Making a Jarvi Bench

secret knock....please unlock

drawing a piece of paper

if anyone needs a quality air compressor

empire state building window cleaner

Big map by some guy named Jerry

Jerry's Map from Jerry Gretzinger on Vimeo.

Big Balls: by some guy named Keith

Big Wooden Ball Project from Mike Leuis on Vimeo.

I guess I really like knife making

sand casting

Hexagonal Pewter Stool from Max Lamb on Vimeo.

tell me what you think

Neil deGrasse Tyson on Living and Longevity

A "light-blue collars" antiphon to "The Naked Architect"

 My position in society is fulfilled by happily given labor. I have jumped tracks on (formal) eduction many times to find passion in the work I do. After 10 years of college and no degree I consider myself to be "light blue collar" in that I have established a firm verbal leverage of education in what some might call the labor force. I have tried to find myself in a career that society would, stereotypically consider me more respectable, for lack of a better term. However, I have just recently found a path that has offered enough honesty and reality to a fiction and Utopia ratio that I can live with.
 Before one can make sense of what I am about to write you must read this article first written by Joe Debenny (architecture student at the University of Arizona) because this is in response. Well written by the way Joe.

I am not suggesting any real solution because that is not anything that can be said. It has to be done. It is however a necessity to understand that this is not an equation and has more than two sides that will never be equal. So let us not waste our time striving for solutions of any Utopia. I am going to share my very real experiences with architecture and hope to get any gritty honest feed back.

Let me tell a story from my past that I will draw analogous to what I think of what I know of architecture:

About six years ago I worked at a five star restaurant crawling with people of money and ran by an acclaimed chef. I had this job for over five years and as an observant, careful individual I will share one of many pieces of priceless knowledge I took from the chef/owner. All opinions aside the way this place ran could have been a much better and smoother operation if Chef didn't have his head so far..., you know the rest.
The situation is as follows.  The chef was good at creating a delicious looking and tasting dish and cared very much for his "guests" as he called them to assure his care for them. But what happened when he left the server station, or even when he left town? Did his employees share the same care for his guests that he did? I think the answer to that depended directly on how he treated his employees and like every other situation the complexity and diversity of people. No. That is the answer. We'll just say that he treated his employees as though their attitude and moral at work had nothing to do with how his restaurant would reflect him and his reputation. Short tempered and disrespectful after he would laugh and smile with his guests he would return to "the back" with his bipolar threshold at the server station door. The employees would do things despite him and as a matter-of-fact one employee (who had worked their for 10 plus years) said, "I have mastered the technique of avoiding him"
This is an example of how lots of tiny moves and decisions in the work place effected the overall result. The employees out numbered the owner and were ultimately responsible for taking care of the guests. I would make a suggestion that his efforts of kindness (cause we assumed they were extra efforts to be kind) would have been much better spent on the 20 or so employees rather than the constant changing ever growing, thousands of guests. Im not even saying that this causes magic where the employees would in turn treat the guests with the same care. But I would guarantee, the employees would channel more though and action towards get the job done and to do it well rather than all the wasted thoughts and efforts spent otherwise.
This is just one example of many in the world how our train of thought effects the work we do. What you put in you get out and I truly believe that. It has proved true in math (all force equal zero) and in religion and depending on how you look at it in science as well.

Architecture school is a lot of time and effort. Unfortunately a lot of that energy is directed towards things that result in this "starchitect" mentality. It seems to all come down to your presentation and it's true, presentation is everything. But a good salesman can sell a crappy product and a horrible salesman will be less successful on pushing a good product. Every situation is a new recipe and the results are a byproduct of the relationship between the architect and his/her client. How is it that after school, all the effort you spend trying to learn about how things are built successfully does anyone honestly stay modest about their capabilities. Of course learning about all the materials available and possibilities and methods of doing these possibilities their will be high horses ridden as far as the ego can go. Many great things have been built and many not so great but those are only defined by opinion and everyones is different. Let me say however as naive as any occupant in a building their opinion is valid whether it is "correct" or not. Everywhere I read of how to approach this architectural myopia it begins with the education and I couldn't agree more. Student need to be in a state of mind to be eager for truth and multiple opinions. The more you question the more you understand. The motive isn't to learn as much as possible but to understand as much as possible. Where ever your professors are from they don't get a free pass to speak nothing but the truth so question them any time their is misunderstanding, confusion or doubt. This is the only way to narrow the possibility of falsehood in you life as an architect.

