Author: jennynazak

I posted on Deep Adaptation that I have a deep suspicion that the airline companies are systematically undercutting the train companies in Europe.

Also posted my frustration that airline tickets seem to be getting unnaturally cheap, all the while planetary resources are being depleted and it would seem more appropriate for them to be getting more expensive.

This is my original post which you can look up if you join the DA group (and then you can follow the comments.):

#rant How are airline ticket prices so cheap? Seems like the prices are totally backwards in keeping with planetary situation; ecological limitations. I’m thinking it must be some predatory pricing or something. It’s hard to listen to people talk about how they’re going here and there all over the place and how cheap the tickets are. Very sickening.

I feel the same about all this trashy consumer junk that’s sold online. How can it be that it is getting cheaper??? < horror, crying, and anger emojis.>

It’s really sickening. In the 1980s, when I had what I considered my fair lifetime allotment of Europe travel (a five-week trip around England, Wales, and Scotland, including 2-week stay in London), trains were the main mode of transport in UK and continental Europe.

Flying was practically unheard of, at least as far as I had understood. Now it seems totally reversed.

I have become convinced that the airlines have deliberately undercut the trains.

Glad I got that experience before all this stuff started happening.

Full disclosure: I said I considered my England Scotland Wales trip to be my fair lifetime allotment. However, before I thought this way, I had other trips.

In 2004, I went on a group tour to Spain with one of my aunts.

And in 1998, I went on a work-related trip to Sheffield England. And while over there, we took the ferry across to Rotterdam and toured around the Netherlands by train and bus.

That was just my Europe travel. Between 1990 and 2004, I also did three back-and-forth trips to Japan from the USA, for work. (Including my five-year stay living in Tokyo.)

Wish I had known then what I know now. Glad I got the experiences but I would have happily curtailed it for planetary reasons.

In 2017, when i wrote my book, I did retroactively purchase triple carbon offsets for every single air trip that I can remember taking in my adult life, before I quit flying. But carbon offsets are by no means a perfect mitigative remedy.

Response to a comment from someone in the group who continues to take multiple transcontinental flights (and does not feel bad about it, feeling that industry and so on have contributed so much more):

I wish we could control what government or large companies do, but we cannot. And, we can’t invent a time machine to make our past selves more aware, but we do have the current awareness of what we know now.

I might feel more guilt because I am a Boomer, and furthermore a USA citizen. And therefore am part of the demographics that has contributed most to destroying the planet. Just by our willful obliviousness, if nothing else.

My heart goes out to you & other people who are living on separate continents from their families; this is a widespread artifact of our modern age.

What is your long-term plan, as far as possibly living within low-footprint ground-transport distance of your family? (When I was really young and going through the wild times, I thought maybe I was willing to never see my family again. But it turned out not to be the case so I’m glad I did not end up staying in Japan and have to face that dilemma.)

I try not to beat myself up for what I did in the past — same as you, we only know what we know at the time, but I cannot allow myself that same behavior moving forward.

And, there is a hard reality that at some point airline travel is going to become not an option. So it behooves us everyday people to reduce our vulnerability as far as being intercontinentally far away from our families. Unless we are willing to possibly not see our families again in this lifetime.

If you’re not yet familiar with Paul Wheaton / permies forums, I highly recommend this site. It is a vast universe with many little winding intricate pockets, but there is a search feature to help you navigate.

Topics: 1) low-tech; 2) deep sharing! (“public house” concept)

The low-tech section of permies dot com forums is a wealth of info! See screenshots for sample – it goes on and on like this.

“A new combine harvester that costs eighty percent less to build and can harvest wheat, rice and other grains could change the economics of grain farming on a global scale. The new “Simple Harvester” was built at an off-grid, renewable energy development center in Virginia called Living Energy Farm. It promises to make grain farming economical for small farmers who cannot afford large-scale, industrial harvesting equipment.

People everywhere rely on grain for food. Modern grain harvesting equipment is expensive and complex. Grain harvesting technology has evolved from one machine to the next. The term “combine” is derived
from the fact that modern machines ‘combine’ many machines that were historically separate. Each new innovation was added to old technologies, and combine harvesters grew very complex with dozens of moving parts. The Simple Harvester overcomes that legacy and harvests grain effectively with only a few moving parts. As the name implies, the Simple Harvester is dramatically simpler than any other combine harvester ever manufactured. The Simple Harvester is much cheaper to build, easier to maintain, easier to operate, and can harvest a wide variety of grains under a wide variety of conditions”

OH!! And see the last three screenshots, I found a real gem for anyone interested in making their home a bit of a public or community space. Honestly this is the aspect of Permaculture that really lights me up. Community, urban, neighborhood https://permies.com/t/263752/Accountability-thread-public-house-project#2619529 A homeowner in urban Montreal seeking to make part of their house available in a public or semi-public way.

