In June of 2008 we attended a friend's wedding in Las Vegas. See an album of our photos from the trip.

Here is our annual newsletter and accompanying photo collage from January 2018.

Here's our annual newsletter and accompanying photo collage from January 2017!

I've hesitated to publish this story because it's not flattering to someone that we know, but enough time has passed that I hope we can all laugh about it. We don't mean to poke fun, but it does make a good story.

Here is our annual newsletter and accompanying photo collage from January 2016.

Years ago, I taught an informal class where I gave a quick summary of the plot of Robert M. Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (which has never been made into a movie) and then made the case that Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal is in fact a movie adaptation of it. Since I know a number of people who have found Z&AMM too difficult to read, here is the breakdown:

It was the early summer of 1999. I had been living in the Stevens Square neighborhood of Minneapolis for a year, following graduation from Grinnell College. I was working part-time for Twin Cities Free-Net and spending the rest of my time absorbing the many opportunities the Twin Cities had to offer. I was volunteering with the neighborhood organization (SSCO), among other places.

It was the first week of March, 2008.  I had taken the train from Fairfield to Boston for my first DrupalCon.  The weather was cold and rainy all week.  I was staying in a big, institutional hostel that felt very much like a YMCA.  They even provided flip-flops for the showers ... I'm guessing there had been a problem with athlete's foot!  It wasn't homey, but it was affordable.

When I lived in Fairfield, Iowa from 2006-2008, I had two options of veterinarians to bring my cat Simon to, and I chose the holistic one, only partly because he was closer to where I lived.  Simon had had a lot of trouble with bladder crystals living in the Twin Cities, and I knew it was from the processed food, and I wanted some help choosing something less processed.

(I originally wrote this article as a submission to PermacultureNews.org, but decided it would be better as a blog.)

I don't know about you, but I was really shaken by Peter Harper's insightful critique of permaculture last summer, “Permaculture: The Big Rock Candy Mountain.” It has caused me to rethink the way I approach my urban farm, at least for the coming year. Let me explain.