Illegitimate Sun

Archive for April, 2006

More and more people are asking, so here’s the deal.

I’m spending two months this summer studying in Europe.

In June, I’m attending the SLU Madrid Law Program in Madrid, Spain.

Following that, I’ll be attending the Brussels Seminar in Brussels for July.

I’m especially proud of being admitted to the Brussels Seminar – only 30 students are selected.  It’ll be tough.  I’m in class for 10 hours a day, six days a week.  Days are spent studying the European Union and attending meetings and lectures at the European Parliment.

Trust me, this is no vacation.

Still, I’m excited to be hopping the pond again.

So, I’ve been filling my Ipod.

The best addition to it has to be Apollo 18 by They Might Be Giants.

This album has dozens of single-line line songs. Short snippets of songs.

So, when I’m walking down the street listing to my songs shuffle randomly. Suddenly, there’ll be a whisper in my ear,

“Fingertips…fingertips”

And then the next song will begin.

That’s hilarious.

There are a couple of assumptions that are already going into the planning of the shack.

1) The shack will probably be in British Columbia, Canada.

Blame Amy for this one. Her desire to resettle in Vancouver means I’ll be settling there too. As a survivalist location, BC is not the worst place to settle.

BC has temperate climate, ready access to renewable food supplies (fishing), access to a source of salt (ocean), fuel & building supplies (wood & wood).

Farming will be hard in the rocky soil that predominates most areas. Lack of sunlight and excessive rain will be hard on certain crops and solar power sources. Land prices will be high in the most desirable locations.
Still, it could be worse.

2) Shack construction will have to be done on the cheap

Blame me on this one. I still am appalled by the skyrocketing price of housing. What am I, Rockefeller? I can’t afford a mansion out in the woods. Instead, I need to settle with a cabin, principally handbuilt, with the basics covered.

Ways to reduce costs, like hand building, not excavating a full basement, and utilizing alternative materials will make all the difference on my poor budget.

3) The shack will need to hold more than one family

I’m a softy. If my friends and family make their way to the Shack, I can’t turn them away. The Shack needs to be able to hold multiple occupents and be able to scale up in the surrounding area as time progresses and more people join us. The Shack itself needs room for a variety of people to stay and there needs to be room for more housing and the supplies to build it need to be accessible.

(Of course, I plan to be voted Mayor & Spirtual Leader for Life. That’s a small price for people to pay to sleep on my couch.)