Doing the Maker Faire Dance

This past weekend was Maker Faire, which is easily the coolest event I've ever been to, made even cooler by pulling friends from all over the country here for a visit. Being around people who actually DO things and love novelty and innovation as much as I do was like medicine for my soul. I feel like I have been shaken awake from a long sleep and I am ready to take on new projects and goals to make my world one I want to live in. In the spirit of this event (and damned Mercury no longer being in retrograde) I would like to do a little review of those impact-reducing resolutions I made six months ago and outline my ambitious long-term plan to help make the world I want to live in. Why wait until the new year to make a resolution?

My 6-month report card:

• Complete power-down/heat-saving measures/light switch vigilance: It is now a reflexive habit for my partner and I to completely power-down when we are leaving the house/going to bed. Our electric bill plummeted from $125 to $25 within the first 2 months of doing this and no longer running the heater.
• Farmer's Market: this has been a little slower becoming a habit, which is stupid on our part, because every time we do go, we end up saving at least $50 on weekly groceries and spend way less time at the grocery store.
• Sushi: when I do eat sushi, which is a rarity now, I only order sustainable types.
• Stuff I have not accomplished yet: The Diva Cup is quite an initial investment, which I will get around to at some point when I am working more regularly. As far as disposable razors, some day I will be confident enough to stop shaving, but I'm just not there yet.

My ambitious long-term plan, as inspired by the brilliant people at Maker Faire, is to get to the point where I am not buying any completely prefabricated products. It is my goal to be competent enough to make everything I need (barring, of course, things I absolutely cannot make, such as medical products). It will take years of learning and experimentation to get to a fully DIY lifestyle, but I am very excited for the journey. I also hope that I am able to inspire others to empower themselves with self-sufficient living while fully minimizing their carbon footprint.

I would like to do a shout-out to a few of the amazing makers I met (some I already knew) last weekend at the Faire. Please check out their awesomeness and support DIY culture.

• Alex Peake at Tactical Corsets. Sexy, functional and empowering. I'll be saving my pennies for his products, for sure!
• The talented Jill-of-all-trades Libby Bulloff. Please check out her breath-taking photography.
• Bay area alt-artist Suzanne Forbes.
• The good folks at Sparkfun. Open source development platforms and parts/plans for microcontrollers. They call themselves "electronic enablers." Enjoy!
• When science is adorable: Solarbotics! They have plans and parts for solar powered bot-making. I need to get a soldering iron so I can make the cute bug-bots they had on display at the Faire.
• The Crucible: a non-profit, Bay Area organization that supports the love and continuation of DIY industrial and fire arts through classes, public awareness, and space providence. I will be taking their Intro to Fire Performance class very soon and you should too! Or at least check out their extensive class listings for something more to your liking.

Here is the full list of makers present at the Faire. Please browse and support! If you'd like, share links to your favorite makers in the comments.

Yeah, it's Been a While

Okay, I have an explanation. In late January, a family member's chronic health condition had a month and half long flare-up, the care of which took precedent over everything else for a while. Then I had a pretty nice, yet exhausting temp job for a few weeks. Finally, I was struck with the immense task of following up my last post, which was arguably the biggest news story since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. I mean, really, what can immediately follow the Obama election without seeming fairly inconsequential?

Oh, I know. How about North Korea launching a test missile in a grand display of fear-monguering and penis waggling. Yes, we get it Kim, you're a crazy motherfucker, but this is no way to go about earning anything resembling respect or legitimacy in the international community. Between North Korea wanting to blow everyone up, the unrest in Pakistan getting worse by the day, the economy, and the general doom, gloom, end of days crap that's going around, I think the world needs a little bit of levity. Seth Rogan, what have you got for us? An elaborate stunt to put date rape humor into the mainstream?

Really, Seth? Really? I quit. ::headdesk::

Thankfully, I can always look to the scientific front for news that doesn't make me want to jump off a building. The 2009 Medical Design Excellence Award winners were announced this week and they are really exciting. This year's winners include a body-suit that quickly cools the body temperature down to hybernation in the midst of a heart attack or stroke to buy time against brain damage and a bunch of other freaking awesome devices that you should just check out yourself. Also, scientists have determined that eating baby broccoli might prevent stomach cancer and other digestive ailments. Yay science! Now if they could just find a common food that defends against severe spring allergies, I'd be good to go.

To my dedicated readers, if I have any left, I just want to say thanks for your patience and your continued support.