• "Design is what, for practical purposes, can be conveyed in words and by drawing: workmanship is what, for practical purposes, can not. In practice the designer hopes the workman will be good, but the workman decides whether it will be good or not. On the workman's decision depends a great part of the quality of our environment. Gross defects of workmanship the designer can, of course, point out and have corrected, much as a conductor can at least insist on his orchestra playing the right notes in the right order. But no conductor can make a bad orchestra play well; or, rather it would take him years to do it; and no designer can make a bad workman produce good workmanship. The analogy between workmanship and musical performance is in fact rather close. The quality of the concert does not depend wholly on the score, and the quality of our environment does not depend on it's design. The score and the design are merely the first of the essentials, and they can be nullified by the performers or the workmen."      - David Pye

Swordsmithing

Handmade Portraits: The Sword Maker from Etsy on Vimeo.

Since I am currently studying welding and taking a class on metallurgy I feel this is not only interesting but appropriate.

 This sword maker is using a process (described below) that is becoming more and more rare. Though the steel he is producing is still widely available (Damascus steel) it is hardly made like this any more. 

The forging of a Japanese blade typically took many days or weeks, several artists were involved. There was a smith to forge the rough shape, often a second smith (apprentice) to fold the metal, a specialist polisher, and even a specialist for the edge itself. Often, there were sheath, hilt, and tsuba specialists as well.

Forging

In traditional Japanese sword making, the low carbon steel is folded several times by itself, to purify it. This produces the soft metal, called shingane,  to be used for the core of the blade. The high carbon "tamahagane" and the higher carbon nabe-gane are then forged in alternating layers. The nabe-gane is heated, quenched in water, and then broken into small pieces to help free it from slag. Slag is the excess  metal that sticks and is usually very porous which makes it low quality. The tamahagane is then forged into a single plate, and the pieces of nabe-gane are piled on top, and the whole thing is forge welded into a single block, which is called the age-kitae process. The block is then elongated, cut, folded, and forge welded again. The steel can be folded transversely, (from front to back), or longitudinally, (from side to side). Often both folding directions are used to produce the desired grain pattern. This process, called the shita-kitae, is repeated from 8 to as many as 16 times. After 20 foldings, (2²⁰, or about a million individual layers), there is too much diffusion in the carbon content, the steel becomes almost homogenous in this respect, and the act of folding no longer gives any benefit to the steel. Depending on the amount of carbon introduced, this process forms either the very hard steel for the edge, called hagane, or the slightly less hardenable spring steel, called kawagane, which is often used for the sides and the back. The best known part of the manufacturing process is the folding of the steel, where the swords are made by repeatedly heating, hammering and folding the metal. The technique of repeated heating and folding of steel for swords was found in many other cultures and did not necessarily have one single point of origin.

During the last few foldings, the steel may be forged into several thin plates, stacked, and forge welded into a brick. The grain of the steel is carefully positioned between adjacent layers, with the exact configuration dependent on the part of the blade for which the steel will be used. Between each heating and folding, the steel is coated in a mixture of clay, water and straw-ash to protect it from oxidation and carburization. The clay, in turn, acts as a flux, pulling impurities out from between the layers. This practice became popular due to the use of highly impure metals, stemming from the low temperature yielded in the smelting at that time and place. The folding did several things:

Blacksmith scene, print from a Edo period book, Museum of Ethnography of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

• It provided alternating layers of differing hardenability. During quenching, the high carbon layers achieve greater hardness than the medium carbon layers. The hardness of the high carbon steels combine with the ductility of the low carbon steels to form the property of toughness.
• It eliminated any voids in the metal.
• It homogenized the metal, spreading the elements (such as carbon) evenly throughout - increasing the effective strength by decreasing the number of potential weak points.
• It burned off many impurities, helping to overcome the poor quality of the raw Japanese steel.
• It created up to 65000 layers, by continuously decarburizing the surface and bringing it into the blade's interior, which gives the swords their grain (for comparison see pattern welding).

