A professional colleague of mine recently resigned from the sustainability movement. Seriously ill from years of overwork, and despairing of the movement’s chances for success, this person had no choice but to quit. Trying to change the world’s destructive energy technologies, protect the rights of future generations to enjoy functioning ecosystems, and/or save the world … Continue reading How to Keep Doing Sustainability in an Absurd World
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The Summertalker’s Moment of Revelation
In this country of traditions, which has captured my heart and caused me to set down roots as deep as a modern human can have (family with children, house, bank accounts, taxes, habits of behavior and mind), there is a tradition that is quite modern, as recent as radio. “Summertalkers” is not a beautiful word, … Continue reading The Summertalker’s Moment of Revelation
Blogging, Tweeting, Booking Face – Results & Survey
For the last month, I’ve done my best to write publicly (on the internet) about my professional life, with a personal voice, as often as I possibly could. “Daily” was the original ambition. It became “often” instead. What did I learn? Should I continue, with the same frequency? You know, that’s really up to you … Continue reading Blogging, Tweeting, Booking Face – Results & Survey
What I loved about S. Korea
The shock of the car accident I had in Seoul (see previous post), and the more ordinary shock of being in a new country, have settled down a bit now, and I find myself thinking more and more about the week I spent in S. Korea. What am I thinking about? Not the car accident. … Continue reading What I loved about S. Korea
A Week in Super-Fast Green-Growth South Korea
My first visit to South Korea introduced me to a remarkable country. Everyone I met, from the taxi driver to government officials, was unfailingly kind and courteous. I came away very impressed, on many levels. But the trip certainly started out in an interesting way ... South Korea is in a hurry. I felt this … Continue reading A Week in Super-Fast Green-Growth South Korea
What Lady Gaga and I Have in Common
You might be expecting a humor piece -- “I once dropped a piece of Parma ham onto my lap, where it draped across my leg as though it were a patch on my pants, just like Lady Gaga’s famous meat dress” -- but I’m actually quite serious here. I’m not really a Gaga fan, no … Continue reading What Lady Gaga and I Have in Common
Designing a Big Push on Renewables
On May 9, at the invitation of Anders Wijkman, I had the honor of being one of the opening speakers at the World Renewable Energy Congress 2011, which was being held in Linköping, Sweden. Just a few days before, I had gotten the green light from a UN colleague and client to go out publicly … Continue reading Designing a Big Push on Renewables
Watching Egypt 2 – “We r all vry hpy”
The quote in the above headline, "We r all vry hpy", is a real email from a real colleague in Egypt, received not long after the fall of Mubarak. The extreme efficiency (12 letters) was in sharp contrast to another email, from an old college friend, which positively exploded with emotion and language, including the … Continue reading Watching Egypt 2 – “We r all vry hpy”
Watching Egypt 1 – Private Worries, Public Hopes
It was a relief to finally hear my client's voice on the phone. She was a bit breathless, but not sounding in distress. She had been out food shopping by taxi just that afternoon (this was Monday, 31 January), able to find what she needed, "though many people are just buying up whatever they can … Continue reading Watching Egypt 1 – Private Worries, Public Hopes
Letter from Syria / the Tigris-Euphrates Region
Picture the cement superstructure of some future small office building, vaguely futuristic in form, strange angles, sitting on scrubland. No walls yet, just empty space between the beams. Strung between the beams is somebody's laundry. It's hard to imagine who would hang laundry here. The nearest residential housing is at least a kilometer away. More … Continue reading Letter from Syria / the Tigris-Euphrates Region
Alan AtKisson 