kirstendirksen

7 ms·

31.
by kirstendirksen 17y ago
I am very curious as to your last point: "The metric for rating the size of your mark needs to change before we can even begin to move away from materialism". I think you're onto something as studies show that it's not how much money we mak
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
Thanks. I was wondering about the files issue. And I just added some contact information. Do you have any experience building furniture or is this going to be a learning experience? I wonder about how the growing DIY movement (at least onli
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
I would agree that part of the enjoyment of life is continually striving, or growing. For me, that exploration is less physical and more intellectual/emotional. And maybe I'm biased, or hitting this point too hard, but I would again argue t
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
Wow. Your life sounds like something out of a movie. Living near the sea, a volcano... finally living near the woman you love (despite sacrifices) and near your son. It definitely sounds as if you have your priorities in a good place: the p
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
I wonder if having a dream of positive change more likely implies wanting a laptop to a large home. Do you think your goal of changing the world is shared by your peers? Do you see things changing in that respect, a move (however slight) fr
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
You paint a nice picture. How much of this have you accomplished? Obviously, you can't answer re: the last point, but, do you live near the sea? Is eating well a bigger focus for you than working long hours? Etc.
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
Nice goal. It definitely sounds like an alternative American Dream to that of the Gatsby variety. Wealth and things are obviously not your end goal, but what about personal lifestyle choices: is stuff important? or any particular stuff, thi
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Ask HN: What makes you happy? What is your American Dream?
44 points by kirstendirksen 17y ago|70 comments
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Call for submissions for open source documentary on "new" pursuit of happiness(faircompanies.com)
1 points by kirstendirksen 17y ago|0 comments
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Design to save the world: less materials, more service(faircompanies.com)
5 points by kirstendirksen 17y ago|0 comments
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
Passive solar used to be the way everyone built... at least before way back with the Ancient Greeks and Chinese. But when we stopped relying on sun for energy, most of us stopped building this way. I would guess passive solar gained popular
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Passive solar glass home: watching the sun move(faircompanies.com)
37 points by kirstendirksen 17y ago|5 comments
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
For some parents not enrolling their kids in every possible class (from sports to arts) or encouraging their participation in debate or math clubs is somehow failing to prepare them adequately for a competitive college/job market. The idea
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
This is the first piece I edited after being criticized on HN for being too political with my small house story. I wanted this to be less political and more personal.
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
My impression from doing the story is that they want to use the farm for experiments in living. Trying out solar, wind, raising animals, growing with intensive raised beds, etc. But I don't think they expect to be completely self-sufficient
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
Vancouver's CK Choi building has public composting toilets.. it's pretty modern looking. Probably depends on how they're designed.
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How to compost your own s**t "A composting toilet and humanure for the garden"(faircompanies.com)
2 points by kirstendirksen 17y ago|3 comments
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
I think he was talking about how he has to carry water up to the loft in order to use his shower. It's a gravity system with just a jug of water above the shower which falls when he opens the tap (or it looks like just a PVC tube in his cas
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
You're right. I wasn't condemning all consumption, but overconsumption (what has made is so that if everyone in the world lived like Americans we'd need 5 planets to support us). In the past couple of years, I've started to think more abou
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by kirstendirksen 17y ago
I'd agree that Jay does a good job of presentation, but I also think the points of living smaller and with less stuff are important. Just read a report that personal spending is 70% of GDP in the US. So given that smaller homes make it toug