### µ-quarter (1.1 months) focus
Kickstarter to raise $4k for first batch of garden statues (we can be significant sponsors)
### Sunday Agenda
- Check in
- Opening Blessing
- Review WWWs
- Weekly event logistics
- Review Agenda
- Autumn Equinox
- WWWs for Gaia Kickstarter
- Next Year’s Summer Event
- Evaluation
- Closing Blessing
### Thursday Agenda
- Check in
- Opening Blessing
- Project Work
- Brandon: Email Devera about the Gaia statues … contact the Portland Arts Council about the Gaia statues
- Brandon: start writing a Gaian perspectives blogpost for Humanistic Paganism
- Ben: Start drafting the Summer Newsletter
- Ben: Work on the "[Gospel According to Ben](/SolSeed:The_Book_of_Life)"
- Ben: Do more work on the Shiny Green Festival notes
- Ben: listen to the Lovolution podcast
- Ben: Work on the hemisphere code
- Evaluation
- Closing Blessing
### Check In
- Brandon … Shelley and Ren and I went for a jog this morning … I'm starting my new job on Monday … I'll have far less flexibility timewise
- Ben … I don’t feel well, I’m sick … yuck!
### Opening Blessing
At this time of year, we recognize the existence of the light, the existence of the dark, and brace ourselves for the disappearance of the light. As we find ourselves in darkness, may we find that we are not alone, and that our vision remains. -- Blessed Be
### Summer Newsletter
Summer only just ended, and I'm missing it already. We did so many exciting things, and most of them we won't get to do again for a long while. As we descend into the darker half of the year, at least we can bask in the warmth of our memories. (In the interest of that goal, I'm going to be a little less concise than usual.)
After reading two of Daniel Quinn's books and their description of an ethic that says "this planet is *not* ours to do with as we please," Eric started thinking about how to feed people using forested land without cutting down the trees. The solution he started with is a tree-climbing robot that could graft branches of various fruit trees onto the forest's existing trees. He invented a simple, super-lightweight pneumatic actuator concept for the robot's legs, and built a partial working prototype--but then had to put the project on hold for a while as his family decided to work on moving to a new home across the river from Ottawa, next to a huge forest called Gatineau Park.
Another major distraction for Eric and Michelle was planning for their visit to Portland's smaller urban forest, the Hoyt Arboretum, for the first annual Shiny Green Festival! In addition to us regulars, the largely-outdoor unconference brought together old friends like Keith Lofstrom (who had only attended one previous SolSeed event, way back in 2009), new friends like the Halsteads (who Brandon and Shelley met earlier this year at Pantheacon), and even a couple of Keith's acquaintances who we'd never met before. We hiked around the Arboretum and around Portland, Drummed the Eons at the city's highest point, held a treasure hunt, visited a beach on the river and an outdoor religious sanctuary, discussed many fascinating ideas about the intertwined futures of life and technology--and oh yeah, I presented my Spectacle!
It's called the Hemisphere, and it's simply a big white hemispherical surface (we used a beach ball embedded in a cutout between two big blocks of styrofoam). Doesn't sound very impressive--but combined with a digital projector, it becomes a view of any spherical object you can imagine! We focused on Earth and other celestial bodies (with a starry backdrop projected on the foam), but the possibilities go far beyond that. The Hemisphere is also an open-source software project that will enable anyone to create their own content, particularly if they have a map that they want to quickly and easily turn into an interactive half-globe. That part is at a very early stage, but luckily the NOAA Science on a Sphere project, which inspired me to create the Hemisphere, provides plenty of content on its website that I was able to plug right into my presentation.
We continued the "Shiny Green" theme into our Autumn Equinox celebration, which began at a steampunk-themed restaurant called the Industrial Cafe, then segued to a Pagan Pride festival set amid the oak trees that give Oaks Park its name. After wandering among the vendors selling crystals, ritual masks, Gaia statues, and even Pagan-themed bumper stickers, we joined a circle of participants for a harvest ritual that included a wonderful spiral dance. We turned back from Green to Shiny by enjoying a couple hours of rides at the neighboring Oaks Amusement Park. Then we returned to the Seed Village, where Brandon and I rounded out the evening with a couple of rounds of an ecology-themed board game called The Reef.
- Worldcon?
- Gaia Statue Kickstarter planning
- Connecting with Devera
- Wrote intro and reward level ideas
- Need to make a video
### Evaluation
- Brandon … you're in my heart, Ben, I hope your health issues resolve soon … glad to spend this time with you … happy birthday!
- Ben … at first I thought I’d be too depressed to write … that wasn’t the case so that was a relief
### Closing Blessing
Only in silence the word. Only in dark the light. Only in dying life. Bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky. -- Blessed Be
(Quote from *A Wizard of Earthsea* by Ursula Le Guin)