12.28.08 | Prescott: Happy Oasis + the Raw Spirit Potluck

Libby aka Doctress Nuetopia (former Arcosanti resident and onsite manager of the Paradox Project) got a free pass to attend the Global Summit in November in SF which I helped put together. While having lunch at the Global Summit, Libby introduced me to Happy Oasis who Libby met at the Raw Spirit Festival in Sept in Sedona.

Happy Oasis is also the name of her property in Prescott.

one of the coziest, most fun-loving and spectacular raw vegan eco-peace homes in Arizona. As the location of the headquarters for The Raw Spirit Festival, this is also the home of many Raw Spirit Friends who are dedicated to co-creating a healthier, more creative and peace-loving planet. One of the myriad benefits of visiting the Happy Oasis is the possibility of residing here short or longterm. The Happy Oasis a true Oasis featuring with canyon views, a pond, seasonal stream, hot tub, outdoor marble tub with shower and double sinks for serving friends al fresco at the The Occasional Raw Restaurant. We welcome you to join upcoming funloving potlucks and restful retreats. The community home and gardens are snuggly situated beside a canyon of gorgeous peach-rock granite in the Granite Dells, just three miles north of downtown Prescott, Arizona.

Happy Oasis is also the Author of several books including The Bliss Book:

Renowned as a “profoundly happy human being”, author Happy Oasis is a Blissologist, a Health & Happiness Consultant who has inspired thousands to live in bliss whatever their circumstances. Oasis says, “Happiness is habitual,” rouses us to “legalize happiness,” and openly shares her Habits of Highly Happy People in both The Bliss Book and in Uncivilized Ecstasies.

She is also organizing an event on Dec 28th (Sun) at 5 pm in Prescott AZ: The Happy AZ Raw Spirit Potluck Celebration at the Happy Headquarters (928.777.1066).

Raw Spirit Presenter Diana Owens will offer a wonderfully-fun and beautifully-deep interactive playshop “Co-Create Ecstasy For The New Year!”

Extraordinary Yogi Russell will lead us in yoga from 3 -5 pm. Donations to yogi, if you please.

Potluck from 5 – 7 pm.

Testimonials, announcements, and update from 7 – 8 pm. Donation to guest speaker Diana appreciated.

9:30 pm to midnight: Several musicians, poets and presenters will ignite the night including myriad playful possibilities such as Cindy Rothwell.

Kindly bring an organic raw vegan love-filled dish for at least 6 Hungry Souls.

In celebration of the Raw Spirit Festival’s New Zero Environmental Impact Vision please bringeth your own utensils and bowls to these potlucks as well as your announcements, testimonials, songs, poetry, wise quotes, inspiration. Bring your gleeful dancing socks and instruments.

Arcosanti + Vertical Farming

Leon Neihouse has been putting forward some important links in relation to integrated design, habitat construction and food production.

His work is most relevant to the effort to develop the Energy Apron + Greenhouse that is envisioned to provide much of the food for Arcosanti Critical Mass (this idea of the project gaining momentum to do larger scale development as envisioned by Paolo Soleri in terms of actually creating a fully operational Arcology).

The core question for consideration here is: how one might consider the development of an Arcology type vision of urban living that would include the habitat getting a significant amount of its food onsite using state of the art food production technologies.

Toward a Global Shift in Consciousness

Arcosanti Alum Stephen Budner brought to my attention an event organized by Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) called IONS 08 A global Shift in Consciousness. The event links several people relevant to Arcosanti and Arcology mainly Van Jones (who is a IONS Fellow), Chip Conley and Catherine Austin Fitts.

The event seems to be related to a post by Reality Sandwich which refers to an optimistic report by IONS about signs of a shift in human consciousness:

Transformation is rapidly seeping into the global psyche in quantifiable ways. In the face of impending world-wide catastrophe, our ability as humans to work and think collectively is more important than ever. The Shift Reports published by the Institute of Noetic Sciences, look at the nature of transformation on both a personal and global level, looking at the roots of our current plight and investigating the ways that we can play a part in our own evolution. Running counter to the selfish view of humanity purveyed by Neo-Darwinists, the IONS Shift Reports offer a more encouraging view, maintaining that intention, choice and will can catalyze change. From the blending of Western and Eastern medicine to ideas about human evolution and social change, the Reports point to a strong paradigm shift that is taking place all over the world at this very moment. If they’re right, this could be an age of Re-Enlightenment.

Van Jones who founded the Ella Baker Institute has been a leader in the Bay Area and also nationally in promoting this idea of Green Collar Jobs and also of the importance of rebuilding our inner cities.

Cosanti Foundation Boardmember Michael Gosney of the Green Century Institute includes Chip Conley on his list of advisors who has built an network of innovative hotels in the Bay Area that are focused on providing a more ecologically responsible hospitality experience.

