keith’s new self

I’ve recently become a big fan of David Holmgren. I just finished reading his new book Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. In it he describes general principles that guide his work teaching and practicing permaculture. Permaculture is a strategy for living in a world of “energy descent”, i.e. in a world where fossil fuel is in decline. His philosophy is positive and down-to-earth - rather than bemoaning the state of the planet or looking for someone to blame, he focuses on practical solutions while provoking you to rethink your relationship with nature. He has many refreshing insights into this relationship, especially how the extraction and use of the Earth’s most concentrated energy store has shaped the human condition over time. He notes, and I agree, that permaculture is today a fringe notion, but within 100 years will be mainstream in post-industrial society, out of necessity, since energy descent is, notwithstanding some unlikely scientific deus ex machina, an inevitable future.

Here’s a great interview with David (get the MP3 audio version):

http://www.energybulletin.net/524.html

Here’s the info on his upcoming talk in Vancouver:

VANCOUVER PERMACULTURE NETWORK Presents:

“Permaculture Strategies in a World of Declining Fossil Fuel”
With David Holmgren

Hosted by the UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems and UBC Farm

Saturday, September 10, 2005
Afternoon Lecture 3- 6 pm
University of British Columbia, MacMillan Building
2357 Main Mall, Room 166

tags: davidholmgren, ecology, energydescent, permaculture, vancouver

posted: 10:18 am

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Yesterday Sean of the Gambier Radio Internet Project hooked up a wi-fi transceiver at our little cabin on Gambier Island, meaning we now have broadband internet from our treehouse in the woods. The wireless link is powered by a solar panel, and we only turn it on when in use so it doesn’t drain the battery.

Sean has done an incredible amount of work on this project - from dragging miles of fiber optic cable through the woods to setting up solar/wind powered repeater stations on top of mountain peaks. And all this infrastructure is to be owned and maintained by a not-for-profit society. It could change the culture of the Island in that more people will be able to work from Gambier, rather than just use it as a vacation spot.

I’m looking forward to having the internet as a resource when on the land, for looking up things like “what’s the right fuel mix for the chainsaw?” or “what’s a good way to deal with slugs in the garden?”, without having to leave and come back with the information next time. Also I’ll be able to work from the Island some days, since much of my work can be done remotely. Also it’s very cool to be doing this all off the grid, and jump over so many usual phases of development - we don’t have running water or electricity, but we have Google!

Solar/wind powered repeater station on the ridge, at the top of our property.
Photo by Lorraine Grennan

Side view of the cabin.
Photo by Lorraine Grennan

Amazing view of Howe Sound, BC Costal Mountains and Bowen Island from the cabin.
Photo by Lorraine Grennan

tags: ecovillage, energydescent, gambierisland, permaculture, solarpower, wifi, windpower

posted: 7:39 am

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Little tidbit I read today that resonated:

Rich people, in some cases and under certain circumstances, can make very poor role models. People that want for nothing. They have.

And the media has sold us this dream, over and over again. And some of us seem to have bought it.

The thing is, I am hungry.

I want to live and feel and hurt. I don’t understand anything else. I have more dreams than I have tommorows.

For all this time, we’ve thought that not being hungry was a luxory. But what I’m telling you is that being hungry is the most satisfying delight that life has to offer

- Jordan Rule

This is how I’ve been feeling lately too. Hungry for life. And feeling sick of the Resistance that, through distraction and procrastination, keeps me from feeding the hunger. It’s so easy to get distracted in this crazy world. It’s amazing to me that anyone finds their calling and does their work. That alone is probably justification for the existence of a Soul.

Whenever I meet you, we each smile.
But who is it who drags your corpse around?

- Hsu Yun

tags: jordanrule, poetry, stevenpressfield, zen

posted: 7:07 am

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How cool - you can get LED (light-emitting diode) based lightbulbs for your house now. They use very little power, are super durable, and have a much longer lifetime than most other kinds of lighting. I’d like to see how the colour spectrum is on them - my LED headlamp has a lot of blue spectrum, giving things a “moonlight” quality which isn’t that nice for interior lighting.

LED lamps are seen as a solution for off-the-grid places and poorer countries where electricity is a luxury or simply not available. These bulbs are so efficient that you could probably get a couple hours of light in the evening from a small solar panel that charges the lamp all day.

The 12-volt models are perfect for the Ecovillage, where the power comes from a large 12V battery connected to a solar panel. I have a concept brewing of a “low-voltage home”, where everything runs at 12 volts. Instead of regular 120V sockets in the walls, you would have 12V cigarette-lighter sockets, and you would use car power adapters for all your electronics, instead of 120v adapters. Appliances would require an inverter of course, but many off-the-grid places out there don’t have big energy-sucking appliances anyway. This would mainly be a solution primarily for lighting and small electronics. 12V is safer, more efficient in conversion and storage, and eliminates the 60Hz buzz or flicker of AC. The only thing is that you wouldn’t want to run it over long distances, since low-voltage is more susceptible to power loss in the wire. I think 120V AC only makes sense in the context of large, centralized power distribution - it doesn’t make sense for distributed micro power, where the power is being generated close to where it is being consumed.

tags: energydescent, permaculture, ecovillage

posted: 6:16 am

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random mental outpourings…

i’m back from holidays and plunging headlong into the wild world of software dev once again. as someone remarked lately, camping is a much more analogue experience than is my working reality.

krista (my belle) and I bought a new bed. this is the first time i’ve been sleeping off the ground since, well, on-campus student housing. i’ve been a practitioner of no-bedframe yoga, which has worked well for me for years. there is something really nice about sleeping a foot off the ground however - can’t put my finger on it…

krista and I also opened a shared bank account together, and we are now pooling and sharing all our income and expenses. how’s that for a departure from the rugged individualism i’ve come to know and… unconsciously accept? it seems like a kind of radical shift has taken place, and yet it makes so much sense. in personal finance terms, i have a better “offense” and she has a kick-ass “defense”, so combined we are a fighting force with a thousand golden nunchucks, or the Voltron of home economics, or something. good shit, in any case.

been downloading heaps o’ DJ mixes and jungle from the old Interweb - Richie Hawtin and High Contrast figure prominently. love it.

it’s 5:30AM. i am writing code, listening to strange electronic music, and pouring my thoughts into this strange digital cup. la dolce vita? you decide.

tags: camping, code, music, zen

posted: 5:34 am

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This sums up my holidays (just substitute maple/fir/arbutus/hemlock for willow):

Hidden birds sing as cool and clear
As a bamboo forest.
Between swinging willows sun beams glimmer
Like golden threads.
Clouds return to this calm valley.
The winds carry the fragrance of almonds.
By sitting alone all day long
I clear my mind of a thousand thoughts.
To speak of this is beyond our words;
Only by sitting under the quiet forest
Can we ever understand.

- Fa Yen (885-958)

Courtesy of dailyzen.com

posted: 1:37 pm

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