Today I finally made time to go see Julie and Julia before it completely left the theater.  For those of you who missed the trailer, the movie follows the parallel stories of Julia Child and Julie Powell, an aspiring writer.  Powell is a passionate foodie who, searching for some sort of  “meaningful accomplishment” in her life on the verge of turning 30, decides to cook through Child’s cookbook in a year and blog about the experience.

This movie caught my attention for a number of reasons.  First, my mother and brother were avid watchers of Julia Child as I was growing up.

Now, I’ll be the first one to confess that I’m pretty much culinarily challenged.  My friends have a longstanding joke that my survival strategy involves always falling in love with men who enjoy cooking.  Amongst my many ignoble disasters in the kitchen, I have managed the feat of setting fire to my kitchen cabinets attempting nothing more ambitious than boiling a pot of water for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

I’ve never had much of an interest in cooking, but I have a deep appreciation of  good food.  And, growing up, Julia Child on the TV meant two things: 1) reasonably good entertainment and 2) interesting things happening in the family kitchen that beat my mom’s traditional Friday night zucchini quiche hands-down.

My childhood is laced with memories of Julia Child killing Bertha the Lobster, a provincial French table covered in 50 lbs. of monkfish, and random intervals of self-multilation and bloodshed coverage courtesy of PBS.  Better still, my younger brother Chris would get inspired by the showz and interesting things would happen in the kitchen courtesy of my family’s a much loved and bespattered copy of Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

With Julia Child a fixture of my childhood, I really enjoyed seeing Meryl Streep’s portrayal of her life.  What resonated with me even more, however, was Julie Powell’s half of the film.

Powell is just turning 30 at the beginning of the story and questioning what she has to show for her life.  I just recently turned forty and have been doing my own share of soul-searching about my life looking radically different than I expected it to by this point.

Powell is a frustrated aspiring writer who’s editor husband convinces her to start a blog.  I think the story does a humorously good job of capturing the narcissim and self-absorption involved with writing a personal blog on a regular basis.  Let’s face it.  There has to be a certain level of arrogance to put the details of one’s day-to-day existence out there in the public ether in the belief that anyone else out there is going to have any interest whatsoever in reading it.  And in prioritizing getting another post out there over spending quality time with one’s significant other.

Perhaps my favorite part of the film is when Powell has had two back-to-back major culinary disasters.  (Aspics, followed closely by stuffed chicken.)  She is lying prostrate on the floor of her kitchen amidst the remains of Disaster #2, howling in despair, when a writer for the Christian Science Monitor calls asking for an interview.  Powell immediately pops up and answers the phone sounding perky as a cheerleader and totally in command of the situation.  Oh yeah.  Been there.  More than once.

I also loved the relationship between Powell, her mother, and the blog.  While my own mother never voiced an opinion telling me to shut the thing down, like Powell’s, she tends to follow it, and mommy- radar kicks off when something breaks the normal pattern and concerned phone calls and emails follow.

Powell’s storyline resonated with me enough, that I just downloaded a copy of her book from which the movie was drawn: Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously.

Anyway, while I doubt it will be winning any Oscars, it’s definitely a movie I’d recommend to the Julia Child fans out there and also to female bloggers.  For my part, I am inspired to cook up some lovely, local-area corn for dinner (boiling is within my skill-set these days) and am busy reminiscing over Charlie’s lovely beed bourginon. 

So while I’ve been in AZ, I’ve been staying in my friend Jay’s guest room.  My current plan is to continue to rent a room for him while I’m down in AZ completing my certification course.

My friends in AZ are acquainted with Jay but for those readers who don’t know him, Jay is a 40-something, gay, black man I’ve been friends with going on two decades.  I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about Jay in the next few months, but I’ll start by saying that Jay’s decorating tastes diverge widely from my own. A lot.

Jay’s condo is known in my circle of friends as “Vermillion Manor”. Jay happens to believe Versailles is the peak of architectural achievement and he has designed the interior of his condo to be a miniature homage to Versailles’ glory.  He even has his own tiny hall of mirrors and collection of statuary.