I am also aware of Katerine Austin Fitts through her network’s (Solari Network) involvement at the Planetwork 2003 Conference and her recent work in promoting Financial Permaculture through the Solari Network.

“Toward a Global Shift” is calling forth wisdom from the four corners of the earth and from diverse sectors of society to build a powerful field for positive collective change. Featuring: group research experiments, eye-opening presentations, passionate performances, powerful personal experiences, deep inquiry, music, laughter, and more. Together, we will create a living experiment in personal, social, and global transformation.

12.7-14.08 Week in Review

Its Christmas Time and things are really slowing down here. People are leaving in droves and several who have been here for a while.

Financial Matters

2008 has been a rough year for the foundation financially as the recession really impacted the sale of bells. This has led to a hiring freeze across the departments and also reduced staff to run the bakey and agriculture department.

After much discussion, the foundation did receive a significant amount (about 180k) of money from a group of Europeans who pooled their money to purchase one of Soleri’s Arcology Scrolls. Much of this though went to pay off credit card debts which had been building as bell sales lagged behind past years expectations.

Construction

On Tuesday in construction, we poured another wall in the latest panel that we installed to shore up the area below the pool.

Its Kyle’s first paid week in construction. Jae who volunteered in construction for several weeks after his workshop has now left.

I am considering taking off a month or so to help mom who is going through a rough time with her divorce.

Meetings

Agriculture meeting – The agriculture department in particular has created as bit of controversy as there are concerns in the community that having someone working in the greenhouse for less that 40 hours means that the garden will fall into disrepair and the gains made from Maggie’s effort (the agriculture manager who is leaving) will evaporate, particularly the 60 or so chickens that now make Arcosanti almost self-reliant in egg production. On tuesday we had a meeting on this matter this included news that Roger Tomalty who is one of the workshop instructors and  is an expert in greenhouse farming will be working in the greenhouse one day a week. Roger and Mary (his wife who is also the Arcosanti site Coordinator) discussed their plan to have Roger work in the experimental greenhouses to get them going in a effective and productive way again. yet there was some skepticism about whether Roger working one day a week could actually what they stated as their goals. Regardless my thoughts is that it is important to get an effective food production system going at Arcosanti for several reasons:

1. Making the site more self-sufficient in food is central to the purpose of an Arcology
2. Some consideration needs to be given to the impact of adverse economic and social conditions and the possibility that more local food production would be necessary.
3. If Arcology is to be viable in the desert we need to show how a system can be designed to efficiently manage limited water resources in the desert.

Community Council/ALT – Every month we have a combined community council ALT (Arcosanti Leadership Team) meeting. This month we focused on housing policies which recently created some controversy regarding whether when all occupants of a group space leave at same time within a month – the housing coordinator has the authority to decide who lives there. Also after some confusion and debate about the smoking policy we finally enacted the policy change which banned smoking at the bakey level seating area. The debate about general site smoking and in particular the EC 1 porch is still very open to debate and a very contentious issue.

Community Council – We also had a community council meeting in which we discussed the upcoming Cosanti Foundation board meeting on Jan 30th; an proposed event with DJ Dr Spook in Feb; and The need for more community input and review of Daily Progress; a recap of the agricultural meeting; and a suggestion that a housing coordinator be elected by the community.

Networking

Libby Hubbard (aka Doctress Neutopia), recently pointed me to Scott Davis’ new book called Arcosanti Inexperienced which he published at an online publishing site.

Chicken Culling & More

There was concern about Avian Cloleria and the vet Tom Tesky came by. He said it was not a major problem but that our open pen was overloaded with chickens. We have at the current time 66 chickens which provide almost all of the eggs onsite. The vet was very knowledgeable about animal care and was very open to sharing his information about chickens with us. It was a great chance for people interested in farming to learn a few little things about chicken farming. They really are amazing animals and a vital part to any polyculture famring system.

Some six chickens were killed in preparation for the Christmas dinner on Tuesday for Arconauts that we are having tonight.=

On Tueday we also had agriculture meeting in which we discussed Roger Tomalty getting involved in the greenhouses and also the handover from our current Garden department director Maggie. One of the issues is whether we should have a full time paid staffperson.

12.06.08 | Phoenix Central Library: Linear City Panel Discussion

At 2PM on Saturday at the Burton Barr Central Library about 100 people gathered (including numerous Arcosanti residents and alumni) to hear a discussion regarding a proposal by Paolo Soleri and Nadia Begin to develop a form of Arcology city called the Lean Linear City.

The panelists at the event included: Paolo Soleri with assistance with his presentation from Architect Nadia Begin and Arcosanti Site Coordinator Mary Hoadley; Arizona Department of Transportation rail transportation planner Rakesh Tripathi; David Muench a photographer championing the strength and beauty of the desert southwest including Arizona Highways; and Arizona State University Professor John Meunier. After the presentations we had a break which was followed by a discussion by the panelists that included Q&A.