Contra Dance

On Sunday I attended an event for my church in which we had an old time band and a contra dance caller. There was not a banjo in the band but a mandolin which can have a similar sound. There was a fiddle and Mr M has told me that the fiddle leads the group so I was listening to that and it was really interesting to hear how the other players followed.

All of the dancing made me think about the origins of the banjo (from Africa) and the origins of contra dancing (England) and how now they are closely associated. I would like to know more about how the dancing goes along with old time music and where exactly the intersection is.

Wise last week

Last week in WISE class we went over some presentational material. After class I talked to Ms G about my presentation and what should be included, and how I'm feeling a little anxious that I don't have enough done for a presentation. I think a lot of my presentation will be about how I've learned how to better estimate what is a reasonable task in a finite amount of time and what is not. More to come on my presentation thoughts.

Also, I will be evaluating Luke's presentation today and Shelby's later in June.

Last night we all attended Luke's sample presentation on playing the harmonica. I was a student evaluator and got a first hand look at what is expected of the presenters and how the feedback comes to be.

Some overall reactions: "Wow, that was great." "Wow, I hope my presentation is that interactive or else I'm going to put everyone else to sleep." "Wow, I don't know nearly as much banjo as he does harmonica." "Wow, that was really nice" "Wow, all of my materials are due Tuesday. I present in a week and a half."

So.. yeah wow. Needless to say I had nightmares about WISE all night and how the end of it has crept up on me way too quickly. But alas, is this not just another example of real life situations? I talked to Ms. Maddren in gym and she suggested I go through my blog and read all of my posts, and come up with three themes that I want to focus on. I am capable of talking about each theme in my project for about ten minutes, so that adds up to 30 minutes. Piece of cake! Except for all of that organizing and including interactive sections and including all of the things that must be in my presentation. Then I started thinking about how I had two different projects and wondering how I am going to present them. I decided first I'm going to make a list of every step along the way and what fueled it or made me make a certain decision. That way I can go through and see the growth in my project even though I may not have the final product that I originally had wanted.

Okay, maybe I will survive it. First off is these written materials, then more outlines of my presentation. At this point I have to think back on why I originally chose wise: I get to do something I love! So even though it's a lot of work it will be worth it because I get to share something that I am passionate about and that's one of the most rewarding things you can get out of a class in my opinion.

New research

Mr McMahon sent me an article about the history of old time music and specifics relative to the Ithaca area. It's interesting to compare the history of the banjo itself to the history of old time music because they are so closely associated but actually have many differences. Old time music comes from English and Scottish roots while the banjo derives from Africa.

Another interesting thing I am reading about here is a bit of the folk revival in early 1960s. This article has a lot in it and I haven't gotten through all of it yet (so maybe it answers my question) but I want to know more about the folk revival and why it happened. Why was old time music "primitive" and then all the sudden popular? A topic for tomorrow's mentor meeting I have no doubt.

http://www.fieldrecorder.com/docs/notes/ithaca_fenchel.htm

(Link to the article)

Mentor meeting

Mr McMahon and I had a great mentor meeting last week where we worked on a tune I'm learning and went over some goals. The past couple weeks I haven't been totally doing everything I should be and it has occurred to me that WAIT I actually have to do a presentation! Have no fear, there is still time. Here's my list of goals for the week:

-learn the first line of the new tune (much harder than it seems)
-make up some new exercises and work on hammer on technique
-speed up tune to actual tempo
-get sources for history of banjo (compile what I already have)
-make a history blurb to use in my presentation
-research Doc Boggs and Scruggs

Here's the next week!

Morning practice

I was exhausted last night so I skipped practicing and woke up early this morning to practice instead. And yes, my slumbering family was ecstatic. Lately I've been having a lot of wrist pains and I thought it was from shotput but it was strange because I've been shot putting for 6 years and never had this before. But this morning when I started playing I realized that claw hammer style uses so much wrist! Now I'm thinking maybe that in combinations with shotput is what is causing it. It's definitely not a problem that will keep me from playing but it's just an example of unforeseen obstacles. I actually saw a similar entry in the Gleaning assignment that I read about duct tape art. The girl got some sort of carpel tunnel from too much duct tape shading because it was such a repeated motion. She found a way around it, but it's just another example of how wise is a series of little obstacles (and of course some big ones) that you have to figure out. If it weren't, it probably wouldn't be worth doing.

