Random ruminations on the edge of madness
Ecco il video pubblicitario del corso che ribolle in pentola per quest'estate qui alle Galline Ribelli... Your browser does not support the video tag. Scuola popolare sulla riappropriazione di tecnologie…
A lot of new farmers are attracted by the ideas of Elementary Agriculture (from Giancarlo Cappello, in my opinion a good storyteller). I myself have been duped into buying his book. His method is presented…
The title is just the Orwellian way to say that.. Not all mulch is created equal As I briefly mentioned in the previous point, I don't like buying straw or hay (from producers fueled by fossil capital)…
After all I've said, you'll understand why I am becoming a fan of cover crops. They keep dogtooth away, they seem to keep the soil decently uncompacted, they pump root exudates into the soil all year…
New year, new challenges. With this post I'll be presenting some of the works that I will be carrying on during these next months to continue innovating at the farm. Fencing: I've decided to fence off…
Ho una pompa sommersa da 4 soldi immersa in un rigagnolo e connessa ad un vecchio sistema di irrigazione interrato che ho connesso all'orto. Da che mondo é mondo ho sempre usato la pompa per trasferire…
Fastforwarding my ass 280km from Bilbao to Oviedo, the starting point of the Camino Primitivo, was a sin that the gods won't forget... Day 1 My body is again wrecked by the bus trip and I find myself…
Atomization. There's some common traits between those who only look for a comfortable life and those who are excessively concerned about their own health and well-being. Like many people in spiritual…
Today was a day of pain. After negotiating a reasonably pleasant morning with the Gods of the Dew, I get to fascinating Guernica for lunch time and I am caught by the scorching sun when lingering in…
"Cherry tree: all you can reach" says an imaginary note popping up in my mind. June is prime time for cherry looting, plucking bunches of fruits with greedy fingers. No crops are safe from birds and pilgrims!…
(Irun - Bilbao) I am getting old. After a bus ride on a broken unreclinable chair, my neck is sore and my head heavy and I haven't even started walking. My toiletry bag is lost and I gotta run buy a toothbrush.…
Ivan Illich mentioned that technologies become toxic to societies when they exceed an energy-threshold. In fact, he talks about two thresholds. The first one is related to ecological collapse and it is…
These are the raw clippings from my e-reader of the book Sacred Economics from Charles Eisenstein. A must-read for those who want to enhance their understanding on an issue that is often neglected.:…
..and how to keep in touch with me A letter recently sent to my contacts… MOVING OUT OF WHATSAPP, GMAIL AND FB MESSENGER Dear (few) Friends I was still talking to on Whatsapp or messenger, The techno-survellance…
Hitch-hiking? Why (not)? That was my (second) reply when my "hippy-leaning" friends invited me to get a lift with them all the way to Italy. I'm too old and scruffy for that! And drivers will never pick…
A framework for confused individuals... Power dynamics and social change represents the "meat" of my present interest and in systemic-thinking lays my preferred methodology. But the subject is -alas! - …
3rd and last part... Day 5: we were part of the crazy few who ventured on the alternative route - the "Calzada Romana" - which ended with a 24 km stretch with nothing else than open fields under the burning…
Day 2: "Open your heart to silence"...."conserve your energy” …were we practicing mindfulness after our inspiring encounters the night before, or trying nicely “shut up” a group of loud pilgrims photo-shooting…
Dairy of the Camino MMXVIII -Part 1 (Disclaimer: this piece is a caricature. Not meant to denigrate anyone or to dissuade people from doing the Camino. I'll try to prove that the Camino keeps on being…
Resolution: Use the power of sketching.... and bye bye powepoint! Our brains are hardwired to detect patterns. "Live" sketching engages people's interest, as they are constantly trying to guess what comes…
"Make sure to take notes of the small moments "in-between". This magic of life can exist beyond the walls of our dreams. Remembering to be grateful now , time moves faster than it seems" ..said a postcard…
Intro: “Low tech – high purpose” Post-modernity is going to be essentially low tech and high labour. Whether we want it or not. There is just not enough energy and resources for it to be otherwise. I skip…
