I think of everything we have done so far on the earthbag house this season, seeing the rainwater cistern in action excites me the most. We completed the cistern late last year and this year one of the first things we did was fill it up to test it out! No, we can’t fill it…
It’s September 17th, 2015…I thought I’d pop in with a quick update on our earthbag house project. We’re making slow but steady progress! One of the big blocks we’ve faced this year is the lack of extra help like we had last year. We have a part-time helper and Keith’s sisters both took time off…
This last weekend Keith and I went to a Labor Day party and ended up doing an impromptu interview on a live podcast show called Dogma Debate. Our friend, Darrel Ray, thinks it is utterly cool that we have worked at the South Pole and that we took his books (The God Virus, Sex and…
Last year, making batches of papercrete involved filling a barrel with newspaper and water, and grinding it up by hand using a drill with a special attachment. CLICK HERE to see last year’s post about it. Using that procedure, we could only make relatively small batches of papercrete, and mixing it up that way always made…
As I showed in the video last week, during our 9-month absence the partially finished earthbag house began to deteriorate in some places. This week the primary tasks were to repair some of that damage and prepare to continue our forward progress. Keith rented a mini-excavator and dug some clay out of our pond, which…
We put the earthbag house project on hold for the winter and a large portion of this summer. It’s now August and we are back to resume work. Here’s what it looks like after a nine month absence:
This next week, Keith and I will celebrate our 4th anniversary! I’ve been recalling the happy occasion by editing our wedding video—yeah, it has taken awhile. But I have not had Camtasia Studio until this year, so that’s my excuse. If you’ll indulge me, I’m going to share some fun memories from our wedding… More… Keith and…
Every now and then I read a book or watch a movie that brings back memories of my childhood, running from the cops. While I was at the World Domination Summit I spoke with a literary agent about our current book project, Seven Years Running. The agent, who has worked with New York Times bestselling authors, encouraged me…
Have you read my earlier WDS posts? Click here to read Part 1 from July 9 and 10. Click here to read Part 2 from July 11. Click here to read Part 3 from July 12. This is the fourth and final in my series of WDS notes. If you missed WDS, I hope you…
Have you read my earlier WDS posts? Click here to read Part 1 from July 9 and 10. Click here to read Part 2 from July 11. Sunday, July 12, began much like the previous day, with a long line snaking up the side of “The Schnitz” (as Portlanders affectionately call the Arlene Schnitzer Concert…
(Did you miss my first WDS post? Click here to see Part 1.) By the time I arrived at the Arlene Schnitzer Hall for the Main Stage event at 8:10 or so on Saturday morning, July 11th, the line already snaked up and down the block from the front doors to the South Park Blocks…
I just returned from the most amazing weekend I’ve experienced in several years: the 2015 World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon. I enjoyed five intense days of workshops, inspirational speakers, and world-record-breaking activities. What is the World Domination Summit, you ask? It isn’t the sinister gathering that the title implies. Instead, WDS seeks to answer…