Imagine walls and walls of mirrors, crystal chandeliers, baroque furniture, tassels cascading from every available vertical surface, and a surfeit velvet and you get the general vibe of the place where I’m staying.

Rumi took one look at the place, fell into immediate love, flounced upon the floor of the main salon, and announced loudly in Balinese that he had finally “arrived”.  I, on the other hand, with my love for zen lines and muted color schemes, have been cautiously tiptoeing around like an unplanned-for extra on the set of Night at the Museum.

I don’t in any way mean to make fun of Jay’s decorating.  Creating Vermillion has been an act of passionate creation for more than a decade, now.  And I’m fairly certain, Jay would feel as much a Stranger in a Strange Land aboard my floating home as I do padding barefoot around Vermillion.  But even Jay would concede that Vermillion can be a bit daunting for the first-timer.

To add to my whole down-the-rabbit-hole sensation, Jay has decided to dub me the “Lady in Residence” at Vermillion.  Unfortunately, if he had hoped having a woman in the residence was going to class-up the joint, I’m afraid he’s been sadly disappointed.  I’m much more of a Pygmalion-style project.

When I first arrived Jay had visions of the two of us sitting down on Sunday mornings to high tea with NPR Baroque Sundays wafting softly on the stereo.  I’m afraid his sensitive, artistic soul was well and truly crushed the first time I came home from a night at a fighter practice looking like a sweaty version of a Fraggle, popped open a domestic bottle of beer, and proceeded to share it with the cat–without either of us even bothering to use the crystal stemware intended for weekday use.

So far, though, Jay has been a remarkably good sport about me invading his sanctuary from the modern world.  And, for my part, I’ve been grateful for the lack of domestic chaos and also having regular good company in the form of a roommate.

I promise at some point I’ll do a more detailed video or photo tour of Vermillion.  I just know if I try to take any more pictures when Jay is home I’ll send him in to an apoplexy of cleaning and I’ve already disturbed his natural habitat more than enough for the present.

Okay, folks.  Sorry for going AWOL while I figured things out (at least as far as the short run at any rate).

Let me start by saying thank you for all of you who have sent notes or left comments of support.  They’ve really been appreciated.  I can’t say I’ve got everything sorted out but I’m slowly getting there.

Coming down to Phoenix has given me a chance to reconnect with friends, get relatively on top of work, and take a breather from renovation hell.  (I cannot begin to describe to you the depth of pleasure Rumi and I have both taken in being able to sprawl on a clean, carpeted floor…)

Part of the reason why there hasn’t been anything on the blog lately is I’ve been lost in soul-searching about how I wanted to handle the next few upcoming months.  I just reached a decision on that today.

I do intend to return to Portland and continue to work on the house.  However, in the short run, I really need to figure out things in terms of my work situation. More than anything, things not going well with my job has really sucked the life out of me.  While I continue to work hard to try to turn things around with my existing employment, I have also decided to extend my time down in Phoenix by a couple of months to finish a certification program I had started when I lived in Arizona previously.  I’ve decided I need an exit strategy in case things don’t improve (or my employer decides to let me go).  I’m sure I’ll be writing more about the specifics of this at some point.

Long story short, I’ll be starting classes in the evenings starting next week.  I should have my program pretty much wrapped up by the holidays (assuming the stress of holding down both a job and classes at night doesn’t do me in during the interim).

In the meantime, I get to spend some more time in a supportive environment amongst friends and family, which I can really use right now.

The following is a guest article written by Shireen Qudosi…

Long before the mod designs of today’s sustainable homes, there the “Glass House”.   Built in New Canaan, Connecticut in 1949 by Philip Johnson for his personal use. It was a ground breaking project in its time and still continues to astonish those of us today who cannot fathom living in a see-through house.

