Where to start?

I thought a very long time about where would be a good place to begin. I decided to recreate my path but to straighten it a bit.

If you are interested in working wood using hand tools, the first step I would recommend to you is that you go and get a copy of Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings. Aldren A. Watson is the author of this book and created a lifetime store house of very simple yet extremely vital information for the user of hand tools. Everything from holding boards while making simple cuts to how to drill a hole precisely where you want it. It's like working along side an uncle or grandfather who has forgotten more than you know about the subject.

So, what's to be gleaned from this book? He very clearly describes how to get the best from your tools. Also, he'll tell you what tools you will get the most use out of. Do you need 17 planes? No, just two to start. How about a fancy $150 cabinet makers vise? No. They are nice but you can get by with a $30 vise and a couple of Jorgensen type clamps. He tells you how to sharpen an auger bit, how to cut a rabbet, how to clean a file, how to maintain a hand plane (do you know what points need oil?). You need to make a hole? He can help you chose between a hand drill or a bit brace. 

While the book is not that terribly old–it was published in 1982–it still seems to capture the spirit of a previous age. I promise you, you will return to this book again and again as you travel in the alternate universe of hand tools.

Woodshop

My dad is a carpenter. I grew up watching him create amazing things: wooden helicopters, chains carved from solid wood, furniture, puzzles, rooms, houses. I guess some of that snuck into me. For the last year or so I have been teaching myself woodworking. My personal interest has been to learn how to do as much work as I can with hand tools. I have many reasons for this. Firstly, budget. To fill a shop with power tools would cost more than my car. Secondly, space. I have half of a basement–about 300 square feet. Lastly, I have always had an fondness for doing things the old fashioned way. I read a book called The Seven Essentials of Woodworking by Anthony Guidice. He is a professional woodworker living–as far as I know–in the Saint Louis area. In his book he makes a very compelling argument in favor of hand tools. He says something about if you are making a few custom parts, by the time you got a machine set up and ready to go, you could be finished with the job and moving on using a hand tool. I do a lot of cooking and I have found this to be totally true in the kitchen. I can grate cheese with a fancy gizmo or a cheese grater. When you count set up, tear down, and clean up. The humble cheese grate is far more efficient.

Unfortunately, I have had to cobble together information from many separate places. Power tools are the rule of the day and, if you are interested in doing things by hand, you are kind of on your own. Hand tools are, by and large, considered novelty accessories to real tools.

Honestly, this is all fine. I'm the kind of person who likes to cook from scratch. My personal computer runs Linux. We replaced our front lawn with a native perennial flower garden. Doing things different has never bothered me much.

In the next several posts, I am going to retell how I got where I am and make recommendations for those who want to do the same. I will also connect you to the resources that I used to learn what I know and acquire the tools that I have.

Promiscuous apes

So, I was brushing my teeth this evening when an idea struck me. Evolution favors the promiscuous. Not the kind of idea that we like to think of, that animals that have lots of sex are more likely to survive. I know full well that natural selection, especially of the punctuated variety, deals death and mercy based on many other criteria than whether or not a species or individual has lots of sex. My thinking was just that individuals with a ramped up drive get more chances to pass on their genes.

On a related note, I have a semi-crack pot theory that acne was selected for at one point in our past. Currently, marketers would have us believe that there is no way that we will ever get laid if our complexion looks rough and that we should hide our faces in shame. Imagine this scenario: a bunch of hominids are taking a siesta. Some of the members of the troop have these skin blemishes that need attention. These particular members are those who have recently come into sexual maturity. You get a couple of these close together, grooming one another, well...let's just say that nature takes over. Individuals who get to spend this quality time together become far more likely to develop the familiarity that breeds offspring. Those who have a lesser need for grooming miss out on this quality time. Therefore, individuals who have a predisposition toward skin blemishes get selected for and those who are not so predisposed get selected against.

Sorry, Mr. Frost

Walking Through the Neighborhood on a Snowy Evening

Whose house is this I think I know
Their car's not in the driveway though
They will not see me stopping here
To watch their yard fill up with snow

My little dog must think it right
As we stop here nearly every night
He always feels the need to pee
Just off the sidewalk near the light

He gives his collar and leash a shake
His signal to finish this walk we take
The only other sound's the train
And the whispering fall of snowy flake

This yard is perfect, dark and deep
But I too have promises to keep
And ten more blocks before I sleep
Ten more blocks before I sleep

Yeah! Another blog!

So, here's irony for you. I created this blog, set up the look and feel of the thing, picked out my layout. I did all of that stuff in a couple of days then...well, life happened.

"Life is what happens while your busy making other plans." John Lennon made that famous but he wasn't the first to say it.

This is going to be a series of short, informal, personal essays about whatever is on my mind. I will write about news, child raising, culture, history, philosophy, food. Just whatever comes to mind.

It will frequently reveal my left-leaning, pinko-ness and will also feature irony. I believe we should be judged through the same set of rules that each of us says in the right set. Hypocrisy makes me boil over and I will frequently roast hypocrites here.

While I have deeply held spiritual beliefs I tend to agree with Voltaire, "Doubte is not a pleasant condition but certianty is absurd." If you come to me claiming to have the absolute spirtual truth, I will say that you are a fool. You are welcome to believe what-so-ever you want but no man (nor woman neither) can possess Universal spiritual truth because such does not exist.

I don't believe that there is anything that should not be examined. Nothing is too sacred to go under the lens.

I will also not explicitly identify myself although you could figure it out pretty quickly even without a private eyes licence or a master's degree in library science.

So who am I? I am a father, a husband, educated, unemployed, white, born in the early 70s, adult with ADD, a product of the South.

So, enjoy. If you like it, leave a comment. If you don't like it, leave a comment. Open discussion is the only way to come to understanding.