Generally, swords were created with the grain of the blade (called hada) running down the blade like the grain on a plank of wood. Straight grains were called masame-hada, wood-like grain itame, wood-burl grain mokume, and concentric wavy grain (an uncommon feature seen almost exclusively in the Gassan school) ayasugi-hada. The difference between the first three grains is that of cutting a tree along the grain, at an angle, and perpendicular to its direction of growth (mokume-gane) respectively, the angle causing the "stretched" pattern. The blades that were considered the most robust, reliable, and of highest quality were those made in the Mino tradition, especially those of Magoroku Kanemoto. Bizen tradition, which specialized in mokume, and some schools of Yamato tradition were also considered strong warrior's weapons.

Assembly

In addition to folding the steel, high quality Japanese swords are also composed of various distinct sections of different types of steel. Known in China as bao gang 包钢 (literally "wrapped steel") since at least the Tang Dynasty, this manufacturing technique uses different types of steel in different parts of the sword to accentuate the desired characteristics in various parts of the sword beyond the level offered by differentiated tempering.

The vast majority of modern katana and wakizashi are the maru (sometimes also called muku) type which is the most basic, with the entire sword being composed of one single steel. The kobuse type is made using two steels, which are called hagane (edge steel) and shingane (core steel). Honsanmai and shihozume types add the third steel, called kawagane (skin steel). There are almost an infinite number of ways the steel could be assembled, which often varied considerably from smith to smith. Sometimes the hagane is "drawn out," (hammered into a bar), bent into a 'U' shaped trough, and the very soft shingane is inserted into the harder piece. Then they are forge welded together and hammered into the basic shape of the sword. By the end of the process, the two pieces of steel are fused together, but retain their differences in hardenability.  The more complex types of construction are typically only found in antique weapons, with the vast majority of modern weapons being composed of a single section, or at most two or three sections.

Another way is to assemble the different pieces into a block, forge weld it together, and then draw out the steel into a sword so that the correct steel ends up in the desired place. This method is often used for the complex models, which allow for parrying without fear of damaging the side of the blade. To make honsanmai or shihozume types, pieces of hard steel are added to the outside of the blade in a similar fashion. The shihozume and soshu types are quite rare, but added a rear support.

Geometry (shape and form)

A range of Japanese sword types, from left to right: Naginata, Tsurugi or ken, Tantō,Uchigatana and Tachi.

As Japan entered the Bronze Age, the swords found in Japan were very similar in shape to those found in continental Asia, i.e., China or Korea, and the Japanese adopted the Chinese convention for sword terminology along with metallurgy and swordmaking technology, classifying swords into the (either straight or curved) single-edged variety called tou 刀 and the (straight) double-edged variety called ken 剣. There is some small overlap in that there were some double-edged curved swords such as Tulwars or Scimitars which were called Tou, because the curvature meant that the "front" edge was used in the overwhelming majority of instances.

Over time, however, the single-edged sword with its characteristic curvature became so dominant a style in Japan that tou and ken came to be used interchangeably to refer to swords in Japan and by others to refer to Japanese swords. For example, the Japanese typically refer to Japanese swords as 日本刀 nihontou ("Japanese tou" i.e. "Japanese (single-edged) sword"), while the character ken 剣 is used in such terms as kendo and kenjutsu. Modern formal usage often uses both characters in referring to a collection of swords, for example, in naming the The Japanese Sword Museum.

The prototype of the Japanese sword was the chokuto 直刀, or "straight (single-edged) sword", a design that can be fairly described as a Japanese sword without any curvature, with a handle that is usually only a few inches long and therefore suitable for single-handed use only, with a sword guard that is prominent only on the front (where the edge is pointed) and back sides and sometimes only on the front side of the sword blade, and with a ring pommel. This design was moderately common in China and Korea during the Warring States and Han Dynasties, fading from popularity and disappearing during the Tang Dynasty. A number of such swords have been excavated in Japan from graves dating back to the kofun period.

