Tired of the high-pressure life they lead in New York City, Wendy Jehanara Tremayne and her husband migrate to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, where they build, invent, forage, and grow all they need for themselves. Full of quirky stories and imaginative illustrations, this inspiring memoir chronicles the off-the-grid adventures of the Tremaynes. Touchingly personal while also providing practical tutorials on making your own biofuel, building an efficient house, and gardening sustainably, The Good Life Lab will encourage you to chase your dreams of self-sufficiency.
Wendy Tremayne was a creative director in a marketing firm in New York City before moving to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, where she built an off-the-grid oasis in a barren RV park with her partner, Mikey Sklar. She is the founder of the textile repurposing event Swap-O-Rama-Rama, which has spread all over the world; a conceptual artist; a yogi; a gardener; and a writer. She has written for Craft's webzine and Make magazine and, with Mikey Sklar, keeps the blog Holy Scrap.
Dale Dougherty is the founder, editor, and publisher of Make magazine.
Christopher Bamford is the author of An Endless Trace: The Passionate Pursuit of Wisdom in the West.
Brad Lancaster is the author of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond.
Sandor Ellix Katz is the author of The Art of Fermentation.
Alyce Santoro is a conceptual and sound artist and a member of the multimedia collective known as the Center for the Improbable and (Im)Permacultural Research.
Pir Zia Inayat-Kahn is the spiritual leader of the Sufi Order International.
The Reverend Billy, of the Church of Stop Shopping, is the author of The End of the World.
Doug Rushkoff is a media theorist and the author of many books, including Life, Inc. and Present Shock.
Foreword(s)
Preface
Part I: Life Imagined
Life in the Waste Stream
Jump and the Net Will Appear
Broken Heart Seeks Giant Band-Aid
To Live a Decommodified Life
Everything Is a Tool to Change the World
Commodified People
Swap-O-Rama-Rama
Nature Is the Truest Book
Ladybugs in New York City
What Is the Cost of a Job?
The Sky Is the Ocean
Part II: Life Hands On
Makers of Shelter
Building in Truth or Consequences
Free Fuel
Things of Value
The Notorious Goblins
The Cost of Living
Take Time
Getting Better All the Time
Nature Unlocked
The Digital Homestead
The Least Useful Most Fun Thing
A Cottage Industry
Wisdom
Part III: Life Lab
Mad Skills
Kitchen Magic
Power, Electronics, and Technology
Cars and Fuel
Shelter
Holy Scrap
Epilogue: Make Mistakes
Resources
Acknowledgements
Credits
"This rollicking, inspiring tale of Tremayne's journey from being the creative director of N.Y.C. marketing firm Green Galactic to being a Burning Man volunteer, yoga teacher, Sufi seeker, and hardscrabble DIY urban homesteader in a former trailer park in the eccentric community of Truth or Consequences, N. Mex., is alternately funny, tender, philosophical, and practical. … Illustrated with whimsically florid drawings by a variety of artists and interspersed with essential how-tos for living "life in the waste stream"-from fermenting tempeh and brewing mead, to building a papercrete dome and removing rust from wrenches with electrolysis-the memoir riffs off Scott and Helen Nearing's 1954 Living the Good Life with much more style and humor than the original, bringing the back-to-the-land genre up to date with impressive sophistication and appeal."
"Stop whatever you're doing and get this book. I've just finished reading it and I have to say that Wendy and Mikey could easily be the poster children for modern day hacking. ...There wasn't a single piece of their lives that wasn't somehow improved by their efforts to play an active role in their own living. … Their life is their workbench. … should be han
