mermaidcamp

mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys

Garden Ideas from Grow Down

March 26, 2013

The final installations for the Grow Down design contest are all very impressive.  My favorite did not win the official competition, but I still love the water harvesting site built by Realm.  Here are the ideas from the other installations not centered around water harvesting and growing food, which is my personal bias.

The three other designs were also innovative and showed new ways to use small spaces to create privacy and shade.  The use of metal was popular with all four, but the winner constructed a full on room with a roof, couch and fireplace.  The full size tree and the water feature at the entrance clinched the deal with the judges I am sure.  The view from the comfy couch is really lovely, and would be great in cool weather with the modern gas fireplace.  If you live in Tucson I recommend that you see the grow down installations to pick up some excellent ideas to use at home in your garden.  I plan to try a few things I saw today.  There are lots of ideas that can be executed on an even smaller scale.

Grow Down!!

March 25, 2013 — 1 Comment

post modern deserts cape

post modern desertscape

Tucson Botanical Gardens hosted a demonstration weekend for local designers.  The Grow Down is intended to show ways to get big use from small gardens.  I attended on Saturday to see how they were doing and watch a demonstration on using shade cloth.  I will go back and see the finished designs as well as the winner of the prize.  My own prize goes to Realm, the group that was practically finished when the others were still working away on the installation.  They show a water harvesting method, bright green fake turf, and vegetables growing in raised beds.  This is exactly the kind of water use Tucson needs to cultivate.  Go Realm, Grow Down!! You have my vote.  The other designs were also very beautiful, but there was nothing to eat.

Realm design entry

Realm design entry

water harvesting

water harvesting

bridge over water retention

bridge over water retention

bench and fake grass

bench and astroturf

Tomates

Tomatoes

Citrus in pot

Citrus in pot

plants in bench

plants in bench

sitting area

sitting area

Femme Fatale Archetype

March 24, 2013 — 9 Comments

Rita Hayworth embodied the ultimate femme fatale in her movie role of Gilda. She was the pin-up goddess that excited WWII soldiers with her sexy alluring figure. Classic dangerous women come in a few formats. In literature this woman can be everything from a succubus, destroying men in their sleep, to a sexy helpless woman hiring a private eye.  She differs from the Vamp in her indirect approach.  She uses manipulative behavior to acquire money and men without investing any personal emotion.  In some stories, she also kills her victim.  When she is rejected, like Scarlett O’Hara is in Gone with the Wind, she may experience an opening of the heart, and a change.  Is this woman totally a myth, or do we see her in our lives?  Are there public femme fatales?

Spring Blooming in the Desert

March 23, 2013 — 2 Comments

When spring arrives in the desert it comes on quickly and leaves.  We have to get it while we can. The color of the blooms on cactus are extravagant and vivid.  The bees are busy and the livin’ is easy, for a very short time….then we sizzle.

Dreams and Dreamers

March 22, 2013 — 5 Comments

Your dreams are personal and they arise from the collective unconscious as well as your own. We all share a foundation of unknown mythology that our ancestors built into our beliefs. We share, and sometimes rebel against, cultural practices and teachings.  To deeply analyze our own psychological types dream work is necessary. The setting and the characters portrayed in dreams are metaphorical players in our spiritual lives.  Deeper understanding of our own unconscious leads to better understanding and appreciation for all of life.

There has been an attempt to hijack the word dream and turn it into a house or a car, or that illusive American Dream.  The big consumer consciousness promotes purchases of certain items in order to fulfill a dream.  It also spotlights outer image as the key to dreaminess.  I think it is important to note that marketing experts use the personality types to design ad campaigns and sales persons use them to craft the appropriate pitch for the prospect.  The archetype technique is being used strategically to manipulate you and your dreams.  If you submit willingly you will buy a lot of stuff with dubious dream fulfillment.  Take the reigns, gentle reader.  Design your own dreamscapes and accept no substitutes.

Connessione

March 19, 2013 — 2 Comments

Systems thinking was described by Leonardo da Vinci as “Everything is connected to everything else”. He called this connessione, or connection.  Now that we study quantum physics, we can see that Leonardo’s concern with the connectedness of all things was ahead of his time.  Ecology is the whole picture, with all the actions and reactions charted, considered and studied.  Man has now reached the conclusion that the unenlightened connections to our environment are probably destroying the future of man.

Where and how do you connect with all of creation?  We can think of many examples of disconnection….government, education, so called health care, all the failed and failing systems created without any thought of wholeness and balanced contribution.  How do you effect the world around you and how does it effect you?  Are you aware of any connections in your life?  What is the most important intellectual connection you have made up to this point?  I notice that resources abound for those who notice, respect, and care for them.  I have connected human greed, depression and insatiable consumption of resources as a single downward spiral.  I believe that mindless overconsumption of everything around us is our biggest threat.

Leonardo observed,” every part is disposed to unite with the whole, that it may thereby escape from its own incompleteness.”  How do you apply this idea?

Saving Tucson’s Environment

March 17, 2013 — 3 Comments

This week I had the opportunity to take a workshop with Watershed Management Group. I am concerned about the use and abuse of our water resources in Tucson, so I was curious to learn what this group is teaching. I found the format to be very effective. Our 2 day workshop took place at the Ward 1 City of Tucson office near the Santa Cruz River.  A grant has been secured to improve the environment around the office.  The water harvesting techniques we learned to retrofit neighborhoods with green infrastructure are needed in all parts of the Tucson valley in order to preserve and repair our water table.  The city of Tucson Water, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality sponsor and fund some of these storm water harvesting projects.  Others are created by neighborhoods and cities.  Lake Havasu City has been an active client, as is the city of Sierra Vista.