As the chokuto evolved into the Japanese sword as it is known today, it acquired its characteristic curvature and Japanese style fittings, including the long handle making it suitable for either one-handed or two-handed use, the non-protruding pommel, and a tsuba sword guard that protruded from the sword in all directions, i.e., that is not a cross piece or a guard for the edge or edge and back sides of the blade only but a guard intended to protect the hand on all sides of the blade. The shape of the Japanese tsuba evolved in parallel with Japanese swordsmithing and Japanese swordsmanship. As Japanese swordsmiths acquired the ability to achieve an extremely hard edge, Japanese swordsmanship evolved to protect the edge against chipping, notching, and breakage by parrying with the sides or backs of swords, avoiding edge-to-edge contact. This in turn resulted in the need to protect the sword hand from a sliding blade in parries on the sides and backs, i.e., parts of the blade other than the edge side, forming the rationale behind the Japanese styled tsuba, which protrudes from the blade in every direction.

This style of parrying in Japanese swordsmanship has also resulted in some antique swords that have actually been used in battle, exhibiting notches on the sides or backs of blades.

Heat treating

A katana, showing the hardened edge. The inset shows the nioi, which is the bright, wavy line following the hamon. The nioi is made up of niye, which are single martensite crystals surrounded by darker pearlite.

Having a single edge also has certain advantages, one of the most important being that the entire rest of the sword can be used to reinforce and support the edge, and the Japanese style of sword making takes full advantage of this. When finished, the steel is not quenched or tempered in the conventional European fashion i.e. uniformly throughout the blade. Steel’s exact flex and strength vary dramatically with heat treating. If steel cools quickly it becomes martensite, which is very hard but brittle. Slower and it becomes pearlite, which bends easily and does not hold an edge. To maximize both the cutting edge and the resilience of the sword spine, the technique of differentiated tempering, first found in China during the first century BC, is used: the sword is heated and painted with layers of clay—the mixture being closely guarded trade secrets of the various smiths, but generally containing clay and coal ash as the primary ingredients—with a thin layer or none at all on the edge of the sword ensuring quick cooling to maximize the hardening for the edge, while a thicker layer of clay on the rest of the blade causing slower cooling and softer, more resilient steel to allow the blade to absorb shock without breaking.

This process also has two side effects that have come to characterize Japanese swords—first, it makes the edge of the blade, which cools quickly and forms evenly dispersed cementite particles embedded within a ferrite matrix (typical oftempered martensite), which will actually cause the edge part of the blade to expand while the sword spine remains hot and pliable for several seconds, which aids the smith in establishing the curvature of the blade. Second, the differentiated heat treatment and the materials with which the steel comes into contact creates different coloration in the steel, resulting in the Hamon 刃紋 (frequently translated as "tempering line" but really better translated as "tempering pattern"), that is used as a factor to judge both the quality and beauty of the finished blade. The differentiated Hamon patterns resulting from the manner in which the clay is applied can also act as an indicator of the style of sword making, and sometimes also as a signature for the individual smith.

Antique Japanese wakizashi sword blade showing the horimono of a chrysanthemum.

Decoration

A section of an antique Japanese katana showing two grooves hi and the temper linehamon.

Almost all blades are decorated, although not all blades are decorated on the visible part of the blade. Once the blade is cool, and the mud is scraped off, the blade has designs and grooves cut into it. One of the most important markings on the sword is performed here: the file markings. These are cut into the tang, or the hilt-section of the blade, where they will be covered by a hilt later. The tang is never supposed to be cleaned: doing this can cut the value of the sword in half or more. The purpose is to show how well the blade steel ages. A number of different types of file markings are used, including horizontal, slanted, and checked, known as ichi-monji, ko-sujikai, sujikai, ō-sujikai, katte-agari, shinogi-kiri-sujikai, taka-no-ha, and gyaku-taka-no-ha. A grid of marks, from raking the file diagonally both ways across the tang, is called higaki, whereas specialized "full dress" file marks are called kesho-yasuri. Lastly, if the blade is very old, it may have been shaved instead of filed. This is called sensuki. While ornamental, these file marks also serve the purpose of providing an uneven surface which bites well into the tsuka, or the hilt which fits over it and is made from wood. It is this pressure fit for the most part that holds the tsuka in place during the strike, while the mekugi pin serves as a secondary method and a safety.

