If we were having a beer, you wouldn’t quite know where to start.
“I have some weird things for you today, but first, do I need to bring some heavy equipment to your blog?”
“Huh?”
“I heard you caved on the April A-to-Z thing.”
“I did.”
“I don’t want to say ‘I told you so’ but… Well, actually, I said it was a dumb idea.”
“It wasn’t dumb. It just wasn’t a good idea for me…at this time.”
“OK, great idea, just not for you, or now. Anyway, what was your idea?”
“I was going to write about woodworking. I was going to…”
“Whoa, wait. Woodworking? I’m going back to dumb idea.”
“What’s dumb about woodworking?”
“Nothing. Woodworking is a fine hobby, and you’re pretty good at it, but how many people care?”
“I was going to explain things that people should know about, like how to tell if a piece of furniture, or a set of cabinets is well made. I was going to show tools and describe how they work and why we use them.”
“Yeah, I’m still wondering who might really care, just sayin”
“I think I could have kept it interesting; I had ideas for photos and little videos. That wasn’t the problem.”
“I hate it when you do that.”
“When I do what?”
“You end a thought with a statement that begs a question I don’t really want to ask. Still, I feel like I should ask: ‘what was the problem?’ You know, just to be polite.”
“If you want to be polite, buy me a beer.”
“Cheryl, a Yuengling for the Yankee Craftsman here… and a glass of wine for me.”
“Here ya go boys. You want to see menus, or are you just going to pick at each other?”
“We’re going to pick. He’s explaining why he gave up on the April A-to-Z blogging thing.”
“There were lots of reasons; basically it was going to be too much. I’m really not up to writing every day. Four days a week works, but even five seems stressful. Also, I like to bounce around. The closer I got to April, the less I was sure that I’d enjoy being tied to one subject for a month.”
“I can see that; your blog is kind of a scatterbrained collection of junk and whatnot.”
“Thanks… I use the phrase: ‘random thoughts’ but ‘scatterbrained collection of junk and whatnot’ – that works too. Anyway, what’s this weird stuff you have?”
“Well, you read Wired Magazine, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Did you read about the guy who discovered something weird about prime numbers?”
“I did. He discovered how primes ending in ‘9’ are less likely to be followed by another prime ending in ‘9’ than any other number.”
“Yeah, yeah, please don’t tell me why you find that fascinating. I find prime numbers about as interesting as 26 articles on woodworking.”
“Then why bring it up? I mean, you did bring it up.”
“The article said that the guy has been studying prime numbers for decades. Can you imagine that, decades!”
“Sure, people study all kinds of things for decades. I read an article a few years ago about some guy in St. Louis who is still studying the Moon Rocks.”
“The rocks they brought back in the 60s? Seriously? How much could be left to study?”
“Apparently, a lot. He says we didn’t know much about the Moon when we brought them back.”
“So what? They’ve been here almost 50 years. How much more can we learn about them. I mean, they’re rocks.”
“I guess he thinks his research might lead to something good.”
“Well, the other weird thing I have for you is something that is not going to lead to anything good. Someone discovered a T-Rex that was pregnant when she died. They think they might be able to clone it.”
“Didn’t they see the movies? That doesn’t end well.”
“All I know is that my taxes are paying for people to clone 60-million-year-old dinosaurs, ‘study’ numbers that can’t be divided and 50-year-old rocks from the Moon. Meanwhile, we have real problems to solve.”
“Well, I don’t know about dinosaurs and Moon rocks, but Prime Numbers are useful, particularly in cryptography.”
“Yeah, well I know about dinosaurs. That bozo is going to clone one, turning what was an ‘extinct’ species into an ‘endangered’ species; then he’s gonna want more of my taxes to keep it alive. People should understand that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.”
“So, should we not have another round?”
“We should, but we shouldn’t spend my money. Cheryl…”
Ohmigosh, Dan, I didn’t realize until this morning that we both have scatterbrained collections of junk and whatnot. Except you talk about doors and woodworking and primary numbers and beer…and I talk about parents and cats and bicycles and Star Trek. What fun. We are so cool…right ? :-p
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We are Mary – we are the cool kids! Life should be fun. By the way, you can’t ever change the cat nose icon, because that’s pretty much the coolest image in my inbox. Enjoy the weekend!
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Wow, you are the second person this week that commented on the cat nose. I guess I will keep it, then :-).
Happy Easter, Dan.
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Happy Easter, Mary.
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Maybe you’ll write your A to Z on woodworking anyway … just post it on an easier schedule? I, for one, would be interested in knowing what to look in good workmanship :)
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I will dribble them in over time, at least the good ideas. Some letters were going to be forced, so I might skip those. I was worried about having to pass up topics like cloned dinosaurs and prime number scientists for a whole month. Maybe that would be a good thing, but it’s not me. If I had the time, I’d try picking a random topic each day. I think I’d enjoy that, but with a day-job, there’s no way I could pull it off. Thanks for your support, it means a lot to me.
