I am back doing some marquetry. I plan to do more this year. This is a piece that I’ll working on at a club workshop this weekend. More about that next week. For now here are a couple of progress pictures:
The piece is 2 inches high by 12 long. The is after the first cut.
All the pieces cut. Now it’s a little jigsaw puzzle.
Just a short post this week. My shop time has been limited since I am still spending a lot of my creative time editing my book.
If you need me – I’ll be in the shop,
Andrew
Today I had to give up my delusion of wearing a tee-shirt and shorts all day. Yesterday it was a nice sunny day and the weather report said today was going to be in the mid 80’s again, so I carefully selected a tee-shirt I had bought in Hawaii and a nice pair of cargo shorts to wear.
It was 58 degrees outside when I made this decision just after 8:30 a.m. – with the hope that it would soon be 80.
At 11:00 a.m. I put on a sweater.
At 1:30, I finally gave into the reality that it wasn’t going to get much warmer than 72, and deciding that I looked very silly in a sweater and shorts, I admitted I was cold and put on my jeans.
Sigh…
Now, if I’d been doing some physical work, I might have been able to delay the cover up, but since today is a writing day, things were only getting colder. I was starting to fear that my legs might get a bit of frostbite. Don’t worry, now that I am fully covered, I can start to feel my toes again.
I was hoping to post a new poem this week, but the one that was in my brain hasn’t quite worked out yet. Most of my writing time this last week has been focused on editing my book. This is my first pass at editing based on feedback from others. I asked two people to help edit and I’ve got both of their mark ups in front of me. Mostly they point out the same things, but often they see different things that need to be fixed. The work gets a bit detailed to merge these changes.
Not all the suggested changes are making it in. There are a few lines in the book that while they look like mistakes, I really meant it that way. Still, most of the time, it was a mistake and I am happy to get it corrected. There has only been once where my two editors have disagreed and since neither was in the room, I was able to just do whatever I wanted with the line.
Another thing I’ve been doing with my book is to take it to local poetry open mic readings to see how the poems sound out loud. Last Sunday I attended the San Jose Poetry Festival. It was an interesting day filled with local poets and poetry readings. My favorite parts were the workshop on metaphor, the readings of war poetry, and the final open mic session where I read a poem based on this post, Words that Don’t Define Me.
In addition to that open-mic, I’ve also been to open-mics with the Willow Glen Poetry Project. I am finding this kind of reading in public to be useful. It helps me refine what I am trying to say and does help me gauge how effective a poem is. And it’s just fun to hear what others are writing.
Writing can be a solitary pursuit so it’s healthy to get out and among fellow writers from time to time. Even though, as an introvert, it can be emotionally draining to endure the word beyond my keyboard. I will admit that so far the experience has been good and they haven’t thrown me out of the room – yet.
In other news, I finally got back the results from my blood tests this last week. I knew my doctor had ordered a lot of tests when the technician drew three vials full, but wow, I got a four page letter detailing all the results. All good.
Even the PSA test, which continues to be very low and reaffirms the success of my radiation treatments. If the readings remain low for two more years, I’ll be able to officially say prostate cancer is well and truly in my past.
Now it is a time to start looking more towards the future. I am starting to put together lists of places to submit my work for publication and want to proudly announce that a very prestigious literary magazine has already rejected my work.
They didn’t say to never submit again, so I am counting that as a positive.
Till next week,
Andrew
Here it is, the finished cross:
Front of the finished cross with base.
Back of the cross with the base.
Some asked for an extreme closeup of the pattern. I won’t disappoint:
Extreme closeup of the fretwork. The scale is in inches. Yes most of the holes are smaller than your finger nail.
Another close up.
This is really the fourth cross I’ve done. The first of these I did three years ago while recovering from my radiation treatments. Here’s a post on that, https://andrewsviewoftheweek.com/2012/05/16/mostly-finished-the-cross/
I found the pattern in the Holiday 2011 (issue 45) of ScrollSaw Woodworking and Crafts magazine. The pattern designer is Sue Mey ( she sells patterns including this one ). When I first saw it, it just called to me so I grabbed some plywood, tape and the pattern and went at it. Then I did what is known as a stack cut and made three at once. One was given to my grandson, one sold at a church auction and the third I kept.
This current cross started out in the summer of 2013 when my church had to cut down a 40 year-old silver maple tree. There are a few woodworkers in the congregation and we each took some of the wood for projects. I just knew I had to make another cross with the wood. The boards are 1/2 inch thick so I could only one.
Some small facts about the project:
Size: 17.8″ tall, 11.3″ across, width of boards, 3.2″
Time: I estimate I took about 50 hours to cut this. The wood is thick and hard.
Blades: I buy scroll saw blades by the gross and I just about 90 to cut this.
The cross just needs a coat of finish and I’ll give it to the church. Don’t know what they’ll do with it, but I’m hoping it could be used in the chapel.
I’ve enjoyed this project and may cut another cross or two before I check out of this planet. It’s a great winter project so I might start another set of crosses this fall (yes, I am going to use thinner wood and stack cut three or four next time). No idea what I’ll do with them, likely just offer them for sale or give them as gifts.
Hope you enjoyed following my progress – even if it was a bit like watching paint dry.
If you need me – I’ll be in the shop,
Andrew
It was going to happen sooner or later. Today was the day.
Yes, I ordered breakfast from the senior menu.
Three important things I am pondering about this experience:
1. I barely looked at the main menu and quickly got excited about the senior menu.
2. The waiter didn’t question my age.
3. It was almost too much food.
Still worse things have happened to a man. No, I am not going to list them.
This is just a week where I am feeling a bit old. Yesterday I went to the drug store and actually bought medications and associated health products. Then when I got home I found the pharmacy had mailed my prescription refills which forced me to reorganize my medication shelf in the bathroom.
Before breakfast this morning Heather and I made an early morning outing to the blood lab so I could get my six month blood tests. Yes, we decided to make a special occasion out of it by eating breakfast out. Then we had real excitement by going to the pet store to buy cat food and a new litter box. We also stopped by Home Depot to buy things – if I could find the receipt, I’d be able tell you what we bought…
I know, I know – it’s a wild life we’re living, but I am not going to slow down just because I now order from the senior menu.
Well, this afternoon I am amusing myself by checking my email to see if the lab results are ready yet. Almost as much fun as watching baseball – “Well, this is exciting, Andrew’s blood count is rock solid normal again.”
Tomorrow is likely to be a bit more adventurous for me. I’ll be spending all day at the San Jose Poetry Festival. Don’t know what that will be like as this is the first time I’ve attended anything like this. I am not really sure what to expect, but I figured that if I am going to be writing poetry books, I should get connected to the local poetry scene.
I am just hoping that the chairs are comfortable and the restrooms are near by.
I’ll tell you all about the festival next week and on Wednesday look forward to seeing pictures of my finished cross.
Till next week,
Andrew
Andrew's View of the Week 