Life After _______ (fill in the disaster)

Hybrid Earthship Snow, originally uploaded by Earthship Kirsten.

Wired today has an interesting interview with a couple of controversial environmentalists. From the comments there, I went to a site about Peak Oil (subtitle: Life After the Oil Crash). I really enjoy reading about these apocalypse scenarios--so much so, that I'm using them as fodder for this year's NaNoWriMo.

Regardless of what the future holds, though, it's smart to become more self-sufficient. In the event of a global catastrophe, the only difference that most of us can make is an influence on our own, personal circumstances. So we have bird flu kits and canned food and bottled water. That's interesting for fiction but scary in real life. We stockpile emergency supplies and hope we never have to use them.

But, there are also fun ways to prepare for the collapse of civilization! Raising chickens and bees, growing our own food, and investing in sustainable energy sources, for example. My retirement goal is to structure my life so that if the grid goes down, I'll be so prepared that I don't even notice. Come on, everyone, let's all build earthships and live in a Sui Generis commune!