Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: meet Tumbleweed Tiny Homes author/architect Jay Shafer in Berkeley (CA) tonight

[Raines Cohen (rc3-coho-L]

On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 4:17 PM, Sharon Villines
<sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> wrote:
> FYI for people not in Berkeley: Tumbleweed now has a blog and is traveling 
> around the US exhibiting their homes.
> This is the first all out marketing effort they have made and the first 
> opportunity to see one without buying one first.
> Check the website and major exhibit halls near you.

Thanks, Sharon; upcoming workshops are in Nashville and Honolulu
(March); Boston (May); Olympai, WA (June); Washington, DC (July); Los
Angeles (August), Portland, OR (September); NYC (October). Since I
stripped out the web links when posting, we should mention that you
can learn more about Tumbleweed at:
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com

Jay Shafer says his book, titled "The Small House Book," will show you
"how to build a small home for 20 grand." ... spending "under $65 a
year on utilities." It's $20 to download online, or $29.95 including
shipping for a softcover copy; both ("not available in bookstores")
include a free set of blueprints for one of the designs. The site says
the homes range from 65 to 837 square feet.

> On 18 Feb 2011, at 3:05 PM, Raines Cohen wrote:
>
>> I just stopped by the great Builders Booksource store on 4th Street
>> today (where I happened to run into Chuck Durrett and the Yarrow
>> EcoVillage creators from Canada, but that's another story), and
>> learned of this event tonight.

And since I'm following up on my original message thread here, I'll
just say, in reference to the bit about running into the Yarrow
EcoVillagers from British Columbia: Hey, cohousers and community
co-creators and seekers and visionaries and authors: when you're going
somewhere, anywhere, PLEASE do check in with the local cohousers!

Not only would we love to show you around and maybe even have you over
to a common dinner if schedules coincide, we actually do have a bunch
of people seriously looking for opportunities to invest as well as to
live in community, and others eager to learn from what you're doing.
We delight in shining our spotlight (and a bright one it is, bringing
the attention of thousands of people, through our MeetUp group, weekly
ads in the local alternative paper, and other outreach tools) on your
plans, successes, and opportunities.

It could well be worth your time out from whatever business or tourism
takes you someplace, to deepen the connections, weave together the
network, get inspired, and share in what you and your current or
future neighbors are doing. This is still very much a grassroots
movement, and our effectiveness and reach in the world will depend on
how much we invest in building the capacity by actually using it.

And of course, we love it because our people will listen to what you
have to say -- even when you say the same things we do. There's
nothing like novelty, distance, and repetition to bring credibility
and attention to our key messages and learnings to share.

Raines Cohen, (freshly minted) LEED(r) Green Associate & Cohousing Coach
  (passed my test this afternoon - I was at Builders Booksource
picking up a study guide! I'm now preparing for LEED for Neighborhood
Development accreditation)

at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing
 where I'm hosting guests from La Querencia (Fresno, CA) at tonight's
common dinner -- dinner bell just rang, gotta go!