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Yeah, even without a day job, it’s a tough one!
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I am not in favor of daily blogging, it becomes too much for both blogger and reader. I am, however, in favor of a craftsman like yourself explaining woodworking to a novice like myself, but I consider Norm and Tommy extended members of my family. :-)
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Thanks Judy. I will work those topics in, over time. For now, I’m going to stick to my comfy schedule. I don’t want to be tiring. Good to know that we have relatives in common (Norm and Tommy – let’s not forget Richard :)
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D is for Dove tails (not sure that’s the way to spell it), G is for Gliders, H is for Hard wood. I recently bought a nice dresser – as opposed to the crap I could afford in the past that fell apart within a year. I know it is quality and it is incredibly beautiful. How I know it’s quality? Dove tails, gliders and hard wood. I look forward to the informative posts on your time line. As for the dinosaur – that’s crazy!
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That sounds like a dresser that will last. Thanks for confirming my thought on the TRex.
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“People should understand that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.” If I had a nickel for every time I thought this, Dan, I could buy that T-Rex when it was “born”. And btw, I like reading about woodworking!
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Thanks Wendy. I will eventually publish the better ideas I had for woodworking. I just won’t drive you crazy with a month’s worth. BTW, I’m now picturing you with a pet T-Rex ;)
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“Nothing to see here, people. Just walking down the street with my pet — Tina-Rex.” xD
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With pink toenails and a green scarf :)
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Ha! I almost made that pink toenails reference myself, Dan! xD
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I was surprised that you didn’t.
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I’m bouncing around ideas in my head just to see if it would be possible to come up with enough stuff to blog exclusively about woodworking for a month and I got…well, not a lot :-D
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Whether you stick to one subject or not I’m sure it’ll be entertaining and informative.
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I’ll work the woodworking topics in when they make sense Norm. I had a list, but I had to force some of the topics into spaces I didn’t really like.
I had to step back and remind myself that I have this blog because I enjoy it. I enjoy writing it, I enjoy the community aspect, the interaction with others here and on their blogs and I really didn’t want to lose that. I didn’t want it to feel like work for me and I didn’t want to have to force my way through everything.
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LOL. I think another round is definitely in order, Dan! As for the April A to Z, don’t think twice about it. I’m well aware that I just might end up doing something a lot worse. At least you didn’t start it. While, on the other hand, might see that I’ve utterly bored my readers by trying to turn a novel (at a novel’s pace) into a serial… and would think I needed to stop that in the middle. Oh that would be much worse… Yep, let’s have another round! Cheers! And hugs. :D
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This round is on me Teagan. I’ll be sorry (for encouraging you) if you wind up stopping in the middle of this serial. Right now, I think the pace is fine. Let’s also keep in mind that it’s a blog. We aren’t performing surgery. Some people might have liked reading 26 posts about woodworking, but nobody is going to suffer if it takes me two years to actually post them.
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You’re too kind Dan. I guess I’d figure out a way to finish posting it, regardless. :) I sincerely appreciate the encouragement. :)
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I never take part in any of those A to Z challenges. I have enough trouble coming up with ideas for one or two posts a week, and usually one of those is a re-blog. However, I would be interested in reading your woodworking posts.
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Thanks CM. It’s good to know that when I trickle those woodworking posts in, that people will enjoy them.
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Hi Dan, I can’t imagine myself with the A-Z challenges! The only WP challenge I’ve taken on is the photo challenge. Hmmmm, maybe I did the daily challenge a couple of times. I still have the “Thursday Door” floating around in my mind:) I look forward to reading your woodworking posts.
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Thanks Elaine. In January, it seemed totally possible. As it got closer, I realized I couldn’t do it. I’ll drop the woodworking posts in from time to time. For now, I think I’ll just keep going with what seems to be working. I’m actually trying to keep my posts shorter too. I had gotten up to an average of between 900-1,000 words. I’m trying to stay closer to 750-800 (with occasional overages :)
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Yep, sticking to what works is great!
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I was thinking about “A through Z,” starting with how would a woodworker use an “Awl” tool and completing the series of how much “Zeal” you would feel when the series ended, Dan.
The Moon rocks do hold important stuff and the DNA of dinosaurs should not be ever used! :)
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Good choices Robin. I don’t use an Awl much, but that would have worked. I was going to go with “Ambrosia Maple and other Naturally Colored Woods” That was featured in a post in 2014 – https://nofacilities.com/2014/07/20/resawn-tote/ – For ‘Z’ I was going with Zero-Clearance Inserts, which probably would have been too technical for most readers but they would have been glad to know that the month was over.