Presentation Scheduled!

Tuesday, June 4th, 5:00pm I will present my wise project! Very exciting and a little nerve wracking. Granted I don't know yet the format of the presentation or specifically what should be included, but I worry I won't have enough material to present. With switching projects I had a bit of transition time which slowed me down and I'm just now feeling like I have a bit more of a routine. I talked to Ms G about this and she said that basically I should just dive into my project in the next few weeks. I wish I could magically play like Mr M but I also do enjoy the work that leads to little successes. I just worry that what I see as success will be insignificant for the people who are reviewing my project. The bottom line is, though, that I should make the most progress I possibly can in the time I have left!

Research

I've been doing some research involving both listening to techniques themselves and reading/listening about the history of the banjo. Mr. McMahon gave me a bunch of links, one from a documentary made about tracing the banjo's roots. They had an awesome jam session in a little village and showed the similarity in sound between the banjo and the thumb piano. I also listened to Richie Sterns a lot and am fascinated with his technique and songwriting ability.

Next I wanted to know more about the origin of the banjo so I found this clip on NPR about the investigation of a Gambian man who came to college in America.

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/23/139880625/the-banjos-roots-reconsidered

He actually got his research funded and looked at similarities between different instruments from his home country and he banjo to determine where it came from.

Basically one of the main points I took out is that the banjo (or ancestors of it) came over with the slaves. It's amazing to me how many parts of American culture are influenced by African culture without us even knowing. If you asked me before this project where the banjo came from I would probably tell you Nashville, which is probably a classic American answer. I'm never saying that slavery was a good thing but I am grateful that so many aspects of African culture can be seen in our culture today, especially in music. If the banjo is from Africa that probably means that country music or folk music came from the same roots. We already know that jazz came from spirituals and flourished during the Harlem renaissance and then rap/hip hop came from jazz. Lesson of the day: it all starts in Africa.

Happiness flow channel

I feel the most happy doing something I love. It might seem obvious but it's surprising how often I look for happiness in other areas. The only thing I could think about when reading this article was throwing. I've been working through some mental blocks with throwing lately and found it so applicable to this article! It is all about the balance between boredom and anxiety. If I have a bad throw, my first instinct is to get super down on myself and my reflex after that is to try to convince myself I don't care. Neither of these is good because I am either a. Super anxious or b. indifferent and lacking passion. Flipping between these emotions drove me to really question the sport I love and if I am constantly battling my mind, do I even love it at all? I can't say I have it all figured out but I am learning how to keep myself passionate and always striving to do better while still giving myself a break if I have an off day. It is so much easier said than done but I really think that is the balance between boredom and anxiety and the "flow channel".

"People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as many of us can come to being happy."

It seems like that would be so easy: just control your mind and you'll be happy! It's so much harder than one would think. As far as my project goes, I am excited by it but also really nervous that I am not going to have enough to show for my 16 weeks. The only thing to do about that at this point is keep working and pour myself into the project so I can continue to love it and rid myself of the anxiety that comes with it.

A schedule for the week

With the Ithaca Relays and an AP Stats final, last week was not my finest when it comes to WISE productivity. Although it may seem a little silly, here is a list of posts I still need to do:

Last week's WISE class
Last week's mentor meeting
Response to Ms G's comment
Research from the sources Mr. M gave me
This week's wise class on the happiness article

Wise is ending so soon and I don't want these last few weeks to be a scramble. I want to learn a lot and keep up with everything so I can have an awesome presentation. That being said, here is my schedule for the week:

Monday-read happiness article and respond, also doing research on from the list
Tuesday- play for an hour, watch youtube videos and respond to Ms G's comment
Wednesday- play for an hour, watch documentary (or part) that Jesse showed me
Thursday- play for an hour and do a reflection post of the week of practice
Friday - do research during 2nd period and catch up on any more journal entries not completed

Babam. There's a mighty fine plan for the week!

