So you’ve got your travel arrangements made, and you want to know what to expect of Handworks 2015: Return of the Jarvil.
Well – personally, I suggest you prepare to get your metaphorical lunch money stolen. In front of that hot new chick from Arizona. While pantsless.
Drink plenty of water, breathe deep, get a comfy pillow, and find your happy place, because you’re going to need it. This is going to be more than your tiny psyche can handle. If you’re lucky, the lizard-brain will kick in and you’ll be stage-diving over Don McConnell before the clock strikes “Awesome”. If you’re not lucky, I’ll be sure to tell your family you were courageous to the end.
And for those of you not able to attend, or those who thought you could show up but skip the seizure-inducing spectacle of the Studley canon, be a few minutes late for St. Roy’s talk, or just bypass the explosions in the new greenwood barn : we’re not laughing at you; we’re just laughing near you.
I’m just telling it like it is.
One week. Seeya there.
ralph boumenot says
I take it that is your daughter and she isn’t counting one, two….
[email protected] says
Yup. That’s my youngest daughter, and in the interest of full disclosure she’s showing me where the dog stepped on her finger. She’s got no idea why her older sister and I were cracking up but she’s always at her happiest to pose for a photo.
Narayan says
Actually, I’ll totally be laughing at them. Just want that to be clear.
Narayan says
Actually, I’ll totally be laughing at them. Just want that to be clear.
Jarvil says
“Daddy, you’re #1”
-Ms. Nelson
Jarvil says
“Daddy, you’re #1”
-Ms. Nelson
John Koten says
Anarchy: Year of the Corn No one, and I mean no one, can convince me this is not a daughter imitating her father. Full stop.
John Koten says
….and just to be clear, i am referring to the pink dress.
[email protected] says
I generally stick to silk mumus around the house. And pleather, of course.
John Koten says
….and just to be clear, i am referring to the pink dress.
[email protected] says
I generally stick to silk mumus around the house. And pleather, of course.
John Koten says
I have decided to put Raney’s description of the Handworks event on my bucket list. The goal would be to have as rackus and enchanting an evening as Raney seems to have many times at Handworks. Haven’t even come close to that level myself. Think of Raney’s words: A Sonnet to Studley. A hymn to the handiman. Even a story book ending with a hot chick from Arizona. Oh, but is my testosterone dip stick dry? Can I cope? Escape without bruising? Of course…..I have a good teacher.
John Koten says
I have decided to put Raney’s description of the Handworks event on my bucket list. The goal would be to have as rackus and enchanting an evening as Raney seems to have many times at Handworks. Haven’t even come close to that level myself. Think of Raney’s words: A Sonnet to Studley. A hymn to the handiman. Even a story book ending with a hot chick from Arizona. Oh, but is my testosterone dip stick dry? Can I cope? Escape without bruising? Of course…..I have a good teacher.
Ethan Sincox says
I have an excellent photograph of the Studley Painting Ladder. Be jealous.
I might offer it in a limited print run of 11 or 12. Let me know if you want in.
Ethan Sincox says
I have an excellent photograph of the Studley Painting Ladder. Be jealous.
I might offer it in a limited print run of 11 or 12. Let me know if you want in.
Lionel Twain says
I found this website and fell in love with your planes almost instantly. I spent forty-five minutes zooming into the photos of the planes; examining them in detail. Then, I found the blog, followed it and then unfollowed it all in the span of five minutes.
I discovered writing which included:
“Hell yeah”
“Get the %@&* off the internet”
“Don’t be a jackass. Make the slaves do it for you.”
“More on what the hell this is about soon.”
“…that hot new chick from Arizona. While pants less.”
and of course a photo of a young girl sticking up her middle finger; apparently an innocent display of an injured finger, but exploited by her father who just had to include it in the marketing of his company.
I don’t understand the tendency of the younger generation of hand tool enthusiasts. You all seem to have developed a lot of skill in technique and tool making, but you all write like twelve year old boys. Perhaps it’s the example of the infinitely juvenile minded Roy Underhill.
You may be appealing to your peers, but you are alienating older, mature adults who don’t appreciate potty humor, sexual innuendos or buzz talk.