While most people love the concept of a glass house, they have one major problem with it – privacy. But there’s a simple solution – curtains. Lightweight curtains would provide both shade during summer months as well as privacy, without compromising the structure’s aesthetic appeal.

But what a lot of people also don’t realize is those eco homes aren’t cookie cutter houses. On the contrary, they can be built with a lot more forethought and personalized design than traditional real estate. Just ask Michelle Kaufman of MK Designs.

When Michelle Kaufman and her husband moved to California, they decided to fill the market for clean green homes after their own difficulty in finding one. Clients can design their own custom home and choose the features that work for them. According to Michelle, “the real challenge, and the critical area for a successful project, is the implementation and the production.” Fortunately, through many years of being in the business, Michelle and her team have been able to iron out this wrinkle.
Regardless of whether or not you’d choose to live in a glass house, our mutual love of aesthetic and design are instantly drawn into Johnson’s minimalist creation. A balanced sense of proportion and a design that connects with the environment is what ultimately has paved the way for modular and prefab.

Yet no matter what your home is like, you can get it be more sustainable – and contrary to what some may think, sustainable doesn’t mean living a “bare bones” lifestyle. A sustainable lifestyle can be chic and creative while still be eco-conscious.

With fall at our doorstep and winter around the corner, the number one consideration is learning to reduce heating costs. Insulating your home, using an energy-efficient space heater, and good old fashioned bundling up will certainly help you do your part in reducing energy consumption. But for extreme green, try installing a geothermal heating system, with loops deep in the ground around your home, and a heater exchange to collect relative heat from the ground.¹ If you’re already in a DIY renovation mode, then consider installing windows and skylights that’ll let more light come in – thus reducing your dependency on electrical lighting. There are also a number of window designs that not only let more light in, but also help keep in the heat.

But if you’re a quick-fix type, there are still versatile ways you can prep your home for winter and reflect your stellar taste – especially if you’re a notorious coveter of wooden floors.

If you’ve got wooden floors (hopefully bamboo), try covering them with rugs during the winter. The use of rugs is a quick DIY insulation that gives you a chance to add a new style element in your living space. Far from perhaps over bearing eclectic themes too strong for certain tastes, some eco-inspired pieces are also designed for the utilitarian thinker. For the military-mined eco-enthusiast, there’s Rebekah Rauser’s Redeploy Rug that combines the necessary military durability of surplus blankets with organic fluidity. Made of 100% wool Russian army blankets and with topographic pattern, the Redeploy adds a unique dimension that makes the piece not only necessary but stylish.

Ultimately, no matter which route you choose, the goal is to create a home that is both functional and stylish, while still doing its part for the environment.

Eco winter ideas is brought to you by Shireen Qudosi.
http://www.canadianhomeworkshop.com/home-reno-and-design/green-renovations/five-ways-to-make-your-home-more-sustainable/a/21292

Image 1: Philip Johnson’s ‘Glass House’

Image 2: David Salmela

Image 3: rauserdesign.com

Alright, so apologies for disappearing on ya’ll but it’s been a couple of really rough weeks.  Several different areas of my life have been going less than ideally and things just hit a really nasty head.

For starters, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with the interior renovations that remain to be done on my floating home.  I’m frustrated with how little progress I’ve managed to make this summer and the fact I’m still living in the middle of a construction zone.  I’m having a difficult time finding a healthy balance between work, working on the house, and actually managing to have some semblance of a life.

I’m also still mourning the end of my relationship with Charlie.  And, for whatever reason, working on the house alone just serves to underscore those feelings. It takes me a long time to build new friendships and relationships and I don’t have much in the way of a support system yet in Portland, so I’m feeling quite sad and alone.

On top of that, work is not going well for me at present.  I’n spite of working an insane number of hours for a large portion of the summer,  my current manager is less than pleased with my performance.  I just received my midyear review and it’s the first time in my professional career where I’ve received marks in some categories that were less than at least “Meets Expectations”.   Unless I can turn something around soon, odds are I’m going to need to be looking for a new job.  Right now I’m being micromanaged into the ground which I loathe. So I’m enormously stressed on the work front, as well.