Belated lesson post

Mr McMahon brought two banjos in last week and got a space in k where we could practice and he gave me a little lesson! It's so convenient that my mentor knows all about the banjo. One thing I learned very quickly is that the basic motion of clawhammer banjo playing is very different from what I learned in violin or guitar. It takes a lot of practice of just a simple motion before I can really progress. That's something that I think is really okay and part of the learning experience but just different than my expectations because I was able to learn basic guitar and piano quicker. That being said, the banjo has such a fun sound! Mr McMahon showed me some of the tunes he knows and it sounds so awesome. He also explained to me a little about how he leaned and how he can be a proficient banjo player without any musical background. It's awesome and crazy to think about how the brain works in relation to music.

Tuning night

Tonight I've been working on re leaning all my tuning knowledge. When I received the banjo it was in pretty good tune but I need to practice to ensure when the weather warms up I'll be able to keep it that way. Fortunately, I played the violin for 7 years and did quite a bit of string tuning in my day! Another skill to add to the list that goes along with playing he banjo.

Response to WISE class

Today we went over some general stuff as always and went around and shared all of our projects (and favorite colors). We are now going to look for a piece of research for a person and someone will find some for us (reminder: actually do that).

Next we listened to aThis I Believe essay from NPR about taking risks and leaving ones comfort zone. The author starts out talking about surfing and then moves on to discuss meeting with different people in his life and how it has been an aspiration of his to do this because he wants people to challenge him. My first reaction was wow, this sounds just like my college essay! It is strangely true that my essay was all about having people challenge you and how that's a great thing. One thing I was thinking about over the course of the day though was Ms Gergley's comment about there being a fine line between being stupidly dangerous and taking a healthy risk. I think this is totally true but sometimes fear and insecurity can make that line pretty fuzzy. I really believe that the whole idea of the essay to take risks is so important in life, but the problem that Ms G addressed happens when taking risks becomes the ultimate thing. If all someone does is live to go out of their comfort zone what's the point of being comfortable anywhere? Do you even have a comfort zone in that case? Overall though I think the more common problem is the opposite: being too stuck in a comfort zone. What an awesome idea it is to have a list of people you want to meet for the sole purpose of razzing you up and throwing you a curve ball, making you question everything you know. That, I believe, is brave and an awesome risk to take.

Some casual youtubing

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HdWOYFnRiz0

Here is a video I found on clawhammer style banjo playing. It goes at a slow pace and the guy seems to know what he is talking about. I am finding that with this project youtube is really my best friend. One of the greatest way to have lessons without spending money is to just watch them on youtube.

My Newly Borrowed Banjo!

I have now officially borrowed a banjo from Eric Pritz and am ready to play! He also lent me a great book which has a lot of basic information about the structure and history of the banjo as well as techniques, but mainly is instructional with basic chords and progressions. Naturally, being very excited to jump right in, I skipped all the background information and went straight for the chords. I am happy to say I have learned 3 this weekend! I was so excited that when I picked it up from Molly on Friday I bright it into my track team room and started strumming away for my team, who were very confused but a great audience.

My next step is to actually read (I know, shocker) the first part of the banjo book and do some other research. My Mentor told me there are two main kinds of playing and alas I know nothing about either so time to hit the research component! Overall I am really excited to have started playing and I can't wait to make more progress.

Mentor meeting

My mentor and I discussed how to get jump started in my project. Fortunately he knows a lot about learning instruments! We discussed where to get an instrument and about renting. Also, Mr Pritz offered for me to borrow his banjo so I think because of convenience and my ambivalence I will learn the banjo! Progress

Monday Class reflection

We first read "Two Tramps in Mud Time" by Robert Frost. What an understandable and accurate description of the changing seasons and a unique interaction! It's rare that I understand poetry so I really enjoyed reading this. Next we went through a list of things to remember to do/ have done:

-24 entries and 8 mentor meetings
-mind the gaps (Don't take large chunks of time off, not that I would ever do that)
-be logging research regularly and clearly
-what am I learning? Where am I and why is that ok/not ok?
-do the assignments (like out of the rut)
-mp3 ends Thursday
-sample presentation 5/21

So basically I know what I need to do. Time to buckle down and get caught up. As far as where I am and if that's okay, I think that it's okay as long as I start moving in my new project pronto.