And – Use this link to see the entire list of all of the forums at permies.com, it’s a vast universe in there! https://permies.com/forums

(Response to a comment in one of the “blue women” groups.)

Honestly, if I were a citizen of another country, I would be moving back there ASAP. I hope you are able to arrange that very soon. <3

I was born here and feel a deep responsibility to this place, the country of my citizenship, but we really don’t have much to offer, as far as what we think our bragging points are.

People from other countries have always mainly just come here (to the hotbed of capitalism) to make money, and now even that isn’t a very solid proposition. If I had a culture to go back to, I would be going back to it STAT!!

Especially could not live in a different country from my family. Long-distance travel isn’t something we can count on forever, and it’s becoming less reliable. Glad you got to visit your family for the holidays and hope you can make it permanent soon.

My job as a US citizen is to do my part to try to create a more bearable, livable, kind, mutual-aid environment for people here. In my neighborhood and city etc. And advocate for making reparations to the descendants of enslaved peoples; and advocate for #LandBack to the indigenous peoples.

All of the above notwithstanding, I love my country the USA in a deep way. Sounds contradictory, I know.

My pink sweatshirt with the cute little snowpeople is precious to me!! Even though it’s gotten stains over the years, I plan on keeping it till it’s totally worn out. My mom gave it to me some years back. So my plan is and was to add appliqué and embroidery over the stains as they happen.

But what ended up happening first, was that winter holiday season is drawing to a close. But I wanted to still wear the sweatshirt. Because I love pink, and a sweatshirt layer is handy for this weather. So, I turned it inside out so it would just be a plain pink sweatshirt.

But when I did that, it turned out that the back of the snowman appliqué embroidery showed through the fabric.

So what did I do? I sewed on a piece of fabric to conceal the backing, then sewed some hearts on over that. (The fabric pieces are various stretchy fabric from my fabric box.) Voilà, instant valentine sweatshirt! And really, hearts never go out of season, do they, so I have really extended the season of this loved sweatshirt!!

Pix here. (For as long as the will of zucc will allow, you know.)

PS. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but I edged the border of the light-pink concealment patch with some metallic white ribbon floss, from my famous multigenerational thread-stash.

Last two photos show more of the whole outfit. BTW my favorite homemade scarf (which i made of soft wool from an old sweater that i found in the trash years ago then wore til it was done wearing), also makes a nice turtleneck attachment, since it’s definitely turtleneck weather right now! I just wrap it around my neck and tuck the tails in instead of letting them hang down muffler-style.

The gloves are made of a pair of socks that were given to me but ended up being super super crazy tight around the ankles, so I turned them into long fingerless gloves. I haven’t even cut the thumb-hole yet, but they’re actually fine as they are.

This painting I did 11 years ago came back to me the other day, as I was trying to think about more ways to create a safer world. Including, just helping people feel safer in the world that we have now. “Wild Friendly Universe.”

Was the title that came to me after I made this. The original was I believe one of my 4″ x 4″ pieces, executed in pen, colored pencil, and colored inks.

I don’t remember who bought the original, and don’t remember if I sold prints of it, but if any of you out there are reading this, thank you for your support all those years ago.

Recently I decided to make all of my artwork freely available. Anyone is welcome to print out any of my artworks. You can even alter them. Just, if you alter them, make it clear in your signature or credit line that it’s your own alteration.

And, anyone is welcome to reproduce & SELL any of my art works. Either as digital images or prints or whatever. Charge whatever you want! Use it to support your dreams. Pay your rent, treat yourself to something nice, whatever!

Use my art on your book covers, your projects, your school fundraiser, whatever.

If you make some money off my work and you feel like cash-apping me a cup of coffee or whatever that’s fine, but it’s totally optional. enJoy, and happy new year!

Very important note: This offer applies only to MY artwork. This offer does not apply to the work of any other artist who I have showcased on my pages. Please Do NOT reproduce the work of any other artist without their express permission. And of course, compensate them according to their terms. Support Artists & Honor Creativity — Buy Art!!!

