Multiple Minds of a Maker

I love this sentiment from Mike Pekovich @Pekovichwoodworks on Instagram.  I love those moments on conception, building and recognition.   It's also at the last stage that you sometimes discover that your conception and the execution, don't match and it's either better, worse or just different than you'd intended.

Sometimes I think that making requires a split personality. The beginning of the process is all about design- worrying about scale, line, proportion, function. Once you start to break down lumber, mill stock, join parts, the focus is only on craftsmanship, accuracy. Then, at a certain point, lost in the zen of the moment, you happen to look up and see that the designer's vision you'd forgotten about has begun to take shape at the hands of the craftsman. At that moment both halves of my brain look across at each other and say "hey, nice job." Then it's back to work.

A photo posted by Mike Pekovich (@pekovichwoodworks) on Dec 28, 2015 at 4:31am PST

Instagram gem from @lallydone

I love the internet for some of these little gems that often get lost in the tubes. Just a basic observation about being yourself and the pressure, even when really young, to stay firmly within the lines.(I love the tag #pizzarollsnotgenderrolls  Follow her at Instagram @lallydone

Sometimes I forget that we live in a rather insulated little bubble; that we have carved out our place among friends where nobody bats an eyelid when my son turns up dressed like this. It never ceases to amaze me that somebody could be bothered by what he chooses to wear - grown adults, no less - and the idea that it could be confusing to them, that it could affect them so much they need to make their disapproval obvious... I just don't understand. I understand the curiosity and confusion of children who haven't been taught that there are possibilities outside of stereotyped gender norms. It's often little girls who make comments about Red's appearance, which is fine, I think, be curious, let us help you broaden your horizons. It is sad though when they point Red out to their parents and the parents make a scathing remark or even worse, laugh. I want to say (but in the moment the words never quite come to me): open your minds and see a confident and well-adjusted boy. He loves his outfits. And most importantly he is happy. Why anyone would look at a child (or really at anyone else) and judge them based on how they choose to present themselves is beyond me. See the happy soul in front of you instead being somehow offended by the "weird" clothing, try to find that happiness and love within yourself. Over and out. ✌️ #pizzarollsnotgenderroles #redthedestroyer

A photo posted by Natalie Turner (@lallydone) on Sep 17, 2015 at 2:41am PDT

Beautiful Cycling gif

Love this cycling gif from Henning M Lederer created f a music video for Max Cooper.

 See entire video below
via Dezeen

Bowie Bucks or the Brixton Pound

 

Brixton Pound

"The Brixton Pound (B£) is money that sticks to Brixton. It’s designed to support Brixton businesses and encourage local trade and production. It’s a complementary currency, working alongside (not replacing) pounds sterling, for use by independent local shops and traders. The B£ gives local traders and customers the chance to get together to support each other and maintain the diversity of the high street and strengthen pride in Brixton."

Dad Gets cochlear Implant Tattooed on Head for his Daughter

A New Zealand father got a great tattoo of a cochlear implant in support of his 6 year old daughter. 

A Taupo dad has gotten a cochlear implant tattooed on his head to help his little girl not feel like the odd one out. Charlotte, 6, who had her first implant put in at the age of 4 in 2013, has just had her second one put in at Gillies Hospital. In a gesture of support, her father, Alistair Campbell, had his own "implant" tattooed on the left side of his head, three days ago. Mr Campbell, who had no other tattoos, said he wanted to do it to show her that he could go through a little bit of pain for her too..."My love for her really," he said. "Hey my hair can grow back."... When Charlotte saw her dad's version of a cochlear implant she giggled, touched it and told him it was "cool"- NZ Herald

Dylan Goes Electric: 50 Years Ago today

Fifty years ago today, Bob Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival (much to the dismay of many of his fans).