So I was sitting up in Portland, miserable and unhappy, when I received a phone call that my friend Larry died suddenly of a heart attack. While not related by blood, Larry has been my de facto uncle since I moved to Arizona immediately after college.  He was always there with a smile, a hug, and a strong back when it came to moving furniture when I reached the end of relationship.  He was the person who always made sure I had somewhere to be on the holidays and got safely home to my own tent at camping events. And the thing was, he was that person for so many different people.  More than 600 people showed up for his service, if you can imagine that.

Losing Larry underscored to me just how adrift my own life is currently feeling.   How I chose to dealt with it was packing a suitcase, grabbing Rumi, and driving down to AZ for the funeral.  I already had plans to be in AZ the last two weeks of the month, over my birthday, so I simply extended my trip.

I’m currently staying in my friend Jay’s guest room in Phoenix.  I’ve been spending as much time in the company of friends as possible, meaning writing has been on the back burner.  Odds are I’m going to stay through the first weekend in September and then head back up to Portland.  I’m making arrangements, though, to probably winter in AZ once the weather turns ugly up north.

More on that when I figure it out myself.  But I wanted to let you all know I hadn’t been taken by brigands.  I’m just spending some time deep in thought about where I want to go from here.

I cannot wait to watch this!  This is a documentary which features people in the ad biz who were laid off and discovered it was an opportunity to take back their lives.

This project is the creation of Erik Proulx, founder of Please Feed the Animals a website which focuses on the recently laid off.

The documentary website can be found  here.

Each Friday Coming Unmoored runs a weekly roundup of tiny homes featured on the web and recent news stories that may be of interest to small home enthusiasts.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Tiny Houses Featured in the Past Week:

• Treehouses by Romero Studios
• Treetop Office
• Tiny Treehouse in New York
• JB’s Tiny Home
• $500 Home in Hawaii
• Foam Dome Homes
• Jalopy Cabins
• Modern Caravan
• Domespace Homes
• Wind-Powered Tiny House
• Rail Car Home
• Mule-Drawn Tiny Home
• pieceHomes 320 Squae Foot Home
• Low-Cost Earthbag Buildings
• Sportsman Log Cabin
• Tiny House for Sale in California ($4K)
  

Recent News Stories and Essays on  the Small Home Movement and Simple Living:

• Living in a Shed? (The Tiny Life)
• Texas Builder Redfines Downsizing to Extremes (The News Tribune)
  

Small Home / Simple Living Websites and Blogs to Check Out:

• The Tiny Life
  

Some aspects of green homes and tiny homes are easy to overlook.  One innovative company is really focusing in on some of these easy to overlook aspects and has created a really nice summary of how some of this “going green stuff” works.  The eco-friendly builder EcoStructures promotes itself as a “affordable near-zero energy portable modular green home” builder.  Now while that statement might be a mouthful, it also seems to be completely accurate.

EcoStructures founder and president John Garlow has a special inspiration for the designing of his homes and that is his partnerand brother Charley.  Charley once worked for Ralph Nadar and also worked as a lawyer for the EPA.  One of Charley’s favorite hobbies was helping crack down on air polluters.  Together the two brothers have developed a green home concept centered on factory construction, the use of local materials, the use of green materials and the reduction of waste.  They are part of a growing trend to avoid harmful materials and VOCs in their construction.  Also they use a great deal of recycled materials.  The shingles they use, for example, are from 30% recycled materials.

EcoStructures’ website does a fantastic job showcasing how to build a green home.  They put special attention into two categories, one being “airflow and energy” and the other being “waterworks.”  Both of these sections layout the basics of how to properly handle airflow and solar energy in a home.  “Energy harvesting” is given great attention, but so are elements like shading and the innovative use of geothermal tubes.  For example, the section of waterworks is a great one in that it deals with the often overlooked issue of how to handle rainwater harvesting, filtration and water conservation.  Few diagrams tackle the issue of “greywater,” as well as the one on the EcoStructures website.