I’ll put you down as being in favor of research on the Moon Rocks and opposed to cloning a T-Rex. Thanks!
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I’m opposed to the dinosaur clones! No opinion on moon rocks or prime numbers!
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That works for me Jan. I say let them remain extinct. I’ve had to work with prime numbers in some software routines but I couldn’t see making them my life’s work.
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I get the posting to much thing… I wish I could even think about writing more then once a week…but 5 days that is work and I do not want make my blog into work. I also love the scatter brain style you use for your blog…. I use it tooo.. although I have only written about beer once that I can think of.. keep up the good work and keep thinking about the importance of prime numbers and I will keep wondering about how mushrooms and change the world!
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Thanks JoLynn. At least you make delicious looking food from those mushrooms. Scatter brained works for me.
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Very good post. I decided to pass on daily blogging as well. I know a (very) little about math patterns but I still say they are because of space aliens and that would tie in to the moon rock. Maybe if they clone the T-Rex, he or she could go and fight all the terrorists. That way we would not have to send in more troops. And you have many nice posts BTW. :)
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Thanks Deborah. Cloning TRex to fight terrorists – that’s a concept that some in Washington might embrace. Now I feel bad for the TRex :) aliens and moon rocks, I’m good with that. Daily blogging is just too much. No t sure what I was thinking.
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When I first started blogging, I did Nanopoblomo or whatever the heck that was. And it just about knocked me out. I keep telling myself that I have to set my own pace. Many others have given me this advice as well. Maybe quality over quantity? :)
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I truly admire the folks who can cook up new fresh fiction every day for a month. I can’t. Not even fresh facts. I was going to prepare a lot of post/portions ahead of time but that just added pressure to Feb and March. I don’t want another job :) I’m going to keep a pace that’s fun. Thanks for your support Deborah b
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You make me interested in things I wasn’t interested in. I specifically recall telling my husband things I learned about roofs, and then about windows. You should be a teacher. I would read about woodworking if you wrote about it. But I totally understand not wanting to write about one thing all the time, let alone nearly every day.
Prime numbers make me sweat, okay? Four is my favorite number, and I really love it, but I’m NOT going to study it for decades, nor am I going to read about anyone’s A-Z on ******* math.
Does anyone even care about how BIG a T-Rex is?!? Gah. People are dumb. I have to go read the article now so I can ask myself “WTF is wrong with people?” You know how I do.
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Thanks. You should ask that question, they way you do. Maybe that would gets this guys attention. We don’t need a T-Rex, seriously – we just don’t. I’ll have plenty of time to talk about woodworking. Maybe I can keep it interesting now and then. I don’t think I’ll discuss prime numbers again, but I do have a geometry post in my drafts folder. I think that was inspired by something on your blog. I do follow a guy who writes about math, almost every day. Thanks for visiting !
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Maybe they should clone the almost extinct animals we’re losing now? The ones we know we can actually cohabit the earth with us?!? By the by, your link on that story was another link to the prime numbers, but I Googled.
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Ack. Sorry about the link mix up. Ill try to fix that in the morning. You make a good point about cloning what we are losing now vs bringing back something to eat them.
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At least, do one post about how to tell if furniture is well made. I think it would be a hoot.
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I will John. I did have some good ideas. Maybe not 26, but some.
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Good. :-)
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I’ve done the A-to-Z challenge a few times, and it was fun. But this year it didn’t feel like fun, so I’m not doing it. I’m doing Story-A-Day May, though (I think). Dang, I was looking forward to all your woodworking posts. I’ll just have to catch them as you “dribble them out,” I guess.
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I’ll get them out there in time Marian. I don’t know how you manage the story-a-day run, but I look forward to it.
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Ahh… sad to know you’re ‘caving’ on the A -Z thing. I’m sorry but I would have passed by your blog during April because, quite frankly, my interest in woodworking only has to do with the finished product. You may have gained my husband though. The reasons I’ve never even considered doing the alphabet gig are the same as yours, although I think it’s a little more pronounced with me. I only post two times each week. I’ve tried three-post weeks, only to feel myself slipping in quality. I did the everyday thing a few years back. Ended up feeling overwhelms plus publishing posts that were horrible. As you well know, my blog skips around different subjects too. When I was doing the posting every day, it was on one subject–get this, on blogging. Yuck! I did it for over a year too. Never ever again.
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Hopefully, I can sneak those woodworking posts in over time and you might not notice, or at least you’ll show them to your husband. I did worry about not being able to keep the quality up, not that every one of my posts is a winner, but I’d hate to be unhappy with 4 or 5 in a row. With the One-Liner Wednesday and Thursday Doors themes, I’m really only working to find a topic twice a week. That works for me, and it lets me do the harder bits of writing on the weekend. If I get stuck, or if I find the prompt compelling, I go for the SoCS Challenge too. I like to write, but I don’t want it to feel like work.