I understand that it is the standard response to mock, ridicule and belittle points of view like mine due to the ubiquitous, “Haters gon’ hate,” mentality, but I think that you should be told that you are losing business because of the childishness exhibited in your blog.
I own a hand tool shop, out of which I teach about 200 students a year. They are all older professional men. I had every intention of purchasing three of your planes:
The CS2, the DT-2 and the M2
and, upon approval, of possibly recommending them to my students.
Your writing style has actually cost you what would have been a guaranteed $6000, that I would have been happy to spend, and many thousands more from my students.
Please think upon that seriously. Because it is so important to you that you write in a childish, immature fashion, it has already cost you $6000.
It would be an embarrassment to be affiliated with your company due to the nature of your writings. I don’t even feel comfortable leaving my company name or my own real name for fear of the possibility of some retaliating blog post.
I am aware that you probably think that I am over reacting and that you probably cannot understand the importance of mature professionalism, but I felt it important to let you know. Professionalism, maturity and integrity in both image and in character are so incredibly important that it can make or break both your professional life and your personal life.
I made similar mistakes in my early twenties and it eventually cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars and took me decades to recoup the lost money and rebuild my reputation. I only wish to help you avoid doing the same.
(1 Corinthians 13:11) “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
[email protected] says
Hi Lionel,
Thanks for the kind comments regarding my workmanship, and your thoughts about my writing.
Here’s the thing: I understand how you might think that it’s my ‘youth’ and ‘immaturity’ and ‘ignorance’, etc, that leads me to feel it’s ok to write like I do.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
I’m not in my twenties, or thirties. I won’t be in my forties much longer.
Trust me when I say I fully understand professionalism and tone. As evidence, I hold up the fact that I spent over a decade writing press materials for large-scale manufacturing and sales companies. Never once did my professionalism come under question.
So the way I present myself and my blog is 100% intentional. I do it knowing full well it will alienate certain people – generally baby-boomer age and over.
Now we can debate whether that’s smart or not, but the truth is that I do this work mainly BECAUSE of my intense distaste for what passes for professionalism and business practice in ‘the real world.’ To me, the sort of euphemistic and polite society linguistic tropes that show up in business these days are 100% about manipulation and spin.
I prefer plain speak.
And if you think using my daughter’s picture was exploitation, we’ll have to agree to disagree. I think anyone who knows me knows I would NEVER use my own kids as ‘marketing’.
Hell, if I cared at all for marketing, I certainly wouldn’t be writing a response like this in public.
For me – it’s completely about being a person. Not a company. I’m not interested in convincing anyone, EVER, that they need my products. If what I make is good enough, people will (and do) buy them. And to me, that’s as it should be. I don’t espouse violence, hatred, or unethical behavior in any way I can think of. But I also refuse to adjust my personality to meet social norms I don’t believe in for my own company.
This is who I am.
So I totally understand your distaste for the blog, and that I may have lost some sales over the years because of it. I’m totally fine with that. Trust me – if I did this for money I wouldn’t do it.
And in response, I’d ask you to in turn think very hard on this: honestly I’ve had more than enough of people holding up a biblical passage to me as evidence or support for their desire to modify my freedom to behave as I see fit. To me it always comes off as arrogant, paternalistic, and overly self-congratulatory. It leaves me in a mood to retort with something regarding motes in eyes, or when to start casting stones… I consider myself a very ethically-centered person, and I work hard to adhere in practice to my own ethics. Obviously, though my ethics and yours may diverge in the niceties of interaction. For instance, I value individual freedom and liberty above all else except when it causes harm to others. It’s hard to see my words as harmful to you – the ‘close window’ button is always available. On the other hand, your ethics obviously skew more toward correcting others’ behavior, where mine are almost entirely focused on controlling my own behavior.
best,
raney
Lionel Twain says
I found this website and fell in love with your planes almost instantly. I spent forty-five minutes zooming into the photos of the planes; examining them in detail. Then, I found the blog, followed it and then unfollowed it all in the span of five minutes.
I discovered writing which included:
“Hell yeah”
“Get the %@&* off the internet”
“Don’t be a jackass. Make the slaves do it for you.”
“More on what the hell this is about soon.”
“…that hot new chick from Arizona. While pants less.”
and of course a photo of a young girl sticking up her middle finger; apparently an innocent display of an injured finger, but exploited by her father who just had to include it in the marketing of his company.
