Online Chat between previous intern Jason Howard and Deanne


Online Chat between previous intern Jason Howard and Deanne.

 

Jason: hola!

 me: hola
  how are YOU?
7:07 PM Jason: pretty great, and you?
7:08 PM me: well doing just fine. did some thatching and office work today.
7:09 PM where are you at?
 Jason: thatching, nice! I was out on the bluffs at Lake Ontario not long ago... beautiful, I didn't even know they were there... but there were so many phragmites!
7:10 PM i'm at my parents' house in massachusetts right now
 me: sounds nice on lake ontario.
 Jason: i'll be here for the next six months because i'm going to massage school on monday and tuesday
  sen and I are both going for certification in massage and reflexology. just got a massage table
7:11 PM me: phragmites...good news and bad news eh?
 Jason: exactly
  do what you can with it, anyway
 me: that sounds really ggreat. massage school. how is your work with the counseling going?
  it would be good to have multiple healing modalities.
7:12 PM they had massage folks at bioneers detroit. free to attendees.
  it was really nice.
 Jason: it's a bit slow. there's a lot to learn, and it's really hard to gauge improvement and build confidence. it's not like building a boat when you know you haven't done it right because it sinks! so, i'm taking that slowly but surely and it's really nice to have the massage too
7:13 PM i've thought about massage school for years but when i discovered a school that was right in town where sen and I could both get certification with reflexology as well for $7500 total, that's like a quarter of what i would have expected. we just went for it
7:14 PM me: sounds really fun, too
 Jason: definitely. learning so much, and i'll be able to do things like bodyworkers without borders and help in crisis situations and all that kind of stuff.
 me: in times of stress people will really like massages. should e good, just like selling liquour.
  wow, bodyworkers without borders
7:15 PM what a great contribution
 Jason: yeah, i keep thinking i want to offer it especially to activists and such who get burned out as a sort of gift for the work they're doing
7:16 PM me: right on
7:17 PM Jason: you could have something like a bodywork day at the strawbale studio on a donation basis where all proceeds go to the studio?
7:18 PM me: things have been really busy here, with bioneers, lots of overlapping interns, and now the one who was here for several months just left so I am getting to be alone for a bit which will be really great. i need a break to center and ground and get organized.
 Jason: yeah, with the year winding down and winter approaching, that should be nice
 me: that is a great thing to offer. lets consider it for next season when it gets warm again.
7:19 PM Jason: definitely
  good way to get practice, too :)
 me: when will you be certified?
  right on
 Jason: in six months
  just got my insurance
 me: :) l like that smiely face
 Jason: hehe
7:20 PM me: 6 months sounds just right.
 Jason: reflexology is really cool too.
 me: that would be what , april or may?
 Jason: oh, march actually
  the last class is sometime in march
 me: cool
7:21 PM Jason: a lot of schools just teach sweedish but this goes into all sorts of myofascial, cranial sacral, shiatsu, etc... lots of stuff that you just don't get at most schools
 me: there is a transition town "reskilling day" in ann arbor on saturday with 30 presenters on all sorts of sustainable skills...probably like worm composting, making fire, greenhouses, etc.
7:22 PM Jason: oooh
 me: that sounds outstanding. what a great thing to learn. what could be better?
7:23 PM Jason: i went to a natural living expo a few weeks ago (how i found out about the massage school) and we made fire with a bow drill.
 me: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/4409017
  no kidding. things are so cool these days.
 Jason: yeah, on saturday we're planning on going to an "energy barn raising"... mostly helping with things that will make a building more energy efficient
7:24 PM me: you and sen being a thing still eh?
 Jason: yes indeed
 me: well congratulations! and the energy barn raising sounds wonderful. got a website for that
7:25 PM Jason: ooh
7:26 PM me: http://a2reskill.blogspot.com/
7:27 PM Jason: looks great. have you thought any more about a sort of eco-school that you and deb rowe were talking about?
7:28 PM i'm very interested in starting something like that, maybe with online courses, democratically constructed based on what everyone involved wants to learn, and then opportunities to get together with people in person...
7:30 PM and then nate bixby mentioned this organization, don't remember the name off hand, but it's sort of like a grassroots answer to social services with everyone agreeing to help everyone else with what they're able... sounds like an excellent idea to create vibrant community
 me: I remember you were interested in that sort of thing...and deb also. no new talk but the transition town movement is all over it! the permaculture folks started the movement. have you heard of it?
 Jason: transition... a bit... haven't had time to get really into it since there's so much, but I think that's what nate talks about a lot
7:31 PM me: I don't remember what nate called that. he is involved in what is called "havens for the future" based in new haven area.
 Jason: there are some really exciting things going on... i can't wait to get done with this massage and coaching stuff so I can really start helping to build this stuff!
7:32 PM me: right on
