Shoemaking Advice?

...reason every kitchen seemed to have a decorative plaque made of lacquered bread dough. The subject matter was usually a mushroom, or a cluster of mushrooms. Sometimes an owl. More rarely a Holly Hobby-type figure. Here endeth the lesson.) Free People actually seems like a fine book. It basically steps you through making one basic type of shoe that you can modify in different ways. Erik wailed about the horrible hippie-ness of it all when I showed...

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Sandwiches of History

...ed a nationwide book release tour I snapped up a ticket for the local show making me, I guess, some kind of Sandwiches of History groupie. It turned out that Barry’s a natural entertainer, easily trading witticisms and barbs with his co-host, actor Rob Huebel while they made one of the stranger sandwiches from his book, the “Dairy Sandwich” of 1909, which consisted of only two slices of Swiss cheese with butter in between. The lack of bread brings...

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2022 in Review: Cats, Mushrooms and Politics

...orhood. I call this one the Death Star. I got lazy and did not make enough bread. This one is one of the only loaves I baked. On one of my many Pomona pet sitting sojourns I discovered an abandoned sushi buffet shaped like a boat. And a brutalist Baptist church. You’ll also find this mysterious, unmarked business. While in Pomona I took a zoom class on how to draw cartoon characters. The instructor had us draw Spiderman. He did it by leading us th...

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Seat Weaving for Fun and Profit

...eave and remember to peek at the back periodically to make sure you’re not making any mistakes. Sloppy first attempt on left and improved second try on right. I’ll send you to Hammond’s oddly soothing video for the details of how to weave the chair. It’s easier to show than to describe in words but I’ll add a few lessons learned. Most importantly, take your time and make sure that each strand is tight and straight as you weave the chair. It’s not...

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News From Nowhere

...ecause they are needed: men make for their neighbours’ use as if they were making for themselves, not for a vague market of which they know nothing, and over which they have no control: as there is no buying and selling, it would be mere insanity to make goods on the chance of their being wanted; for there is no longer any one who can be compelled to buy them. So that whatever is made is good, and thoroughly fit for its purpose. Nothing can be mad...

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