I don’t understand the tendency of the younger generation of hand tool enthusiasts. You all seem to have developed a lot of skill in technique and tool making, but you all write like twelve year old boys. Perhaps it’s the example of the infinitely juvenile minded Roy Underhill.
You may be appealing to your peers, but you are alienating older, mature adults who don’t appreciate potty humor, sexual innuendos or buzz talk.
I understand that it is the standard response to mock, ridicule and belittle points of view like mine due to the ubiquitous, “Haters gon’ hate,” mentality, but I think that you should be told that you are losing business because of the childishness exhibited in your blog.
I own a hand tool shop, out of which I teach about 200 students a year. They are all older professional men. I had every intention of purchasing three of your planes:
The CS2, the DT-2 and the M2
and, upon approval, of possibly recommending them to my students.
Your writing style has actually cost you what would have been a guaranteed $6000, that I would have been happy to spend, and many thousands more from my students.
Please think upon that seriously. Because it is so important to you that you write in a childish, immature fashion, it has already cost you $6000.
It would be an embarrassment to be affiliated with your company due to the nature of your writings. I don’t even feel comfortable leaving my company name or my own real name for fear of the possibility of some retaliating blog post.
I am aware that you probably think that I am over reacting and that you probably cannot understand the importance of mature professionalism, but I felt it important to let you know. Professionalism, maturity and integrity in both image and in character are so incredibly important that it can make or break both your professional life and your personal life.
I made similar mistakes in my early twenties and it eventually cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars and took me decades to recoup the lost money and rebuild my reputation. I only wish to help you avoid doing the same.
(1 Corinthians 13:11) “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
[email protected] says
Hi Lionel,
Thanks for the kind comments regarding my workmanship, and your thoughts about my writing.
Here’s the thing: I understand how you might think that it’s my ‘youth’ and ‘immaturity’ and ‘ignorance’, etc, that leads me to feel it’s ok to write like I do.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
I’m not in my twenties, or thirties. I won’t be in my forties much longer.
Trust me when I say I fully understand professionalism and tone. As evidence, I hold up the fact that I spent over a decade writing press materials for large-scale manufacturing and sales companies. Never once did my professionalism come under question.
So the way I present myself and my blog is 100% intentional. I do it knowing full well it will alienate certain people – generally baby-boomer age and over.
Now we can debate whether that’s smart or not, but the truth is that I do this work mainly BECAUSE of my intense distaste for what passes for professionalism and business practice in ‘the real world.’ To me, the sort of euphemistic and polite society linguistic tropes that show up in business these days are 100% about manipulation and spin.
I prefer plain speak.
And if you think using my daughter’s picture was exploitation, we’ll have to agree to disagree. I think anyone who knows me knows I would NEVER use my own kids as ‘marketing’.
Hell, if I cared at all for marketing, I certainly wouldn’t be writing a response like this in public.
For me – it’s completely about being a person. Not a company. I’m not interested in convincing anyone, EVER, that they need my products. If what I make is good enough, people will (and do) buy them. And to me, that’s as it should be. I don’t espouse violence, hatred, or unethical behavior in any way I can think of. But I also refuse to adjust my personality to meet social norms I don’t believe in for my own company.
This is who I am.
So I totally understand your distaste for the blog, and that I may have lost some sales over the years because of it. I’m totally fine with that. Trust me – if I did this for money I wouldn’t do it.
And in response, I’d ask you to in turn think very hard on this: honestly I’ve had more than enough of people holding up a biblical passage to me as evidence or support for their desire to modify my freedom to behave as I see fit. To me it always comes off as arrogant, paternalistic, and overly self-congratulatory. It leaves me in a mood to retort with something regarding motes in eyes, or when to start casting stones… I consider myself a very ethically-centered person, and I work hard to adhere in practice to my own ethics. Obviously, though my ethics and yours may diverge in the niceties of interaction. For instance, I value individual freedom and liberty above all else except when it causes harm to others. It’s hard to see my words as harmful to you – the ‘close window’ button is always available. On the other hand, your ethics obviously skew more toward correcting others’ behavior, where mine are almost entirely focused on controlling my own behavior.
best,
raney