Some other marks on the blade are aesthetic: signatures and dedications written in kanji and engravings depicting gods, dragons, or other acceptable beings, called horimono. Some are more practical. The presence of a so-called "blood groove" or fuller does not in actuality allow blood to flow more freely from cuts made with the sword. Fullers neither have a demonstrable difference in the ease of withdrawing a blade nor do they reduce the sucking sound that many people believe was the reason for including such a feature in commando knives in World War II.^[12] The grooves are analogous in structure to an I beam, lessening the weight of the sword yet keeping structural integrity and strength.^[12] Grooves come in wide (bo-hi), twin narrow (futasuji-hi), twin wide and narrow (bo-hi ni tsure-hi), short (koshi-hi), twin short (gomabushi), twin long with joined tips (shobu-hi), twin long with irregular breaks (kuichigai-hi), and halberd-style (naginata-hi).

Furthermore the grooves (always done on both sides of the blade) make a whistling sound when the sword is swung (the tachikaze太刀風). If the swordsman hears one whistle when swinging a grooved katana then that means that just one groove is making the whistle. Two whistles means that both the edge of the blade and a groove are making a whistle, and three whistles together (the blade edge and both grooves) would tell the swordsman that his blade is perfectly angled with the direction of the cut.

Polishing

Japanese sword blade, sharpening stone, and water bucket at 2008 Cherry Blossom Festival, Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington.

When the rough blade is completed, the swordsmith turns the blade over to a polisher called a togishi, whose job it is to refine the shape of a blade and improve its aesthetic value. The entire process takes considerable time, in some cases easily up to several weeks. Early polishers used three types of stone, whereas a modern polisher generally uses seven. The modern high level of polish was not normally done before around 1600, since greater emphasis was placed on function over form. The polishing process almost always takes longer than even crafting, and a good polish can greatly improve the beauty of a blade, while a bad one can ruin the best of blades. More importantly, inexperienced polishers can permanently ruin a blade by badly disrupting its geometry or wearing down too much steel, both of which effectively destroy the sword's monetary, historic, artistic, and functional value.

Modern swordsmithing

Traditional swords are still made in Japan and occasionally elsewhere; they are termed "shinsakuto" or "shinken" (true sword), and can be very expensive. These are not considered reproductions as they are made by traditional techniques and from traditional materials. Swordsmiths in Japan are licensed; acquiring this license requires a long apprenticeship. Outside of Japan there are a couple of smiths working by traditional or mostly-traditional techniques, and occasional short courses taught in Japanese swordsmithing. The only two Japanese-licensed smiths outside of Japan are, Keith Austin (art-name Nobuhira or Nobuyoshi) died in 1997, and 17th Generation Yoshimoto Bladesmith Murray Carter.

A very large number of low-quality reproduction katana and wakizashi are available; their prices usually range between $10 to about $200. These cheap blades are Japanese in shape only—they are usually machine made and machine sharpened, and minimally hardened or heat-treated. The hamon pattern (if any) on the blade is applied by scuffing, etching or otherwise marking the surface, without any difference in hardness or temper of the edge. The metal used to make low-quality blades is mostly cheap stainless steel, and typically is much harder and more brittle than true katana. Finally, cheap reproduction Japanese swords usually have fancy designs on them since they are just for show. Better-quality reproduction katana typically range from $200 to about $1000 (though some can go easily above two thousand for quality production blades, folded and often traditionally constructed and with a proper polish), and high-quality or custom-made reproductions can go up to $15000-$50000. These blades are made to be used for cutting, and are usually heat-treated. High-quality reproductions made from carbon steel will often have a differential hardness or temper similar to traditionally-made swords, and will show a hamon; they won't show a hada (grain), since they're not often made from folded steel.

A wide range of steels are used in reproductions, ranging from carbon steels such as 1020, 1040, 1060, 1070, 1095, and 5160, stainless steels such as 400, 420, 440, to high-end specialty steels such as L6 and D2. Most cheap reproductions are made from inexpensive stainless steels such as 440A (often just termed "440"). With a normal Rockwell hardness of 56 and up to 60, stainless steel is much harder than the back of a differentially hardened katana, (HR50), and is therefore much more prone to breaking, especially when used to make long blades. Stainless steel is also much softer at the edge (a traditional katana is usually more than HR60 at the edge). Furthermore, cheap swords designed as wall-hanging or sword rack decorations often also have a "rat-tail" tang, which is a thin, usually threaded bolt of metal welded onto the blade at the hilt area. These are a major weak point and often break at the weld, resulting in an extremely dangerous and unreliable sword.

