey look - there's a spider plant in a macrame hanger!}

Lloyd Kahn seems like a very interesting person...  He runs Shelter Publications, an independent press that publishes books on architecture, health and sustainable living.  His blog is sort of a modern continuation of Shelter, exploring natural and DIY architecture and other topics of interest.  And the guy is 75 and still skateboards.  Right on.

Here's a short video profile of Kahn by Jason Sussberg, where Kahn discusses his ideas about shelter.



SHELTER from jason sussberg on Vimeo.

Here's a brief rundown of some other blogs I've been loving lately:

Root Simple (formerly known as Homegrown Evolution); in the blogger's own words: "Root Simple is about back to basics, DIY living, encompassing homegrown vegetables, chickens, herbs, hooch, bicycles, cultural alchemy, and common sense. We're always learning, figuring stuff out, taking advantage of the enormous smarts of our friends and our on-line community, and trying to give some of that back in turn."

Cathy of California; focuses on design in Southern California in the 60s and 70s.  Tons of incredible images of vintage crafts and interiors.

Tiny House Blog; amazing and inspirational examples of downscale living.

And Wasted Food; from the blog by Jonathan Bloom: "Americans waste more than 40 percent of the food we produce for consumption. That comes at an annual cost of more than $100 billion. At the same time, food prices and the number of Americans without enough to eat continues to rise.  Fusing my journalistic research on the topic with the work of countless others, this site examines how we squander so much food. Part blog, part call to action, Wasted Food aims to shed light on the problem of, you guessed it, wasted food."

And this is rockin' our house lately:



I've always loved TMBG, and being able to share their nerdy zaniness with the kiddo has been extra fun.