Easter Show day ...

Took the family to the Royal Easter Show today. Hottest day in the whole Summer season most likely, and we all felt it by the end.

Mostly quite a fun day, but a little weird at times. I'm probably feeling a little too old for much of the attractions now, but the kids are probably still a little young.

Will was terrified by the animals for some reason we can't work out. It started with the chickens and birds we know he doesn't like, but it continued on with pigs, cows, goats and everything else they had. It all seemed to scare the bejezzus our of him for some reason. It didn't help that he hadn't eatern properly all day and was really hot, but that's how it went. Alex loved the animals though, and everything else we put in front of him.

Sometimes it's a great bit of family fun, but other things the show just seems like a cheap sell-fest. The art, craft and food pavilions were probably the most interesting things for me, especially the art and woodworking. When the kids got out of the stroller for a play that was fun too.

Thank bloody goodness we brought a lot of food and drink -- the prices were nuts. Showbags were ok price wise, but they hardly interest me now. One bag each for the kids, some chocolate and food ones for us, and that was it.

We decided that it was a fun day, but we're not likely to go again for a few years. Not sure if this is another phobia to add to the list for Will, but he has several relatives that would like to help him out of it :)

Making and breaking

Now that I'm letting myself think I can afford a few things, I am thinking about how to move the PC from the loungeroom (where it's mostly a media centre but terrible for the task) back to the office/sunroom where it can be used more usefully, especially by Sallie, who's sick of a nine year old laptop she uses for everything. And in its place, I'm looking at building a small, low power, media PCthat will be stripped down in features, quiet and easy to use, but do everything it needs to and be on the house network.

While working at home today, I spent some time researching all these mini-ITX motherboards and low voltage power supplies and other things for very cheap operation of a good media PC. This page is especially useful, just run by some college student in the US, but it really gave me tonnes of ideas. Even in the local lingo, I could do it for as little as $250, and I can see some wooden casemod plans in my future.

In other news, the blog still isn't fixed, but that will be in action by the end of the week ... ha ha ...

Return of the DIY generation

An interesting story by Clive Thompson at Wired today, where he laments the general decline of the home handyman, and people's lack of ability to fix things, leading to a more wantonly consumer culture, while also highlighting the return of that culture through Make Magazine and other high tech returns to old school tinkering.

I think he makes some good points about DIY culture, and I think the stuff in Make is always interesting, but he also does miss a couple of points, which some of the comments fill him in on. He talks about people no longer repairing home gadgets, just throwing them away and buying new ones, but of course the point there is the increasing complexity of modern gadgets.

Old school home appliances and even cars were largely mechanical, while even the simplest gadgets today will likely be full of silicon and circuit boards. Unless you're extremely advanced, you can't do anything with those, no matter your knowledge. And they've become easier to replace than to try and fix.

That said, his better point is about the DIY culture -- making things yourself. It is a very satisfying thing in the modern world to make your own stuff, whether through woodworking, metalwork, or any kind of hybrid in-between. I am trying to do as much woodworking as I can, and to mix that with some electronics, which I haven't done as much of, but would like to.

It's a very satisfying hobby, one of that is so different to everything else I do (in short, sitting in front of a computer for one reason or another). You're thinking, and innovating, and working very hard with your hands in a way different to most jobs today.

In some ways the deliberate and heavy splitting of manual creativity from cerebral creativity can mean most people miss out on this sort of thing, but at the same time, more and more people are doing this out of either pleasure, or even necessity. DIY home building and renovating is of course increasingly popular, and the rise of home hardware mega-stores like Bunnings (or Home Depot in the US, as the article says), have helped contribute to this. Some people will do this because it is cheaper than traditional home building, even though it's harder work, others will do it on whatever scale just because it's different, fun and challenging.

For me, I just enjoy the effort, the design and creative skills, and the ultimate results. The big one for me is electric guitar building, which I'm still working up to, but will get there very, very soon.

Sunny days ...

... are a rarity around here right now, despite the fact that it's well, supposed to be Summer. In fact, the sun has pretty much taken an extended vacation over most of the season this year.

But today it came back -- damn it was a nice day.

I spent nearly three hours outside today mowing the front and back lawns because it needed to be done. The front was ok -- it's kind of small and was done not too long ago. That was just a warm-up, because due to the rain, the back hadn't been done for at least a month, and was quite the jungle in some places.

A good workout, not terribly hard work but I felt it in the end, and by 3pm, the yard's looking pretty nice. The weather was so good for a change, with a clear blue sky, warm sunshine and even better, just enough of a cool breeze so that the heat didn't overwhelm.

Spending the rest of the afternoon lazing around watching the cricket was all the better knowing I'd actually got something done beforehand :)

Creative update: Well, at least I'm keeping up with the blog. Have to work out the writing, and in the short term, have to work out exactly what it is I'm writing ... there's another idea I chould just go with for now (it could be really good, and commercial too).

Woodworking has stalled slightly, but as soon as I sort out the paintbrushes, it will finish quite soon (though there's always new projects.) And have to look at making a present in less than a week :)

Making things ...

Been working on many creative things -- everything but my writing it would seem.

Finished one woodworking project, with another two that can be done quite soon. Pics of those when I can.

The RPM project is proceeding -- haven't recorded much, but since I"m actually working out how to use Ardour, that's a triumph in itself. And it's making me think about my writing, which is a help in itself.

Will be posting a special TV feature her by Monday at the latest -- it's all ready to go bar the images.

Got to work myself into a better fiction schedule though ...

Enough already ...

Why is it that four day weeks after a holiday always end up feeling worse when they're done than regular five day weeks? Am I just being forced to fit five days of work into four, or is it something more sinister?

Just too much ... crap really ... there isn't much else I can or would say about it, but I really need to think of something different. A different direction to go, and I don't think I know what that is, or more likely how to get there.

Anyway, I've signed up for the RPM challenge. Day 1, not much so far :)

For the weekend, recording music and several woodworking projects. Thinking about Etsy as well.

Building ...

Despite seeming to have basically no money already, I've been back in the garage working on some new woodworking projects. With the long weekend, there should be some time to build a few little things. Just stuff that I need, but can look nice to do myself.

Have a nice piece of rosewood that's been around for a few months, and I'm just making a small shelf with that. Then I want to make a bedside bookshelf/bookend/shelf for my bedside that will look good and be practical for keepking small children away from my books. Then a small cabinet for my music stuff. Will post pictures when they're done.

And they're the easy projects. There's still the guitar of course, but I've got a whole list of things to do.

Next on my agenda is the writing though. I'm going to psych myself up here into making it happen.