" the sound of both booing and cheering can be heard a few bars into Dylan's first song, "Maggie's Farm", and continues throughout his second, "Like a Rolling Stone". Dylan and his band then performed "Phantom Engineer", an early version of "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry". Dylan was said to have "electrified one half of his audience, and electrocuted the other".
-Wikipedia "Electric Dylan Controversy"

My Tri Training

Just over a month ago, on my first day of vacation, I broke the little toe on my left foot.   This has meant that I didn't snap my training lull after a May race.   At the time I should have been increasing my training and preparing for the Maine Sport Triathlon in September, I had to virtually stop training.  I booked our accommodation near the event before my injury and the thought of camping there that weekend without racing is eating at me.

So, with 7 weeks until the race, I'm back to training and will be working to make up ground.  For the next couple weeks I'll be focusing on the swim and bike portions to give my toe more time to heal before running.  I should be fine on the swim as that's my best part of the tri (though sadly the shortest).  My goal is to work on improving my cycle time.  Given this is the longest part of the race, it offers the best chance for improvement in overall time and I've added clipless shoes to the mix which should help my control on the bike and hopefully foot strength on the run by taking pressure off my arches during the bike.

My open water training spot

This year I'll be focusing more on brick workouts (swim/bike or bike/run in a single workout).  Last year the plan I used didn't have many bricks and I found that the transitions were difficult so I'll be incorporating two per week. I'll also be pushing the endurance pieces quickly up rather than a gradual incline.

My plan, as it stands, is below.  It was constructed based on my experiences and referencing other tri plans for the length of particular workouts during the training period.  All elements are in minutes unless otherwise specified.   Some plans focus on mileage while others focus on time.  For a longer race such as this, I like the time approach as it's about endurance, though I will be tracking my mileage, speed and pace using the Garmin 10 sport watch (more on that another time).

Week of July 20

• Monday:Swim 30
• Tuesday:Bike 45
• Wednesday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 30
• Thursday:Swim 40
• Friday:Bike 45
• Saturday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 60
• Sunday: Rest

Week of July 27

• Monday:Swim 40
• Tuesday: Bike 60
• Wednesday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 45
• Thursday: Swim 30
• Friday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 60
• Saturday:Bike 75
• Sunday: Rest

Week of August 3

• Monday:Brick Swim 30/ Bike 45
• Tuesday: Run 20
• Wednesday: Bike 75
• Thursday:Run 30
• Friday:Swim 30-45
• Saturday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 30/ Run 20
• Sunday: Rest

Week of August 10

• Monday: Brick Swim 30/ Bike 45
• Tuesday:  Run 30-40
• Wednesday: Bike 90
• Thursday:Run 45
• Friday:Swim 45
• Saturday: Brick Bike 45/ Run 30
• Sunday: Rest

Week of August 17

• Monday:Swim 30
• Tuesday: Bike 105-120
• Wednesday: Run 45
• Thursday: Brick Swim 20/ Bike 45
• Friday:Bike 105-120
• Saturday: Run 60-70
• Sunday: Rest

Week of August 24

• Monday:Swim 20/ Bike 45
• Tuesday: Bike 75
• Wednesday: Run 60
• Thursday:Swim 30
• Friday: Bike 60-75
• Saturday: Run 45
• Sunday: Rest

Week of August 31

• Monday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 30
• Tuesday:Run 45
• Wednesday:Swim 20
• Thursday: Bike or Run 30
• Friday:Rest
• Saturday: Swim 15 / Run 15
• Sunday: Race Day

FormLab's creative use of Rube Goldberg Machine to Demonstrate their new "Tough Resin"

Nicely done advertisement for FormLabs' new "Tough Resin". Rather than a dry explanation of the different properties of this resin, it demonstrates them through various features of a Rube Goldberg machine.   From impact resistance to flexibility, they use features of the machine to display the resin's properties.   Exciting and interesting.


via Core 77

Gatsby in Hong Kong

Reminded me of the eyes in the Great Gatsby.

From Michael Wolf's collection "Back Door"

""The premise for the project is that Hong Kong's back alleys are of cultural importance, that they reveal something about the character of the Hong Kong people,"-Michael Wolf in Fast Company magazine.

