Virtue in Rest

The author of Why Your Life Sucks, Alan Cohen wrote, "There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest.  Use both and overlook neither."  Unfortunately, the first time I had seen that quote was about ten minutes before I decided to write this.

2012 was a terribly, ridiculously, extremely, ass on fire type of year a really busy year.  So, I took a break (crashed in a fiery blaze) for a few weeks...from just about everything to spend some time with my family and really try to soak in the holiday season.  By soak in the holiday season, I mean I drank beer and ate food until I exploded.  This busy schedule of eating and drinking left me little time to do much else, I know, poor me. Fortunately, that rest was what I needed to get reinvigorated.  Once I started to get fidgety from all the sitting around, I was able to make a list of blog ideas, get some plans ready for a few projects this year and cram in a little reading.

Books are always a welcome gift in my house, especially old ones.  My sister recently took a trip abroad to visit her favorite place on earth, London.  Fortunately for me, I had the wherewithal to remember to ask her to keep an eye out for old woodworking books while she shopped for weird European fashion.  I too love London, but rather than shopping for umbrellas I like to look for antiques.  England (and a lot of Europe for that matter) is a great place to search for old books because, as Eddie Izzard famously pointed out, Europe is where history comes from, which makes finding some of these old out of print books easier in antique book stores in England than here in the U.S.  So in between trying on rubber rain boots and taking artsy photos of old castles, my sister had time to stroll through a few antique book stores.  It just so happened that she brought me back a real gem.

Mmmmmm Delicious Knowledge

This book is chock full of awesome information.  It starts with known properties of wood, touches on species identification, and contains a plethora of plans for woodworking projects from beginner to advanced.    I found some similar books online from a London publisher edited by the same man from the early 1900s.  The book isn't dated so it is hard to tell but it has many traditional projects from the early 1900s inside.  Yes, there is even a rummage tool chest.  I will be building some of these projects this year and I'll scan and post the projects I build as they are being constructed should anyone in need of a good project happen across this blog while looking for cat videos.

Tool Chest Plans, Which I Will Post...

Loaded With Projects From Simple To Chippendale Furniture 

I have a lot in store for the blog this year including some interviews with local woodworkers, the Roubo bench (FINALLY!), some tool making, and a bunch of videos!  Stay tuned because it's about to get exhausting.