On Living in Los Angeles Without a Car: A Debate

...isit with her and about four hours of transit time total. Good thing we’re self-employed. So yes, the only way to get around with any speed or dignity is to use a bike in conjunction with the trains or buses. My problem is that I’m frightened of riding in LA. I live with a bike activist. I’m not coming from a place of ignorance here. I know driving is dangerous in itself and you can ride defensively, etc. etc., but I’ve also seen what happens when...

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Interview With Apartment Gardener Helen Kim

...king something non-slimy with them! … but I still haven’t gotten around to making any tea with the lemon verbena… HE: We heard that some of the plants have a special significance for you HK: Yeah, shortly after I moved in, my grandmother died and I inherited some of her plants–mostly succulents. So when the building manager told me I’d have to remove all the plants, I kind of panicked–but you know how that story worked out. They’re now living happ...

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Planting in a Post-Wild World

...of your own. I have to believe this because I’m in the midst of doing it myself. I’m using this book to redesign our front yard. I’d been trying to figure out a new design on my own–struggling in my half-baked, improvisational way to create a more loving landscape out of the Grey Gardens situation we’ve got going now — and not making much progress. Then this book came to my rescue.* Look for posts in the near future charting the progress of our re...

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Seat Weaving for Fun and Profit

...eave and remember to peek at the back periodically to make sure you’re not making any mistakes. Sloppy first attempt on left and improved second try on right. I’ll send you to Hammond’s oddly soothing video for the details of how to weave the chair. It’s easier to show than to describe in words but I’ll add a few lessons learned. Most importantly, take your time and make sure that each strand is tight and straight as you weave the chair. It’s not...

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News From Nowhere

...orld-Market; and that World Market, once set a-going, forced them to go on making more and more of these wares, whether they needed them or not. So that while (of course) they could not free themselves from the toil of making real necessities, they created in a never-ending series sham or artificial necessaries, which became, under the iron rule of the aforesaid World-Market, of equal importance to them with the real necessaries which supported li...

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