Alcarol's Beautiful use of Resin Casting for Furniture

Alcarol is a design and fabrication studio which is doing amazing work with resin casting to preserve unique features in wood in stone.  

Marble ways table is made by using the sacrifical table from stone cutting.  When the table bed is too marred from cutting it is replaced.  Acarol is casting these slabs into beautiful tables, preserving the natural kerf marks as well as the stone and sawdust in the process.  (via Core 77)

This video from Vimeo shows the entire process.

Marble Ways from alcarol on Vimeo.

 Fisheye are made from the columns from the canals of Venice which are eaten by worms

Undergrowth captures the moss and lichens which grow naturally on the trees and are encapsulated to form the edge of shelves.

JAM Furniture from Reclaimed Wood

Short video about Ben Cramp and his path to making furniture from reclaimed lumber under the name JAM Furniture.

What resonated with me is that he talks about how he enjoyed industrial design, but realized that the future of that, were he to stay in that industry, would be behind a desk.  By shifting to his own work, he can do the design and the building which he finds more fulfilling.



JAM - A SHORT FILM from Fine Rolling Media on Vimeo.

via Core 77

Which active is your business when it comes to People with Disabilities?

How does your business serve individuals with disabilities as customers or employees?

Inactive: We never have anyone with a disability, so it's not an issue.

Reactive: We respond when we're asked for something.   It's generally a scramble, but we get the information and haven't been sued.

Proactive: We ensure that we consider issues of disability and accessibility in our business decisions.  Our business location and materials are accessible for people with disabilities.  We prominently display how individuals with disabilities can receive assistance and our staff are trained on how to help.

Are you ignoring 20% of your customers?

Tough Unique Approach to Cancer Research

Here's a tough, direct approach to cancer from Race for Life a UK based charity which raises money for cancer research.

Aside from the singular focus on women's cancer, I really like the attitude change.  It's one which my cousin, who died at age 25 from breast cancer, would have loved.

The first video gives an overview, while the other two are the actual advertisements which aired in the UK. 

Brief History of Guinness

Happy St. Patrick's day.

"In 1759, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease for the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin. (That's not a typo: nine thousand.) Since then, the world has become familiar with the famous stout and some of the most iconic advertising in history. Watch the video above to see how Guinness did it. And thank goodness we have at least 8,744 more years left to enjoy the masterful brews."

Here's a quick history of Guinness in 3minutes.


How Guinness Went Global And Became "Good For... by FastCompany

Make's Most Interesting Makerspaces in America

Great list of amazing sounding makerspaces across America.  Sadly, none in Maine (yet). 

Make's Most Interesting Makerspaces in America

Debbie Chachra isn't a maker- and that's fine

Debbie Chachra

Interesting article in the Atlantic by associate professor at Olin College of Engineering, Debbie Chachra about why she doesn't identify herself as a maker. 

Why I am not a maker

It was a very timely article for me as I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about making. What a maker is and why it's important.   While it's fine that she doesn't wish to identify as a maker, the perspective which she bases that decision on is not mine.   She sees the roots of making very differently and defines making and maker very differently than I do.

Making is not a rebel movement, scrappy individuals going up against the system. While the shift might be from the corporate to the individual (supported, mind, by a different set of companies selling a different set of things), it mostly re-inscribes familiar values, in slightly different form: that artifacts are important, and people are not...Describing oneself as a maker—regardless of what one actually or mostly does—is a way of accruing to oneself the gendered, capitalist benefits of being a person who makes products.

I started to try and provide counterpoints to some of Mrs. Chachra's points in how she defines these and realized that short of providing a full critique, I couldn't provide an accurate picture of mine.  In short though, capitalism and consumerism are far from making.   People are at the core of it.   Making isn't about the product, but the process and perspective. 

Instead of rattling on, I'll save the long version for another day and encourage you to read her piece and think about what making is to you. 

Writing is like driving at night in the fog

“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”- E.L. Doctorow. 

via Bobulate