Spring Break Brain Dump

Over this past week I have thought a lot about WISE and switching my project. Ms Gergley said I should do a half hour write, which I like to think of as a brain dump. I was at the beach with my parents this past week, so I went back and forth between super analyzing everything I should be doing for my project and completely avoiding thinking about it so I could enjoy the sun and clear my mind. Even though I've gotten a little behind I think it was a really good think to take a step back and then reevaluate what I want to do. I still think that switching projects is a really good idea because I should be really psyched about my project and carpentry is just not doing it for me. So if I start there with a clean slate and imagine I never thought about doing a music project, in what direction would I go? Some ideas of general things I want to do in life to get me started: gardening, training on my bike (perhaps to do the AIDS ride), become a lifeguard, become an EMT basic, do more childcare with babies and toddlers, learn how to waitress, learn how to sail, play more music (improve piano and guitar skills), start a business, start a charity, do international missions trips or any type of service trip, do more kayaking, make a cookbook, train another guiding eyes dog (just to name a few). You can tell I clearly lack ambition in life, right? So some of these things are really too big to do as a WISE project. Becoming an EMT takes lots of time and money. Doing service trips also take time and money. I suppose time and money make the world go 'round, but only if you let them. Well here I am, about three quarters of the way through WISE and I have some really valuable time left and although sometimes it feels like I have to limit myself a lot, I know that I really do have a huge opportunity in front of me. So after all this brainstorming and thinking I have concluded this: I must do all these things in my life because making this brainstorm list got me so excited ( I better live to be 300 or else get ready to multitask), and I still want to pursue a project in music for the rest of my time.  My mother is a music teacher and my father a performer for as long as I can remember. Music has always been a part of my life and I think that's why I initially strayed from the idea as a project. I have already taken countless voice lessons, learned guitar and piano, and performed on stage more times than I can remember, so I felt like maybe I should really get out of my comfort zone more. What I realized though is that I can do something I love and push it to a new level in order to get out of my comfort zone. For instance, even though I've performed so much, sometimes when I have a solo in the choir concert or something (especially if I feel I don't know it as well as I should) my lips start to shake and I get crazy stage freight even though I've done it a million times!  Maybe a goal of my project could be to take a next step towards being super confident while performing. For instance maybe if I were to decide on playing the mandolin I could learn some cool songs and sign up for a performance slot at the Ithaca festival! I don't even know if that's possible, but just an example of a step that would take this project far from ordinary for me. The thought of that terrifies me a little, so I think that's a good sign. Now the question is: what should I play? I either want to learn mandolin or banjo, so here is a list of things I need to find out in order to proceed.
-pros and cons to both
-does Hickey's rent either and how much?
-Who could I contact in the community that could give me a basic lesson?

I also want to see if I can get a hold of Sam Kelling. He was in WISE two years ago I believe and I am pretty sure he played banjo for his project. He was a friend of my brother's so I'm hoping I can find a way to reach him and perhaps he can give me some ideas from his project.
In summary, the great thing about a brain dump is that it's a string of disjointed thoughts so I don't even need to summarize it because it wouldn't be logical! Lovely.

Tuesday mentor meeting

Tuesday I met with my mentor and discussed my potential project switch. Guess what? He has played the banjo for years! Who would have thought. He said I should do some research and potentially he could lend me a banjo if I decide to go that direction. I also love the sound of the mandolin and it turns out there is a shop in Rochester having some sort of a special month for mandolins during march ( sweet alliteration, right?) We also talked about recording/ doing some very basic mixing using garage band which would be awesome because then I could also play piano and sing on a track. I already have some base knowledge about garage band so that would be great!

What would my project switch be?

Thinking back to the first days of project brainstorming, I remember Ms. Gergely saying that your wise project should be that thing that you can't stop googling when you should be doing your homework. So I thought to myself... What is that for me? Well exotic vacations and traveling the world are out of the question, so the next thing that consumes my time is music. I taught myself piano and guitar and i love to sing even when my family doesn't want to hear me. I was initially deterred from doing something music related for my project jut because I am already active in music but then I thought why not! If its something I love, why shouldn't I do it? So then the first thing that came to mind was learning the banjo or mandolin. And the scheming begins...