Some modern swordsmiths have made high quality reproduction swords using the traditional method, including one Japanese swordsmith who began manufacturing swords in Thailand using traditional methods, and various American and Chinese manufacturers. These however will always be different from Japanese swords made in Japan, as it is illegal to export the Tamahagane jewel steel as such without it having been made into value-added products first. Nevertheless, some manufacturers have made differentially tempered swords folded in the traditional method available for relatively little money (often one to three thousand dollars), and differentially tempered, non-folded steel swords for several hundred. Some practicing martial artists prefer modern swords, whether of this type or made in Japan by Japanese craftsmen, because many of them cater to martial arts demonstrations by designing "extra light" swords which can be maneuvered relatively faster for longer periods of time, or swords specifically designed to perform well at cutting practice targets, with thinner blades and either razor-like flat-ground edges or even a hollow ground edges.

Commercial folded steel swords

In recent years, as the public has become more aware of the Japanese style of sword making, many companies have begun to offer folded steel swords, typically marketing them as "damascus" swords, which usually command higher prices than their non-folded equivalents. Many people are willing to pay a premium for such blades in the belief that any folded blade will be superior in performance and quality to any non-folded blade, but in fact it is just the reverse—a low quality folded sword is actually much more likely to contain metallurgical flaws than a sword made from a single piece of steel that came off the line in a modern steel plant, and any flaws would significantly increase the likelihood of breakage at the moment of contact. Add to this the lack of differentiated heat treatment, which already renders the blade brittle compared to a traditional Japanese sword or even a Western-style sword (which would typically not be tempered to as high a hardness due to expectations of striking metal armor), and the result is a sword that would be much more likely to break or shatter at the moment of contact, even for demonstration or "test" cutting, making the use of such a sword potentially highly hazardous to the wielder and any bystanders, as any breakage at the moment of contact will result in sharpened metal flying at unpredictable directions with the force of the blow.

Sword manufacturers marketing such low end folded swords tend to choose softer steels such as 1020 or 400 for this purpose, since they are easier to work and fold, and will also often attempt to enhance the appearance of the folding layers by making comparatively few folds (thus leaving thicker folds), folding soft iron with steel, folding stainless steel with non-stainless steel, using an acid wash to blacken the folds that are less corrosion resistant, or some combination of these techniques, resulting in a blade with extremely prominent folding marks. Where the acid wash technique is used, the blade will be various shades of gray and black. and frequently exhibit no hamon tempering line. All swords made by the traditional Japanese method, regardless of the quality or assembly type, results in a bright and shiny blade upon completion, and therefore any blade that is black or gray in color when new absolutely cannot have been made in the traditional manner of the Japanese swordsmiths.

Commercial folded steel swords can also made by stamping. In this method, steel is heated and folded in a sheet large enough to make multiple swords from, and then cut or "stamped" into long "blanks" somewhat resembling the shape of the blade. The blanks are then ground down to form the edges, exposing the folds. Due the comparative ease of manufacturing and greater efficiency (in the sense that less of the sheet tends to be lost during the stamping process), this method is most commonly seen in the manufacture of straight "damascus steel" swords such as sword canes and what are often called "double-edged samurai swords" but which are really just Chinese-style ken swords with Japanese-style fittings. The physical act of the stamping alters the molecular structure at the location of the cut, which can cause deterioration in the quality of the steel in subtle ways. While it is possible to adjust for this by simply grinding down the edges further and removing the portion of the blade that has had its molecular structure thus disturbed, it is doubtful that a manufacturer that has sought to reduce cost and production time by stamping folded sheet steel would then go through such additional efforts and costs to improve the quality of the blade. In any case, even if the stamped edge is ground away, what one is left with is still a low quality blade.

