I guess one of the burning topics in my brain at the moment is this: What is the frikking point of making this stuff? It can't feed you when you're hungry, it can't keep you warm if you're cold. It can't save your life and the lives of people you love, it can't bring us peace in the war-zones. It can't fix something when it's broken. It's expensive, inanimate and doesn't do anything besides be its shiny self. Why bother breaking my hands  on something that is little more than a pricey paperweight? Why spend 3 years of my life getting a piece of paper that says I can make this stuff?

There are people I know who are lawyers and doctors and economists and political analysts and accountants and speech therapists and, and, and, and the list goes on. I see them occasionally and I must admit, it's a bit of an odd situation. There still seems to be this bullshit idea that working with one's hands is somehow less good than crunching numbers or whatever else it is that they do. This is not only a thoroughly ridiculous notion but also somewhat annoying in its specific brand of how ridiculous it is. What annoys me is the insinuation that because one works with one's hands, one's brain is not up to scratch. This is utter tosh. Maybe this isn't true for everyone who works with their hands but the reason I appreciate it so much is because it leaves my mind free to think of other things a lot of the time. While my hands are busy with something with which they are familiar, the rest of the world is still open to queries and curiosity. Maybe this just means I have the concentration span of a coked up kitten but I like to think that it allows one a degree of perspective. By virtue of the fact that my nose is not stuck to a key board all day (I can't touch type..evidently.) I get to see things I would otherwise have missed.

The world around us is vast and varied and what a tragedy it would be if I saw nought besides my bench peg? (It's useful to be sure, but it is an unprepossessing thing...) To my great pleasure, design is something that requires investigation and proficiency in a great many things but it also allows one the freedom to indulge one's curiosity and explore the realms of possibility and their limits. If I were truly honest, I would have to admit that nothing I have thus far come across, could keep my attention all day everyday for the rest of my days. The beauty of producing something that came from your mind is that it is a multitude of process and talents that allow that to happen. Besides all the research and drawing that goes into a "final" design, there is all the problem solving and method-figuring that goes into it too. Not just the actual time at the bench. When one is holding a product of one's own mind in one's own hands, there is a unique feeling of understanding. You have turned a thought, a transient and ephemeral thing into a tangible, enduring object. My personal aim when I make something is for it to be beautiful. I like beautiful things. I wish there were more of them. So I like to think of new beautiful things and make them a reality . That is a fucking privilege. (That language is my own choice and not affiliated with any institutions or entities besides myself.) And, in addition to that privilege, I get to let my mind wander and explore other dimensions while  I am creating things. What more could I want? Maybe I won't mint it, maybe I won't be famous. Seriously? Who gives a damn? It's not like I have nothing to do.