Potential Project Switch

Carpentry is pretty cool, I will admit that. I have found, however; that it is not as much fun as I thought it would be. There are definitely some good life skills involved in woodworking, starting with the ability to fix basic things for yourself. Even though I know this very well I still find myself having incredible trouble getting motivated to do anything with my project because, lets face it, I'm just not that passionate about it. I am going back and fourth with this idea because I am not really that interested in my project but I have trouble just deciding to quit without pushing myself further. I then think about how WISE is so much shorter than it seems and if I want to switch my project it's probably now or never. The next step is to talk to my mentor and get his input.

WISE class on Monday

This Monday in WISE we talked a bit about how our respective projects are going and introduced the narrative assignment which will be due after break. I think this is really good timing as far as my project goes because I am in a bit of a rut that is teaching me a lot. Speaking of a rut, we also looked at the "Out of the Rut" journal activity. We are to complete this and then read a partner's (my partner is Emma Denman). This activity includes lists for planning, recording, and reflecting.

Ketchup

Here is my confession to the wise blog community: as Ms Gergely's email reminded me, I have not posted in 8 days. :O! The reason for this being that I am in a bit of a transition time with my project right now and I am still figuring out some details. I will now, however; continue to do some catch up journal entries. Ready set go!

XDXP GG

Gleaning Reflection

1. I really liked how my unnamed person, we'll call her Boquisha, used a lot of detail in her thinking process in we entries. She also had a good description of herself growing as she learned how to balance her work and overcome challenges.

2. Boquisha sometimes used language that was too casual in her entries. I think she also could have added more research about already created duct tape art.

3. I would really like to borrow her use of lists. Obviously we already talked about it in class but she had some good examples of lists with a lot of content and meaning. I would also like to use Boquisha's honest description of her thoughts and how she grew as a person. I think sometimes I can sound a bit like the diary of a cat.

XDXP GG

How stuff works

The website "How Stuff Works" is a dream come true for the curious. It's a website answering questions of how some basic things work that you never quite wondered about until you see it there. I have been noticing a bit of the same phenomenon around me with all sorts of furniture. This project has made me think a lot more about how this chair I'm sitting in stays up with only 2 screws and how that table has finish on it that has lasted since 1960. Just some food for thought: bookshelves are so much more complex than one might think.

XDXP GG

Rabbet joints

Part of a box is using a rabbet joint to fit the pieces together, pictured below. For this, I had to put on a different saw blade and measure to the correct width and depth. Unfortunately, that's much harder than it sounds. There are a couple places on the box that are a couple millimeters off, but you can't sweat the small stuff when you're staring those sharp saw blades in the face and appreciating each finger more and more as the days progress.

XDXP GG

My dad is just the best

After research and practice I was finally ready to cut into the good, expensive wood for my project. My dad was very adamant on helping me and showing me what to do. There was a part of me that wanted to say "Dad... This is my project, I have to do it my way" which is my usual tendency (unfortunately). What really surprised me enough to confess this personality flaw of mine was that I realized even after my preparation, I would be clueless without him there guiding me. So I decided to think of it as me being his apprentice for a little while until I get the hang of it all. WISE lesson of the day: accept help even when you want to march to your own drum because you never realize your drum is broken until you start banging on it. Clever metaphor, or one that makes no sense? That's for you to sleep on folks.

XDXP GG

Approaching a task

I had a conversation with my aunt who is a Life Coach via the Martha Beck life coach training program. We were discussing my project and she told me about a seminar she attended on different approaches to tasks. She is going to send me the link to read more about it, but the basic types of approaches are fact finder, process oriented, quick start, and a couple others that I can't remember but will read up on when I get the link. She asked me a couple questions and concluded without question that I am a QuickStart learner, meaning I don't want to do research or have instruction, I just want to figure it out myself and use my own knowledge to learn by doing and making mistakes. I couldn't agree with this more. I think that's why the research component of wise is really difficult for me I would much rather start sawing away than read up on how to do it effectively. Unfortunately, that's not really a productive use of materials and isn't really practical in this sense, so I do have to so a lot of research. Oh well, it's interesting to think about and understand myself a little better anyway.

XDXP GG

Mentor Meeting

A little late on actually posting this, but I had a great meeting with my mentor last week. We talked about some possible project ideas after he boxes and also a little bit about meeting the blog entry requirements. We had a great discussion on how I can now look at the way things are constructed differently and see how much work goes into them, and also ow I can write a blog post on something as simple as that.