An additional aspect to love about the EcoStructures concept is that they present a variety of options making the design flexible.  Everything from wind turbines to exterior automatic shutters and geothermally linked heating and cooling are options that are on the table.  A great deal of thought has gone into this project, and it is certainly worth checking out.

Last month, the Guggenheim Museum and Google teamed up for a very innovative online design contest.   That fact in and of itself is interesting as it is a very interesting and unexpected team-up. However, what is even more interesting is the fact that the contest, entitled the “Design It: Shelter Competition” involves designing the best tiny shelter.  Participants are encouraged to design a virtual 3d 100 square foot living/working space using Google’s new Google Sketch Up software, and then place the house on a map with Google Earth.  Both Google Earth and Google Sketch Up are free to download and use.

The  contest asks participants the questions: where would you build your shelter?  And how would you respond to the environment around your shelter? Obviously, Frank Lloyd Wright was inspired by the connection of a house to its environment. The Design It: Shelter Competition seeks to reflect and incorporate Wright’s fascination with the natural elements surrounding a house.

This contest is running in conjunction with the Guggenheim’s new exhibit, running until August 23rd, entitled “Learning By Doing.” The art exhibit features shelters that were designed by students of Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.  Through the design process, the students learn various important issues involved in design.

The Design it: Shelter Competition is open to amateur as well as professional designers. You can read more about the contest and even enter the contest at the Guggenheim’s website. Entries are being taken until August 23rd which coincides with the last day of the Learning by Doing exhibit.  (If you happen to be in New York City between now and the end of August, definitely check out this exhibit as it sounds pretty intriguing.)

The Design It: Shelter Competition rules include the following:

You can build your shelter anywhere on Earth: from city to desert, hill to valley. You cannot remove any existing buildings, but you can add on to existing structures.”

Keep your shelter small—the interior/sheltered space can be no larger than 100 square feet (9.3 square meters), and entire shelter no taller than 12 feet (3.6 meters).

Your shelter must offer protection from the elements and provide a space for one person to study and sleep. Keep it simple—no water, gas or electricity allowed.

The students at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture will choose the finalists and public voting will take place from September to October 2009.

Many of you might be familiar with my Coming Unmoored Blog posts on tiny houses and sustainable housing. This week I thought that I would mix it up a little and cover some topics related to small space living.

Obviously, if you are trying to decide on your appliances for a tiny house, it is key to start paring down the big things.  Things like full sized washer dryers and massive refrigerators are simply going to take up too much space and will need to go by the wayside. (Yes, if you have a grand piano, you very likely might need to say goodbye and take up a smaller instrument!)

In keeping with this theme, a company called The Laundry Alternative, based in Middletown Springs Vermont, has come out with a very tiny and also very green approach to doing laundry in small spaces.   The Laundry Alternative is selling their Wonderwash washing machine for only $42.95. This gadget, which you can basically fit on a countertop, claims to easily cleans a 5 lb load of laundry in just a few minutes.. and with no electricity.  Thus, not only are you reducing space, but the amount of energy necessary to do laundry is also dramatically reduced.

The Wonderwash measures about 12″ x 12″ x “16, and has a patented pressure system. What happens is that detergent is forced into the fabric at a very high speed. You simply add hot water to the Wonder Wash and the air inside the drum expands from the heat. The high level of pressure is created as a result. In the process, the machine also uses 90% less water and detergent. The Laundry Alternative makes the assertion that this device pays for itself through your savings after only 8 weeks.

The Wonderwash is being marketed to a crowd that includes college students, rv owners, environmentalists, singles and frugal people. And their logic definitely makes sense. If you are trying to reduce your power consumption or if you are just one person doing  laundry for yourself, the standard sized washer and dryers are indeed excessive.

The company also makes an energy efficient and compact Spin dryer as well.