This is how I feel nowadays.

Don't worry. This is a good sign.

the woooorld of wooodwoooorkinnnnngggg!

Drawing is fun, but then it's just stuck to the paper right? Woodworking is kind of like drawing but what ever you make is real! Go for it! The only thing is, you can't really make any money doing it so it's a hobby but it's the worlds greatest hobby! (That's true, look it up.)

Emily helped me make the guest room into a workshop. Guests are still welcome though.


Workshop

Here is my tool collection .

I got this hefty vise on Craigslist. what do you think-- should i restore this and paint it forest green? Or red? Or should i leave it as is?

here's the work bench i put together. i got all the pieces to make it trash picking on the way to work. the bible says, "judge not lest ye be judged."

Woodworking success stories!

I made two ray-guns for my nephews out of brass and mahogany. (only one is pictured)I carved this cedar sign at work.

Woodworking goofs.This is a box i made for an Eagles fanatic. i got too hasty and waisty on the hinge so it won't close right and has a gaping hole in the back.

This is a mahogany and maple cutting board in the shape of a _______.
Can you guess what it was supposed to look like? You can't? Oh well.

You may ask, "What about Regis' bed, your danish modern chair, your dioramas, your stereo case?" Ssshhhhhhhh. go to sleep.

Lamborghini forever!

Everyone knows by now that the Lamborghini Countach is the greatest car ever created and a testament to the creative spirit of mankind. We should all be proud when the aliens come, to stand up and say, "look at this. Man made this. and here's a poster as a souvenir."

Enjoy these two terrific videos youtube sent me because they thought I'd like them, and i did!





Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

i want this

this pencil sharpener is $400. It's from a company called El Casco. My pencil sharpener is from El Cosco and it works, but how do I know it's really working. I need to try this one to see what i'm missing. I'm gonna keep an eye out for this fella at garage sales etc.

Why is it $400? this is from their web site.

El Casco was founded 1920 in the Basque Country of Northern Spain as a manufacturer of revolvers. During the Great Depression the owners were driven to diversify into additional products, and in 1934 they began the production of the distinctive stapler M-5 which is shown alongside. Today, El Casco provides the finest range of desk accessories in the world, while maintaining the Hallmark of their origin by training their own apprentices, and teaching the traditional manufacturing skills. These processes are both painstaking
and manual,-all precison components are individually
numbered and assembled by hand. The flawless
mirror finish is achieved by repeated polishing
of the steel base in preparation for
the final chrome or gold plating.

I thought, "well, since it's supposed to last forever then you'd really only buy one sharpener the rest of your life so it might be an ok deal." but that doesn't really add up. i think i'll only spend another $80 on pencil sharpeners the rest of my life. oh well.

funny story

My German friend at work is like, 54 or something and he's kind of frustrated with the United States for different reasons.

a) Philadelphia is underwhelmed with his laser animation projector even though it's the only one of it's kind in the city.
b) He has to work menial job at Trader J's and the Franklin Center even though he has a good degree from a German design school.

etc..

I asked him if he ever thought about moving to LA to work in the movie biz and he told me this (to be read with a German accent):

I went to hollywood when i was a very young man and i had my art work with me and everything, you know? and i asked a taxi driver, "who should i talk to to be in the movie business? I want to show my drawings." I did not know anything! I was a very young man! The taxi driver said ," Oh, you wont be able to talk to anybody, they're all so well protected." So i said, "Ok, ok, who would you talk to if you were me?" and he said ,"Well, I guess I'd talk to Kirk Douglas" I said ,"Ok, do you know where to find him?" he said, "Yeah, i'll take you to his house" He was one of the only ones that lived in a house without a gate, you know? so i went to the door and knocked and this man answered, not Kirk Douglas, and i said, "I want to show Mr. Douglas my drawings." and the man tried to shut the door on me but i pushed back, you know, on the other side and he was getting very pissed off! Then, a Porsche.. a Porsche, you know the car? pulled up and Kirk Douglas came out. He said, "Hey, how's it going?" I was in such shock that I could not speak! I just stood there holding my drawings, you know, staring at him and he went inside and that was it! I never talked to him!

amish time.

Last week our friends Matt and Lisa came to philadelphia. We did a great job of unwinding, which is the process of becoming stress free. If the band "unwound" really lived up to their name they would look a little more like this.

this is the band we saw at the pinical of our unwinding which took place in amish country. The amish rule. The only problem i have with them is asthetic. Everything about their lifestyle looks great except their beards. The beards are fine but they need a mustache in my opinion.

Eww, yuck, stupid, i hate it.
Awww. much better.
one of my favorite parts was the gooooood flea markets and antique stores they have there. since power tools have been banned from trader joe's i've realized that hand tools are quiet, functional and not that much slower than power tools. the flea markets are chock full of very useful and sturdy hand tools along with a lot of cool old things . I have a German friend at work and he told me the amish speak german but it's hard to understand because it's from 150 years ago. what do you think about that? I want to be amish. I would have a little wooden chest at the end of my bed with a hand forged brass lock on it. Inside would be a laptop, an ipod and beer making supplies which i would use after everyone went to bed. And i would have a mustache.

Latest obsession

I'm obsessed with woodworking now. I got away from bikes. That went on for like 9 months. Then i was like, "i can't afford the bikes i want. I wish I were dead!" If I could make a bike from scratch that would rule but i can't. With woodworking you can make whatever you want (that's not really true but anyway). My symptoms are:

Going to the library on my lunch break twice a week to learn about woodworking. I've already checked out and read all the books that interest me, so now i make photocopies of Fine Woodworking magazine and read them on the train ride home. Weird?

Being on constant alert for things made out of hardwood. I can't take people throwing away antique furniture. I have a meltdown inside every wednesday morning because, "I'll miss the train if I turn around and take this__________(fill in the blank) home right now, but i can't let this oak ______(fill in the blank) go to the dump! AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRG!"

Projects so far:A box for pictures etc. I wanted to try dovetail joinery, the hallmark of fine craftsmanship. Mine are just a little wonky but, "handmade charm" right?


I tried a little carving at work on this and another sign. I don't think i'll do it again. It took too long and put me behind.

The bread rack at work kept breaking from shopping carts. I made this one to absorb impact thanks to it's integrated suspension.


See, the middle shelves just wiggle when hit.


This is cheating to show this because it was made before my obsession but i felt i needed to fluff up my projects section a bit. this is a pedal board for guitar distortion pedals. You can leave everything plugged into each other and not have to assemble everything every time you play somewhere. I painted an indian on it to give it some pazzaz.

Future projects:I found this broken- ass chair on the curb. it's danish modern and will be really cool if i fix it right.

I'm working on a bunk bed for regis, our cat. It'll be mahogany and walnut. here's what it looks like right now.Just a bunch of cut up wood in a bag but, lord willing, it will look like this:
I also plan to make a tv cabinet that doesn't look like a tv cabinet.

See you later.