XDXP GG

Who thought a box would be this hard...

Well, it's Tuesday and I have yet to make a box. I have been doing research and practicing some skills while I got my materials in place, but the long and short of it is that it's taking a lot longer than expected to get all my ducks in a row. I went to visit West Virginia University last week (woohoo!) so I was away from my project for a little while. On the up side, while I was away, my flat of wood it delivered! Hot digity. Now I'm working on a technical sketch of the dimensions of the box before I cut the very valuable wood.
On that note, my project is proving to be more expensive than intended, as common with most things in life. Good old Papa Jorge to the rescue though! (That's my dad, his name is actually George). The two of us have been working on putting in insulation in our cabin, and soon drywall. He agreed to pay for some parts of my project as long as I continue to insulate and drywall the cabin! A good deal if you ask me because those are skills that are also related to carpentry so I really am just working on my wise project.

XDXPGG

Last week's mentor meeting

When my mentor and I met last week we briefly discussed some community resources. He gave me his sister's number because she has done some carpentry and worked with habitat for humanity, which is really cool because that's something I would love to do! He also let me know of a possible opportunity to make some Dropbox type structures for an organization in the community! It is not official yet but I may be able to make the boxes for them and my wise project would be displayed in the community. Pretty rad opportunity if you ask me.

XDXPGG

WISE Class

Yesterday WISE met and we basically discussed some challenges and also successes that we all were having in our projects. I've been reading through my Gleaning assignment and finding it really interesting to see what the finished product looks like and how the process comes together.
We also discussed just some general expectations that some of us were lacking an understanding of in our journals and blogs and went over some helpful practices to keep up with blogging.

XDXPGG

Barnsong

Last week in WISE we watched Barnsong, which was a wise project on a wise project basically. Someone filmed another person building a barn and set it up as a documentary, complete with student created music in the background. It was really interesting to see the guy who was building the barn be interviewed because some of his struggles are exactly what I am feeling in my project. It was also pretty inspiring to see because he had such a big project and succeeded in the end. It's also really interesting to see all of the resources we have in our community for pretty much any project. Go Ithaca!

XDXPGG

Semi successful Lowes Visit

I went to Lowes and was able to find the hinges, knob, nails, and brads that I need. Surprisingly enough though, it is QUITE difficult to find 1/2 inch plywood that's good in both sides that's not expensive cabinet wood. The people at Lowes were really not top sympathetic that they didn't have a simple thing. Simplicity is not their money maker, I suppose. It all worked out because my dad knows a guy who has his own lumber yard and was able to get what we want and deliver it so we didn't have to struggle with it on the roof of the rav 4 (they're quite large boards). So it all worked out, but one thing I learned is that when working from a "recipe" from an old book from the high school library, a lot of things are outdated and really hard to find.

XDXP GG

An Update from the Saw

So I've been working on using the table saw, one of the best power tools out there. This first picture is of a desk that my dad and I had to alter to fit in this corner, consequentially sawing the bejesus out of it. We had some chunks of the top left over. At first I was going to use them as a lid for my box because its really nice finished wood, but it turns out it is too thick and would involve a lot more work to sand the edges into a trim than it was worth. The weight distribution would also be very awkward and no one wants that, so instead I just sawed it up for the fun of it. Isn't this the best wise project ever!? Sawing for fun. Who would have thought. But anyway it was also really beneficial because I of course am not perfect with the table saw and so I was able to make mistakes without consequences to my beloved modular cube project. The second picture is one of the cleaner cuts I was able to make on said chunks of wood.

XDXP GG

Only the "Hinge Experts" Could tell me What a Butt Hinge is

Hinges are hinges right? Wrong. There are too many to count. Fortunately, the hinge experts of SoCal have a website. Who would have thought? Here is where I found information and example pricing for small brass butt hinges. Although I'm not going to purchase my supplies from these websites, it's a good price reference so I'm prepared for what everything is going to cost.

The Exciting Life of a Phillips Head

Since there are approximately 70 billion types of screws ( don't quote me on that one, I have a tendency to exaggerate) I figured I should do a little research on the type I'm using. I found a website which sells all sorts of building supplies and was able to give me a product catalog of wood screws. Below is all of the wood screws, and then the Phillips head, which is what I will use.

