Small House Society News 200804 | 29 April 2008 | Tuesday
Dear Friend of Smaller and Simpler Living,
I know that time is precious for everyone these days, so I’ll try to keep this update short. The approximate reading time for this message is about 4 minutes. Feel free to reduce your reading time even more by skipping over topics that don’t interest you.
New Newsletter Distribution and Format. Since 2002, the Small House Society newsletters have been sent out by e-mail using Yahoo Groups. Starting this month, newsletters will be posted to the web first, and then a notice will be mailed out to let subscribers know that the newsletter is available online. In this way, the newsletter will be included with other Resources for Life news distributed via RSS feed technology on the Documents Page. This will allow the Small House Society message to have broader reach. This new method of delivery makes it possible to go back and make changes or corrections as needed to text or links that may have changed.
Seattle Area Journalist Seeks Small House People. A reporter at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is working on a story about the small-house movement and would like to speak to Seattle-area residents who have chosen to live in small (or very small) houses. What informed your decision to live small? What’s your house like and what lifestyle changes resulted from downsizing? If you’re interested in participating in the article, please contact Cecelia Goodnow at ceceliagoodnow@seattlepi.com.
Shedworking. The Shedworking website (hosted at Blogger) offers a wealth of information for those building smaller dwellings, including a free full-color formatted PDF newsletter. Their newsletter is downloadable from Mediafire.com which is an advertising sponsored site that produces pop-up ads. So please be forewarned that you’ll probably get a pop-up advertisement when you get their newsletter (it is not from our website). Just ignore it and close the advertisement window.
Jay Shafer Tiny House Tour. The TumbleweedHouses.com website now features a tiny house tour with Jay Shafer. The website also has a calendar of upcoming workshops for 2008 with links for registration.
Small House Society Conference 2008. The Small House Society Conference 2008 will be included in the Resources for Life Conference 2008 scheduled to take place this summer on July 12 and 13. Last year’s conference took place on July 7 (07-07-07) and it was a great success with thousands of people viewing, reading about, and listening to the various presentations that were given. Please let us know in advance if you’re planning to attend.
Resources for Life Website. Some of you have already noticed the new Small House Society website design which provides easier access to the rest of the Resources for Life website. Since its beginning in 2002, the Small House Society website has been hosted on the Resources for Life website, but navigation between the two sites was not easy. The new site design makes it easier to search, navigate, and manage. Some of the resource groups that are part of the Resources for Life website are complementary to the Small House Society mission, yet they don’t quite “fit” under the theme of small houses, such as the Mobile Hermitage, the Environmental Resource Group, and general articles and pages about housing.
Mobile Hermitage. The website for the Mobile Hermitage is being expanded and upgraded to the new site design. Most of the content has already been moved over. The Mobile Hermitage is the small home of Gregory Johnson. An open house is scheduled in Iowa City on July 11 to coincide with the official launch of Put Your Life on a Diet (more below).
Put Your Life on a Diet. Gregory Johnson’s new book on small living, Put Your Life on a Diet, will be available this summer and the official launch will be in Iowa City on July 11, the Friday before the Resources for Life Conference.
Green and Sustainable Building. In celebration of Earth Day this past week, the Environmental Resource Group was transferred from the old website design to the new one and much new information has been added. This will be of interest to many of you seeking to have a more positive impact on the environment. There is a directory of resources for green and sustainable buildings, homes, and communities.
Membership. Many thanks to all those who have already joined or renewed their membership to the Small House Society this year. If you’ve not done so already, please visit the membership page.
Thanks. I want to thank the global team of volunteers and workers “behind the scenes” who help make all this possible. I’m very grateful to the many people who continue to uphold and advance the mission of the Small House Society. Thanks again for your support. Please let me know if there is any way that the Small House Society can serve you better.
Regards,
Gregory Johnson, Facilitator
Small House Society
Internet: http://www.smallhousesociety.org
E-Mail: shs @ resourcesforlife.com (without spaces)
Postal: c/o Resources for Life, PO Box 2717, Iowa City, IA 52244-2717
Phone: (319) 621-4911