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In the reliably clever and funny dialogues you write, this one ranks pretty high for me. I was particularly struck by “You end a thought with a statement that begs a question I don’t really want to ask. Still, I feel like I should ask: ‘what was the problem?’ You know, just to be polite.” because I have a friend who does that exact thing and then looks at me expectantly until I ask the question, which rankles me. It’s nice to know you recognize the conversational ploy as well.
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Thanks. I do feel like I do that from time to time. My friend will give me that look, followed by a sarcastic-toned question. And, of course, I am prone to over explain stuff. I’m glad you enjoy these conversations, Janet. Some topics just seem to fit the bar better than other places.
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And the moral of the story is our hard earned money given to ever growing taxes, is funding studies that are irrevelant to the whole as society which means, our money is being thrown away on stuff. Meanwhile our monies could be used for studies on how to decrease bullying in schools, or how to get fractured society back together again. Just a thought or two. Moon rocks? Seriously? And dinasours? CRAZY! Great post, Dan. I really enjoyed the light hearted banter that you do so well. Happy Easter, dear friend! <3
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Thanks Amy. I get that we have to fund research across a broad spectrum, but sometimes, I wonder how some things get funded and others are ignored.
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I wonder the same thing, Dan. :(
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Hey , Dan . Every beer you have feeds the taxes kitty , too , of course , creating more philosophical questions about where that money goes . A guy just can’t get a break !
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You’re right Dan. And those beers really are research for these posts, so I should be able to write them off or, even better, get my own funding. Life’s just not fair.
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If we were having a beer, Dan, you could talk about woodworking and pregnant dinosaurs to your heart’s content. Especially if it were a good, stout microbrew.
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I think if we were having a beer we might have to make room for baseball and a certain TV show, Paul.
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Next round’s on me!
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You know Dan. I usually read this kind of content in between my work breaks. Very refreshing and humor-packed. Loved it. Should I take a pick at the Indian government here? I think the politicians here are still studying how to govern a country and it already 68 years of messed up Independence.
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We’ve been independent for over 200 years Sharukh and sometimes, I think we had better government 68 years into it than we do now. I’m not sure they ever learn.
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Surprisingly, I have heard a similar comment from someone else in the US.
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Awesome. Just awesome conversation. Funny. Engaging. Wise.
I particularly liked the ending: “People should understand that because they can do something doesn’t mean they should.”
The late author, Michael Crichton, in his Jurassic books, discussed in depth the folly of scientists in thinking that they should always do things just because they can.
I came across an article in Nature about scientists using CRISPR – case9 technology to edit the genes of human embryos. To create the Designer babies. There was a conference about the ethics of editing human embryos but the scientists could not agree on why they shouldn’t do it. If they can, why shouldn’t they? I thought it strange.
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Thanks Peter. That conversation is strange, but I guess when some people actually get close to having God-like power, they can’t resist wanting to use it. I’m sure they convince themselves that they are doing “good” work. I’m sure they don’t see the downside until they are caught up in it.
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I did the insane a-to-z thing on 3 blogs the first time — when I met you through Sammy. I did it to drive readers to three new blogs and because I am an over-achiever. The thing is, I DIDN’T drive people to the new blogs (okay a few, and they’ve stayed with me, and BTW you are one of my favorite bloggers but how did you end up with close to TWO thousand and i can’t get over 500?????) The biggest reason I don’t do it anymore is that they dissed me. The actual people on the a-to-z team dissed me, criticizing my blogs for having over a certain number of words. CAN YOU IMAGINE? (So when J is for jerk came up it was posted on all three blogs, okay, not really.) It stymied me because some days I posted less than 100 words and a few days I posted a LOT of words and I think that people can handle various numbers of letters on a page and either you have them or you don’t (are you still reading this?) and anyway, it felt way to formula for me and I didn’t find the blog of my critics so hot anyhow and hadn’t asked for the critique. I was amazed I was keeping up with three blogs and three alphabets. I wouldn’t want to blog if I had to count words to boot. On the other hand, you do have close to 2000 readers and I am jealous…. I admit it. But then, I try never to miss a post so there you go! Mitchell and Stephen would love your woodworking a-to-z if you do it!
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I’m not sure how I ended up with that number Kate but I can tell you that the traffic doesn’t reflect that. I think I get followers sometimes after a particular post but they don’t really like the random nature of things over here and they leave. I have a small but loyal group of regulars (thank you for being one) that accept most of the stuff I put out here.
I wouldn’t have minded the occasional longer post. I am trying to lower my word count, but I’m doing that for me.
I might have like J is for jerk :)
Thanks again (yes, I read the whole comment)
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