The plan is in place!

Carpentry and Woodworking is a book which includes much valuable information about the basics of carpentry and step by step instructions for everything from boxes to baby changing tables to picnic tables. I chose the Modular Cube design with the following materials list:

1 sheet, 1/2" lumber core birch plywood, good both sides
Brads
No. 4 x 3/8", No. 4 x 5/8" flat head wood screws
White glue
Butt hinges with mounting screws (3), 1 1/2" x 1"
Magnetic catches with mounting screws (3)
Brass knobs (3), 1/2" diameter
Aluminum screw post fasteners (8), 1" long

Tools
Table saw
Radial arm saw
Hand saw
Drill
Hammer
Screwdriver
Sander or sandpaper
Safety goggles

Color me boxes mate

One of the greatest books in the library is called 2000 Color Combinations by Garth Lewis. Who wouldn't want to look at colors all day? Well here are some of my favorite combinations that are possibilities for painting my box or boxes.

Irrelevant

Is this photo relevant to carpentry? Absolutely not. Does it count as a blog post? In my wildest dreams. But is it a super cute picture that made my day? Why, it certainly is.

Well I suppose sunflowers are plants and so are trees and trees make wood and I build stuff out of wood so... Yup. Wise.

Molly's Dedication

Molly took a trip to Panama and still has some blog posts which show her on par dedication to her project. She is running a half marathon and using the resources in the community to find out more about running. Plus I really enjoy her posts and how I can hear her actually saying the things she types. Go Marley! (Yes, Marley)

XDXP GG

Responses to some fellow WISE journals

I looked at Maja's blog today. She is progressing with all parts of he project which is awesome! She has set a time frame for making her tea set and is currently reading a book for research. She also is learning some Japanese- a fourth language!

It's nice to see how her project is going in a direction. Sometimes it feels like my project is disorganized and Maja's blog sets a good example for better organization.

XDXP GG

Week number 1!

As of today (Tuesday), I have three things accomplished.

1. Pieces of wood cut for practice with a table saw
2. Met with my mentor and discussed what kind of things a mentor student relationship includes
3. Took out 3 books from the library: two on basic carpentry skills (one with instructions for a hinged box!) and one that caught my eye about color schemes.

I think after reading the color book and picking out some of my favorite combinations I will make multiple hinged boxes (which appear much like cubes with a lid) and paint them all using my color patterns that I picked out. Perhaps a form room decoration or gift for friends... Hmm... I guess my family knows what their Christmas gifts will be when I'm a poor college student.

XDXP GG

Journal 2

OUTLINE

Week 1
Monday- Sand already sawed wood pieces from previous project
                Do research on drill bits and what kind works best for this type of wood
                        *Journal Entry*
Tuesday- Drill holes and attach pieces of box
               Work on attaching hinges
               Saw molding to fit front of box
                       *Journal Entry*
Wednesay- meet with mentor?
Attach molding and varnish it
Start research on next project
Thursday- choose new project from the basic carpentry book
Make a list of materials and secondary research
*Journal Entry*
Friday- Mentor meeting?
Gather all new materials
Contact Barry Segal about Community Faith Partners

Journal 1

To my loyal fans,
(Dear Reader,)

            Welcome to my 2013 WISE project! Over the next 16 weeks, I will be learning some basic carpentry skills, as well as, well, building stuff. I am going to start small, just getting the basic power tool skills and safety down, starting with making a small box. I will then progress onto more difficult projects, like furniture or a dog house. I have done some minimal work with my dad building a few things and I guess that is how I became interested in it. My grandfather is also an awesome carpenter, but more to come about him. I guess my biggest fear with my project is not staying on task or getting the work done, but rather the "So What?" aspect of my project. This is something we have been working on in WISE with everything from journal entries to just in class discussions. It's the whole idea of saying yeah, we did this or we said this but what is the significance? What is the importance? I think my biggest fear about my project is getting through it and learning some awesome skills but then looking back and saying okay, that was cool, but how is this relevant? In spite of this fear I do think it will become clear to me. Plus it is just really cool to be able to build stuff. With wood.

XDXP

Numba 1

                                                   

                                                  I'm gonna build some stuff. With wood.