See the wild friendly universe artwork here.

Response to a post by a fellow activist celebrating their acquisition of an E350 camper van as mobile affordable dwelling.

Mobile affordable housing! On this subject of affordable, I bet there are some ways to tweak the engine to optimize gas mileage, although I am not familiar with that terrain. Maybe the 350s already are pretty affordable to run.?

I always say to myself that if I’m going to live in a van, I would try to find a strip down one of those E150 basic contractor vans. Not sure what their mileage is either.

Anyway, always love your posts, and happy new year to you. May massive growth in the affordable housing ecosystem be a part of 2025!

Another piece of the picture can be, how do we find/create more places where people can park without being hassled by law enforcement?

Normalize legal, safe, by-right parking for van dwellers and other mobile dwellers!

Even if I look at it from a hard-core ruthless fiscal-conservative standpoint, it makes sense. Seems like it’s a lot more fiscally prudent to provide bathrooms and showers and a safe parking area, than the over-policing alternative which brings in all sorts of costs and messy problems.

But then again if we legitimize that this is a real valid need that society, municipal govts etc can easily accommodate, the “respectable citizens brigade” doesn’t get to wield its toxic shaming social norms against mobile-dwelling people, and the prison-industrial complex doesn’t get to make massive amounts of money.

So … that is another obstacle for likeminded people to dismantle!

I talk with my neighborhood group and city about this kind of thing a lot, and I’m hoping we may be building a little bit of support. At least a couple of my neighbors agree that we should be setting up safe, free (or super cheap like $2-5 a night, or pay what u can) campgrounds in every neighborhood.

The perimeter of the parking areas could be planted lushly with fruit trees and vegetables. Etc.!

It could even be a fixed address, with a mail kiosk: little mailboxes for each parking spot.

Just a few thoughts. I would love to hear more. I picture it being a flourishing part of the local economy and society. A hotbed of teaching, skill sharing, etc. I definitely see the housed population getting involved in mutual sharing of resources.

BTW there is a very big group on Facebook called Car Camping. Pretty sure it started out just as people recreational camping, but a lot of people living in their vehicles have joined the group as well. It’s mostly a very productive exchange, but there is some definite class warfare in there, and a lot of the conversations offer opportunities to reset the social norms.

Photo: New Year’s sunrise on the beach down the street from my house. Which is beautiful, but very lacking in public toilets. They have either been taken away, or have restricted hours.

(On this note, I would like to never have to teach a workshop on how to pee in public without getting arrested. And how to poop in public in a sanitary manner without getting arrested. Right up there with how to sleep in public without getting arrested. But at the rate things are going, I don’t hold out much hope that I won’t someday sooner rather than later feel compelled to give such workshops. It shouldn’t come to this though.)

The following supersedes any and all prior statements I have made, regarding permissions to use my content. NOTE, this statement does not constitute permission to use anyone else’s content. This is only about MY content.

I am inspired by Caitlin Johnstone, The Grateful Dead, and others who have happily and generously shared their creative and cognitive abundance. But I recognize that this level of sharing is not an option for everyone.

When I say content, I refer to all of my writing, as well as my artwork (drawings, paintings, photos etc.).

You are free to share my work electronically, or in print form. This means you can print out my stuff, be it writing or art. Not only for your own use, but you are also welcome to sell it. Please just include the attribution of using my name, jenny nazak.

You are also welcome to take my art and other content and alter it. In this case, please just make it clear that you are putting out your own, altered version of an image or written content made by me, jenny nazak. And you are welcome to sell this altered product.

There’s no obligation to compensate me financially for any of the above. However if you wish, you are welcome to buy me lunch, or a cup of coffee, or a downtown commercial building for my community, or whatever. My cash app is in the contact info.

If somehow you end up making a squillion kabillion dollars on my content, well, congratulations! That’s a lot more than I’ve been able to do. While it’s beyond my control how you would use that money, I trust you to use it in ethical ways. Don’t be buying up houses and hoarding them. Don’t be gentrifying places. Don’t be oppressing your business partners or employees. Don’t be doing a jet-set cruise lifestyle. Use the money to finance your activist and creative endeavors, with the intent to create a compassionate and abundant world for all humans and all other species.

I wish you a happy end of the old year and start of the new!