pollywollydoodledoddleday
Or whatever it is...
There is a precision that is needed when wood working that not all of us have. The simple task of taking a measurement and then applying it to a piece of raw material for shaping or cutting is made less simple when nature, odd forces and unusual named gods, work in collusion to make all that you worked for, come out all fucked up. What needs to be 78 1/8 inches long at measurement can quickly turn into 87 1/8 inches purely by magic. What was a 45 degree angle is now a 40 degree angle. The blame game begins and tools are always the first to sit in the hot seat. Upon further review, the project, the materials and then your diet all get a nod. At the end of the day, a simple, "fuck it, it'll work" comes to pass and the mess is resolved.
It's truly amazing how quickly things can go wrong even with the best laid plans. Logic and mathematical symmetry have no place in nature's more chaotic setting. To me, it's humorous to think that we humans could apply our sense of logic and reason to nature. What gall it takes to be so stubborn about it. I can't tell you how often I have cursed the lawn for not being level enough or for producing rocks that I knew were there from the last time I mowed, I just hadn't removed. It's nature's fault.
When planning my day, I try to think of all the things I need to get done, get started or just continue to care for. This involves this writing, my home, my family, the book, my friends and a multitude of strange and unusual projects that sprout up at any given moment. Every day I start off this way and every day, I don't get a tenth of it done the way I planned. Why? Because I forget to allow for abstracts. The little things that come up that send the day spiraling in a different direction. I get overwhelmed, at times, by the shift in importance of one project over another. Somethings just need addressing without hesitation and others can wait. At these times, you have triage the influx of needs and address some while abandoning others. Sadly, friends and family get shafted more than they should. I guess I take them for granted as non-variables or I think that their lives are moving in their own direction and my presence can wait.
Lately I have been rather antisocial both in person and on line. My emails to friends has slowed a bit and my phone calls, which I am not fond of in the first place, are really lacking. I am never aware of how much this affects my friends, but I think it does.
I measure it out, I cut it and it doesn't fit. You can follow instructions, or determine what steps should be taken in a certain order and hopefully it will work. You're pretty sure it worked before. But, here again, it doesn't always fit.
There is a precision that is needed when wood working that not all of us have. The simple task of taking a measurement and then applying it to a piece of raw material for shaping or cutting is made less simple when nature, odd forces and unusual named gods, work in collusion to make all that you worked for, come out all fucked up. What needs to be 78 1/8 inches long at measurement can quickly turn into 87 1/8 inches purely by magic. What was a 45 degree angle is now a 40 degree angle. The blame game begins and tools are always the first to sit in the hot seat. Upon further review, the project, the materials and then your diet all get a nod. At the end of the day, a simple, "fuck it, it'll work" comes to pass and the mess is resolved.
It's truly amazing how quickly things can go wrong even with the best laid plans. Logic and mathematical symmetry have no place in nature's more chaotic setting. To me, it's humorous to think that we humans could apply our sense of logic and reason to nature. What gall it takes to be so stubborn about it. I can't tell you how often I have cursed the lawn for not being level enough or for producing rocks that I knew were there from the last time I mowed, I just hadn't removed. It's nature's fault.
When planning my day, I try to think of all the things I need to get done, get started or just continue to care for. This involves this writing, my home, my family, the book, my friends and a multitude of strange and unusual projects that sprout up at any given moment. Every day I start off this way and every day, I don't get a tenth of it done the way I planned. Why? Because I forget to allow for abstracts. The little things that come up that send the day spiraling in a different direction. I get overwhelmed, at times, by the shift in importance of one project over another. Somethings just need addressing without hesitation and others can wait. At these times, you have triage the influx of needs and address some while abandoning others. Sadly, friends and family get shafted more than they should. I guess I take them for granted as non-variables or I think that their lives are moving in their own direction and my presence can wait.
Lately I have been rather antisocial both in person and on line. My emails to friends has slowed a bit and my phone calls, which I am not fond of in the first place, are really lacking. I am never aware of how much this affects my friends, but I think it does.
I measure it out, I cut it and it doesn't fit. You can follow instructions, or determine what steps should be taken in a certain order and hopefully it will work. You're pretty sure it worked before. But, here again, it doesn't always fit.
posted by Daniel Loomis | 4:09 PM
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