Regardless of the price or the production method of the sword, it is worthwhile to remember that the choice of materials and manufacturing techniques based on the desired appearance, rather than the performance of the resulting product will predictably result in swords which are serviceable for display only in the vast majority of instances.

Replica swords, varying and copying the major styles, have an active market world-wide. Replicas usually do not have a sharp blade but the point is quite and easily used as a stabbing weapon. Replicas sell to tourists in Tokyo for about $100 to $250 USD. Export is no problem, but some nations limit imports even of replicas.

Bespoke "holland cycles"

watch it on vimeo

beSPOKE from Jeff Katz on Vimeo.

Good Quote

man tools

There's No Place Like Here: Liberty Tool from Etsy on Vimeo.

A song by Fleet Foxes

called Helplessness Blues

I was raised up believing
I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes
Unique in each way you can see

And now after some thinking
I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery
Serving something beyond me

But I don't, I don't know what that will be
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see

What's my name, what's my station
Oh just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night
That would do such injustice to you

Or bow down and be grateful
And say "Sure take all that you see"
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls
And determine my future for me

And I don't, I don't know who to believe
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see

If I know only one thing
It's that every thing that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable
Often I barely can speak

Yeah I'm tongue tied and dizzy
And I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues?
Why should I wait for anyone else?

And I know, I know you will keep me on the shelf
I'll come back to you someday soon myself

If I had an orchard
I'd work till I'm raw
If i had an orchard
I'd work till I'm sore

And you would wait tables
And soon run the store

Gold hair in the sunlight
My light in the dawn
If I had an orchard
I'd work till I'm sore

If I had an orchard
I'd work till I'm sore

Someday I'll be
Like the man on the screen

"The Dumbest Generation"

The Dumbest Generation

I want to recommend a book called "The Dumbest Generation" by Mark Bauerlein. It is essentially about the decline in reading among teenagers and young adults, and the subsequent decline in, well, smartness.

The author spends a lot of time talking about where exactly the shift away from books is moving/has moved -- towards visual media, the internet, social networking, and any number of related distractions.  One of the most interesting arguments is that these media, especially social networking among teenagers, creates what he calls "a generational cocoon," a sort of perpetual adolescence. They spend so much time invested in it that they lose connection with older generations, with a world that exists outside of and beyond themselves, and ultimately with what really matters.  In the end, it stunts their growth. In his words: "the minds of the young plateau at 18" (pg. 10).

For those like myself, a christian, does it make you wonder? If these things are true, as he suggests, that modern culture--and teenagers especially--are becoming so entrenched in a system of multitasking and noise, flashing images and brilliant, blinding distraction, to the point that sitting in silence and reading a book is aggravating and impossible -- well, what affect does that have on a faith that requires silence, that demands being quiet before God and listening, reading and studying?

He spends most of the end of the book discussing why, exactly, being "intelligent" actually matters, why spending time reading, being quiet, being able to follow a argument from Point A to Point B without getting lost in the middle has merit. And it was at that point that I really saw a connection to Christianity, to the need for thought and understanding as compliments--foundations--to faith. Even though the book is targeted towards society in general, there were a surprising number of moments where it was as if he were talking to the Church.

Here's one such example that I think more Christians need to take into consideration:

  Insularity is unhealthy. It gives insiders false pictures of the world and overconfidence in their opinions. It consoles them on all sides with compliant reflection. But the comforts of belonging don't prepare them to leave the group, to enter the marketplace of ideas and defeat adversaries with the weapons of the intellect, not the devices of group standing, party membership, accreditation, and inside information. However intelligent they are, people who think and act within their niche avoid the irritating presence of ideological foes, but they also forgo one of the preconditions of learning: hearing the other side. Hearing them, that is, in earnest and positive versions, not through the lens of people who don't endorse them. They develop their own positions, tautly and intricately, but can't imagine others'. Again, in the words of John Stuart Mill: "They have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently from them." A paradoxical effect sets in. The more secure they feel, the more limited their horizons and the more parochial their outlook.

    --Mark Bauerlein, The Dumbest Generation, pg. 221-22

Louis Vuitton

Another video on shoes.

guess who said it?

