My sister Columbine is studying in Shanghai this summer, and she’s been sending me dispatches about the city and culture. I think a lot about urban life, especially how we can create more liveable cities (a new urban habitat, if you will), so it’s fascinating to hear about life in a city of 24 million….
When my sister spent a year studying abroad in Iceland in 1993, we had little contact with her. We spent a lot of money to call each other occasionally on a land line that hummed and cracked, and we wrote letters, which took weeks to make it from the Colorado mountains to her new home…
At the end of 2010, I shared 10 magic moments when someone said or wrote something that surprised or inspired me. Moments that made me say, “aha.” Now, as we say so long to 2012, I have 12 more for you: I unsubscribed from the clock. Dropped my watch right into the garbage. Shut off…
The supermarket near my house has five self check-out stations. Often one or two is down, and sometimes, you have to jab at the buttons on the screen multiple times to get your choices to register. Regardless, a line for the automated cashiers usually snakes around the tabloids. When I go to this supermarket, I…
I recently visited Aprovecho, a 40-acre non-profit center about 15 miles south of where I live. They research green skills and sustainable living practices. They also tend a 1.5 acre garden; sustainably manage 23 acres of forest; and teach workshops in subjects like green building, permaculture, rainwater harvesting, and eating a 100-mile diet. In addition,…
Recently an older couple’s GPS system guided them down a remote, impassable forest road on their way from Portland to Reno. They ended up stranded in eastern Oregon in a foot and a half of snow for three days. I also feel let down by technology this week. As I mentioned in a recent post,…