My fellow students came from as far away as Buffalo, New York.  There were several New Mexicans.  All were professionals in the fields of landscape design, civil engineering, architecture, permaculture, and real estate management.  I attended out of my general interest in water quality and health.  I have a specific interest in stopping the rape of the environment in my neighborhood by my own HOA board.  There is an insistence on as much water waste and plant destruction as possible, which has left us with a more and more barren urban heat island.  The value of our property as well as the quality of life around us has been destroyed, along with wildlife habitat, by simply following worst environmental practices for more than a decade.  If no steps are taken to stop the destructive practices we can expect our value to continue to drop and our crime rate to continue to rise.  Environment and greenery have a very direct effect on crime rates.

I learned more than enough to convince some of my neighbors to join me in turning the tide of waste and ghetto creation in our hood.  I look forward to participating in more projects with Watershed Management Group.

Benefits and techniques

Benefits and techniques

Costs

Costs

Healthy snacks

Healthy snacks

we assess the site

we assess the site

checking all deets

checking all deets

Parking lot project

Parking lot project

polenta pizza

polenta pizza

beets, greens, salad

beets, greens, salad

greens

greens

I am a huge fan of the entire process, about which I will tell you much more, gentle reader. Let it suffice to say that taking courses in watershed management will get you into the best lunch you have ever tasted. Incredibly tasty local ingredients were catered for us picnic style.  A good time was had by all.  The learning was fine, but the camaraderie and gourmet enjoyment put this experience over the top in my book.

Embrace and Drive Change

March 14, 2013

Zappquarters

Zappquarters

The second core value of Zappos is simple, but not so easy.  Change is never as easy as it seems.  The investment in any status quo is heavier than it appears to the naked eye.  To start something new is much easier than to destroy something old that does not work  (think Congress).  People feel that change involves admission of some kind of error, and that is why they will not enter the zone.  Being right is important to the point that it can alter the mind of the thinker significantly.  When driving change that involves others, be sure that you do not threaten their self images.  Any indication that there is a better way, also indicates that the present path is the wrong one.  Egos invest in this kind of righteous battle.  Ego battles virtually always get out of control because the individuals cannot control the egos.   It is best to show by example how change can work for the benefit of all participants.

  • inventing an official  company sport is a metaphor
  • defying gravity is a change most people do not consider
  • sports are defined too narrowly
  • everyone can win
  • strength, fitness, and flexibility are just a side effect of the fun
  • coaching is more effective combined with movement
  • It is HOT in Vegas
  • the product can make us all some bucks while helping others

We are joined at the core, Tony…..tweet me, maybe.

Fun and a Little Weird

March 14, 2013 — 3 Comments

 

Zappos intentionally transformed the workplace of the telephone bank ordering system.  Since this service of taking orders from customers and executing them will continue, serious thought was put into making the job more fun.  The tour of the Zappos office will convince you that something very different is afoot.  They are used to being observed on the job, and seem to enjoy flaunting costuming, toys, banners, and personal expression of every kind.   It made me think of a friend of mine who worked in a cubicle for Quantas, doing reservations.  The company issued a memo that no personal items could be displayed in the cubicle of any kind.  My friend removed her personal decor and displayed instead the memo itself as her new decoration. The hostility she felt for her incredibly insensitive employer had to come through on every call.

Repression never works, and I am living proof. I have instinctive distrust of dogma, certifications and senseless regulations. Giving people the creative freedom to contribute to the group beats a hierarchy with power issues every time. Zappos does create titles, but they can be very non traditional.  My tour guide had the title Culture Clown, which sounded to me like a very fine position.  Her job was to tour and explain to the public how being fun and weird at work is good for the human race.  This seems obvious, so her job is pretty easy, if not always a barrel of monkeys.

The reasons I think Floatli is the perfect official sport for Zappos:

  • You look like a robot when you are in the equipment
  • It makes you feel silly as soon as you feel it, usually inspires giggles
  • It is the exact opposite of what you do the rest of the time in gravity
  • It is the opposite of wearing shoes
  • When you fall, you fall up  (more than a little weird)
  • Vegas is HOT, and you all need to get in the water
  • It is fun, and much weirder than you can imagine

You do not need to imagine. Say the word and I will fly up and Floatli with you.  If it is not fun and weird enough for you I will be very surprised.

Pursue Growth and Learning

March 12, 2013 — 2 Comments

The 5th core value at Zappos is about growth and learning.  I respect this greatly because in it they admit publicly that they do not know what they are doing.  This thrills me, because most biz executives do not appear to know what they are doing, but wish to cover up this fact.  The learning curve itself is a sport at Zappos.  They measure productivity and success carefully, in order to learn what works for the company and the customers. They also boldly go where none have gone before, to create and measure happiness.

Like Bhutan, Zappos is concerned with the GNH, or gross national happiness.  The employee happiness is valued as is the customer happiness.  This circular program of generating happiness by being happy makes sense. Since each person defines pleasure and joy for herself, creation of the right conditions for maximum joy is the goal. Experimentation and measurement is essential to know if your plans are succeeding.  Since Zappos has no historical model, nor does Bhutan, we can safely say that they are swimming in new water. To chart a course, one must know where one is.  Zappos does an excellent job of tracking and addressing with training and coaching, the internal needs of the staff.  They also monitor the customer satisfaction and efficiency of the entire process. Creation of happiness is no small feat in the world today, and it will require much study and inquiry.  I think Zappos is teaching business how to shift and focus on the important things in life.