(A short horror story I wrote in a burst a few years ago. Very dense, it needs abridging) Perché l’hai sfidato? “Và avanti!” “Ho paura” “Vai!” Una luce folgorante ti sfavilla di fronte agli occhi, disorientandoti.…
(SPOILER ALERT: This is an "operational" post- so it can be a bit boring. Not exactly the best piece of poetry I've ever conceived. Still worth reading, though...) I will not buy any packaged food (and…
I know. Dear Readers, I know, you are few and this is going to be serious (bla bla). But at least I'll make it short (bla). Physics law # 1*: We cannot have unlimited exponential growth in a system with…
(UPDATE MAY 2019: Since the time of this post (2016) my views on the subject have RADICALLY changed. For reference I still keep the original post, cause I still think it contains some valid points, but…
Especially among younger generations, there's a growing discomfort towards the current socioeconomic model. A lot of people feel unhappy or disconnected from their jobs and lives. But only a tiny number…
Social and enviromental issues are often linked. And we need to tackle them in a coordinated way so as to provoke an "homeothelic response" (i.e. move forward synergistically on both fronts). So far all…
Laziness Let’s define “laziness” anew—to endure a non-ideal existence, to let circumstance or others decide life for you, or to amass a fortune while passing through life like a spectator from an office…
A start of a journey... It was after the inspiring experience of the Camino de Santiago, walking in a park in Madrid, that Seyi and I first thought about the idea of a residential weekend with like-minded…
... closer to being alive. I like the limitlessness of humanity and our striving, our tips and tricks to make sense of an overwhelming reality. Approximation (with the inherent imperfection of a choice…
The homeless man (from ex-Yugoslavia) sans papiers, trying to get Italian citizenship (grandma from Bari, Puglia) sleeping on the edge of the park. White beard, wrapped in a sleeping bag and typical looks…
It’s been a few years that I am planning an escape. Or, better, a rebirth. Something is wrong with a world that forces us to pee in the water that we drink. Our leaders are leading us to destruction. You…
In the fortress of Le Bourget.. Dec 12. The world's bureaucrats were rushing to close a pompous-sounding climate deal and then celebrate their achievements in front of the press. The result was a contradictory…
I’m so unconventional “Darling, why don’t we go to the poshest beach to kiss at sunset, just because we have seen it in the movies? Yes, just like we’ve been doing every single day since we arrived…come…
Happiness is a simple thing… “I am on holiday and I want no trouble! worked all year for my room: double! A/C bungalow straight on the beach, palm trees and cocktails within hand’s reach.. Let’s book…
The backstage (i.e. what you don’t necessarily wanna hear about travelling on a shoestring) The horror shack “Is living like the poor of the world the new glamour?” Those were my thoughts during my one…
The Island Barely had I set foot on Ko Lanta island, that I found a shop near my hostel with autoctonous boys eager to rent their mountain bike to a pale face yankee like me. A couple of quids a day. Ideal…
It was only 3 days before on the night train that I met Nang, a real local girl, sitting in front of me with a bike helmet on her lap. That was the easiest conversation starter ever...and I found out that…
Part 1: around Chaing Mai It all started with the worst-ever conceived flight connection that forced me to sleep 2 consecutive nights on the unforgiving floor of Doha and Bangkok airports respectively.…
Identikit di un TravelArtist. Uno che si è fatto le gambe sui pendii di Cornelia a cavallo di una bici vintage rubata dall’officina artigiana di papà. Provincia di Fermo, Marche, regione rurale centroitaliana…
On How disappointed he was when things spontaneously turned out well! Like when… We met Salih, the fisherman, for the second time and we decided to stay for coffee..then for lunch..then a backgammon championship…
We set off on our way with the sense of freedom and possibility, like free men, who could be stopped by nothing. We would often scream to the world our motto “we go and see!”“we are open to the world and…
Hard not to guess who is the hero of this story.. When I first saw him clumsily making his way through the mountain paths at the very beginning of the Lycian way, I thought : “ Oh My God. We are never…
As we crossed the border and entered Serbia, another rewarding cycling day was turning to an end. While fully enjoying a break with my Ecotopian friends attacking large portions of watermelon, not in the…