"Every human being is born to be a creator.  During a lifetime each is able to create far more than he or she consumes.  When in any nation the aggregate of individual creativity is greater than the aggregate of individual consumption, the wealth of that nation increases.  The cause of wealth of nations is human creativity."

"......those who wish to liberate human beings from poverty within their nation should look to its primary resource, the minds and spirits of the citizens at the bottom of society.  The cause of wealth of nations is the empowerment of such persons.  To empower people is the indispensable first step toward rapid economic development."

".....Everywhere on earth human beings are capable of creativity.  But the systems that liberate that creativity are not so universal.  Whether a system of political economy liberates human creativity or inhibits it is the crucial factor."


    -- you tell me who wrote this

for quality of life

Mr. Happy Man from Matt Morris Films on Vimeo.

CAN YOU SPOT IT?

If you pay close attention to the video their is something that stands out. By this I mean something that shouldn't be there. Can you spot it?

Corning Incorporated, is an American company that since the mid 1800's has been innovative and stayed ahead of consumer demand. Today it is one of the worlds most successful businesses Every american should be aware of and supportive of. Through two world wars and many rocky roads this company has accomplished amazing feats and provides us with some of todays greatest technologies. You can read their Wikipedia or more extensively a book that tells the history and details of where the company has been. Awesome book if you want to know about glass and everything related because it has so many applications.

Workspace

Bert Monroy, Digital Painter and Illustrator | by Bert Monroy

 A ninth-generation shipwright, Sueshiro Sano has been making exquisite wooden products since he was in elementary school. But in 2008, drawing inspiration and technique from a lifetime of shipbuilding, the woodworker produced his first bike constructed entirely of mahogany, including frame, fork, seat, seat post, handlebars/stem combination and even rims.

choosing quantity not quality

Making shoes.... and then repairing only the shoes worth repairing

whenever I find something of interest I like to look into these things. So I'm going to have a separate blog for the informational side of thing. You can find that blog here: http://onewhodabblesinknowledge.blogspot.com/ I guess my first bit of information will be on this video on shoe repair and shoe making in general.  Cobbling is the main thing I will cover but as you may know one thing always leads to another. We'll see

are you allergic to metals?

Quick article I found on how craftsmanship had a positive effect to the consumer.  

By Gary F. Martin

"I believe many people are having problems not due to any allergic reaction, but rather to poor craftsmanship of some jewelers. I have seen a greater number of people who claim they are allergic to metals but only so with their ear lobes. Case in point is a lady who wanted to purchase some new earrings, but told me about her allergy to most metals. She explained her favorite pair of earrings made of sterling silver always made her ears sore for a couple of days after she wore them. She wanted to have another pair of earrings made like her favorite ones, but using a metal other than sterling. An interesting fact is she had no problem wearing sterling silver necklaces and rings. I was struggling with the fact that only earrings created the "allergic" reaction. As an experiment to see if she would react to Argentium silver, my preferred silver, I sent her home wearing a pair of our Argentium earrings. I told her to wear them for a couple of days to see how she faired with the different silver. She left her favorite ones with me.

Three days later, she called to say her ears were just fine and loved the Argentium silver, and of course, wanted to have Rena make a new pair similar to her favorite ones. I told her Rena would be very happy to make another pair of earrings, but first could she stop by for another test. This time I had her wear her "favorite" earrings and to let me know how her ears felt the following day. Long story short, her ears had no problems with her "favorite" earrings. So what was the problem with the lady's "favorite" earrings? Unfinished ear wires. Yes, it was as simple as smoothing and rounding her ear wires. The person who created the earrings had used a flush cutter to cut the end of the ear wire. It looked nice, but under a magnifier, I could see the edges of the ear wire were very sharp. When the lady would put the earrings on, the sharp edges of the ear wire cut or scraped her ear lobes and made them sore and irritated. She did not have any allergy to sterling silver! Finishing of all jewelry is very important, but the finishing of ear wire is critical to the wearer. And it is so easy to accomplish. Carefully round all edges of the ear wire with a fine file or a cup burr. Then inspect for any possible problems by feeling the wire end and checking it with a 10X loupe. It should be smooth and easy to insert into one's ear.

And yes, I did lose a possible sale, but the lady has since sent many of her friends to buy our jewelry because I was honest and helpful."

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