Areas of Unrest

28 January 2001 - Crafts Jargon

QOTD: "There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way." - Christopher Morley

Reading: Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum

Listening to: the original cast album of New Faces of 1952

I have to confess that one of the things that I love about taking up obscure crafts is that I get to throw around obscure jargon. For example, Friday at work, I mentioned to several people that I needed to run out and buy a bone folder. None of their vivid images bore any relationship to the actual object. A bone folder is just a thin piece of bone used to crease paper. It's one of the basic tools of bookbinding. Yesterday featured learning about bone folders and davey board and kettle stitches and signatures and cases. And, oh yes, I made my very first book.

Bookbinding was something I'd wanted to try for a long time, but I was also apprehensive that I might not like it. Which would destroy the fantasy of quitting my job and going to work restoring old books. Fortunately, it turned out to be a lot of fun. I have lots more to learn, of course, but I can make a basic book in a traditional case binding. While my completed work was imperfect, it was still pretty decent for a first attempt. I think everyone in the class was proud of what they walked out with.

The weekend continued to be pleasurable, with a very entertaining storytelling concert last night. Willie Claflin lives in San Francisco, so I hadn't heard him before. I particularly enjoyed his stories about growing up in New Hampshire and also liked his "Mother Moose Tales" (done with a puppet called Maynard Moose). I'll never hear "Ozymandias" again without being reminded of Ivy League football. I laughed and laughed all evening.

Then, today, I had brunch with Joy, a friend from high school. I think I mentioned a few entries ago that she had gotten in touch with me via the Internet. We had a great meal at Il Fornaio and spent two and a half hours catching up on the past 25 years. I took advantage of being over in Pasadena to drop into Vroman's and stock up on books. It's not like I didn't already have a significant unread stack, but I don't get to that area all that often and it's such a great store. And, best of all, I discovered that they sell bookbinding supplies! Most stuff is pretty easy to get, but the woman who taught the class didn't know of any local sources of small quantities of davey board, which is a heavy cardboard used to make covers and spines. Vroman's prices are quite reasonable, too. And I like it that they donate a percentage of my purchases to a local charity. (You choose which charity from their list; I favor Literacy Associates, but they range from Habitat for Humanity to The Pasadena Symphony.)

It wasn't a perfect weekend - no romance, no winning lottery ticket, no magical appearance by elves to clean my living room - but it was a damn good one. As I told Joy, my life isn't at all like what I expected back in high school, but I'm suprisingly content.

Shameless Self-Promotion Department: Come see the Biona Bards in "Family Matters" on February 3rd, 2001 at 7:30 p.m. at Tales By the Sea. The concert is at the Malibu United Methodist Church, 31028 Morning View Drive, across from Zuma Beach. Doors open at 7 p.m.. For reservations or information, call Ann at 310-457-2385.