  how is living at the folks house? your online transcription business?
7:33 PM the economy for you?
 Jason: i've been thinking about activism on a micro level as well as a macro level. on the micro level, it's getting your hands dirty, really getting involved in the nitty gritty, being connected... and on the macro level it's creating that which will perpetuate itself far into the future and nurture and echo into many future generations.
7:35 PM me: yes indeed
  you are always right on
 Jason: because if you're just working on the macro stuff you can feel alienated from what's really going on and what it's all about, but if you're just doing the micro stuff it's like... there's a lot of doubt about, "am I really making a difference?" so i decided to think about those two aspects
7:36 PM it's pretty good here, though i'm really looking forward to being somewhere else soon. the transcription business is going really well -- hardly have to do any of the work anymore, mostly send it out to others, like sen's mom and friends who need a little extra cash.
7:37 PM me: do you get some renummeration from that?
 Jason: oh, yes. usually about 50%
 me: you created an income source for others. so great.
  wow! cool
 Jason: exactly, and for ourselves
  and we havent' even advertised at all, really. people just find our website. and then when universities find us there's a lot of word of mouth
7:38 PM it's great to be able to help out friends who are struggling or lost jobs or whatever and just say, "here, just type this up!"
  i haven't noticed anything about the economy personally... i feel like entrepreneurship is a lot more secure actually since you have a lot more control over everything
7:39 PM rather than just being told "you're done" and suddenly having no more income
 me: this is a fantastic email, full of hope
7:41 PM Jason: anything exciting in the works at the studio over the next few months?
7:42 PM me: i'll come back to that. we are starting up the detroit area green map again because they now (the green map system) has an Open Source connection with Google earth so all the maps can merge
  and it doesn't take the site development time and costs, or printing costs.
7:43 PM wendy brawer the founding director came into town for the meeting i organized with her and folks from detroit and oakland co. and monroe met to see how we might want to work this out.
 Jason: awesome. i'm not sure what you were doing before but i didn't understand it. with all the map technology out there now though and google making it easier, it should be a lot easier even if you're starting from the beginning
7:44 PM me: here is the start http://www.opengreenmap.org/greenmap/detroit-metro
7:45 PM Jason: that's exciting! now, can anybody add to it here?
 me: http://www.opengreenmap.org/share_promote this is a great page because it has videos on what a green map and open source green map is
 Jason: hey, i could do a local green map really easily probably now
7:46 PM me: http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/home here is another page
 Jason: now is this going to be just online or is there going to be a printed map too?
7:47 PM me: i think you could be the key organizer in your area. look it over and give it some thought. what a great way to get to know what is going on and contribute to letting other people know what is going on
  we are just hinking about the online google map now
7:48 PM Jason: i've wanted to do this but the creation of the actual map seemed intimidating before. now it seems incredibly easy with a lot of fun research
7:49 PM i'll see what's going on in the area and i think it's something i will get started on really soon actually!
  i'll keep you up to date on it
7:51 PM me: isn't that true. fun and easy. volunteers can help check to see if the data is accurate, and there you go
 Jason: yeah
  awesome
 me: if you do it let Wendy Brawer know i turned you on to it!
  I have to go pretty soon. Will you keep in touch about the massage offer for fundraising at the SBs?
7:52 PM Jason: i will... and i'll definitely keep in touch about the massage. sounds like a fun idea.
7:53 PM me: so what are you doing this weekend
 Jason: the energy barn raising on saturday and probably practicing massage and reflexology for class on monday
 me: I could go to the reskilling but ann arbor seems far away. there is a neighbor who is having a party to fix his roof. a guy from
7:54 PM Jason: there's a map of things going on
  http://www.350.org/map
  maybe there's something happening closer?
 me: the upland hills school, a parent, bought a farm down the road. the new folks across the street bought the farm house and they have 6 kids and just put in a wind generator. they come to the full moon potlucks and we are neighborly. it is
7:55 PM the year of getting to know neighbors. folks someone connected me to have goats, and do all sorts of outdoor things like gardening, chickens. They are really really nice with 4 kids and they come over all the time.
  so nice
7:56 PM Jason: looks like there's a climate action festival in lake orion on saturday and also something called "under my umbrella" in rochester hills
  that's great. the potlucks sound like such a great monthly gathering
7:58 PM me: I just sent that link to a few folks about climate action day.
  wait, I didn't see anything that close.
7:59 PM Jason: if you zoom in more new things show up. and sometimes it will show them in detroit or something but then when you zoom in more you'll see that they're actually closer
8:01 PM me: ok now i see it. fantastic