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10.29.04 - 10.31-04
Spent the weekend at the Timber Framers Guild Eastern Conference in Seven Springs Pennsylvania. Enjoyed the Natural Building Track - especially the straw light clay seminar. Straw clay is a wall system used to surround a timber frame (or conventionally framed load bearing structure) with 12" thick walls made of straw coated in clay. The roots of the system date back to cob construction and wattle and daub methods from medieval Europe - the modern revival comes from Germany. The mixture is made on site and packed into slip forms and then finished with an earthen plaster. All the materials used can be locally obtained, and applied with ingenuity and lots of friendly labor. The walls insulate well (recent testing may prove better than some modern materials) and breathe - which is a relatively hot topic in the "tight" high tech homes of the past decade - as mold growth and indoor air quality become key concerns to healthy living. The straw clay wall is low tech, local, and handmade. |
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10.16.04
Took in the beautiful fall colors cycling around Canandaigua Lake today. 46+ miles, with a nasty wind and 2400 feet of climbing. Left from Kershaw Park and went clockwise, against the grain of the "accepted" cycling route. Just over 3 hours to complete the trek. Rode the LeMond Zurich on my longest ride of the season.
...and for those of you who are counting - there are 5 bicycles in my life. The Raleigh Technium 450 that I rode in high school, the Trek XO-1 Cyclocross that got me back into cycling last summer, the Yeti FRO hard tail mountain bike, the Trek 520 touring bike - fully geeked out with fenders, racks, and Ortlieb panniers (for commuting and going for groceries), and the LeMond Zurich (for going fast). |
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10.9.04
Pedaled to the Rochester Zen Center for a workshop. Had a pleasant introspective weekend, and I am looking forward to learning more. When Mary and I lived in Rochester we must have walked by the center a dozen times... never realizing the work that they do.
Carried my gear on the 520 and tested my new panniers. Everything fit, and amazingly everything carried well on the bike (sleeping bag, clothes, Birkenstocks, rain gear, and The Gary Snyder Reader). |
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8.26.04
Raising the Schnell Barn this week. For the raising invitation and directions to the site go here.
I'll build a gallery page soon with more photos... |
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8.24.04
Spent the early part of the week pre-fitting joinery. Raising day is Thursday... 151 pieces. 21,000 Pounds of Wood. Over 800 joints. |
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7.15.04
Listening to the Tour de France via the Internet.
On a scale of 1 to geek - definitely geek. |
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7.8.04
Happy Birthday Sar... enjoy the new bike.
Had a crowd in town for the holiday - Mom, Dad, Sar, Chris, and Ed. Good fun watching fireworks and feasting on Mom's cooking all weekend. Taught Dad how to use the chain mortiser... |
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6.15.04
Nearly finished with the Schnell Barn here in the shop. A friend stopped by and did the date carving... |
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6.13.04
View from the single track... early Sunday morning. |
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6.11.04
Made the first full commute of the season. 18 miles each way... and Miller's Hill to climb just before I get back home. The ride in took 1 hour 6 minutes. The ride home 1 hour 24 minutes.
Life is good. |
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6.6.04
I've dropped below 200 pounds for the first time since I lived in NYC. |
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5.31.04
Trying to get on the bike... just when I think I'll get a chance the rain comes down again.
I've been in a fatalist future mood as of late and have been rereading some great fiction. 1984 by George Orwell was the first to come off the shelf, and I finished Brave New World by Aldous Huxley last night. Both are depressing and acutely relevant in our current social and political climate. I'm amazed that we make the world as we do.
To counteract the negativity I've also started to reread The Tao of Physics and The Web of Life, both inspired reading by Fritjof Capra. |
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5.30.04
Spent the weekend up in the Adirondacks with Dad. I've been hand scribing a log railing system for a friend's cabin. Dad was the camp cook and I put the finishing touches on the joinery at the stair. |
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5.30.04
Traded off my old Stanley UK low angle block plane to Dad and upgraded to a Lie-Nielsen. I've been hesitant to cross over to what appears to be "yuppified" hand tools. My fears were put to rest after I touched up the blade - steel met wood and produced beautiful thin curls - and that sweet sound of the plane singing across the surface. The tool feels right in the hand - a blend of iron, bronze, and steel that carries a respectable heft. |
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5.25.04
Life... it changes. |
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5.23.04
Added a 2003 Yeti FRO to my growing stable of trusty two wheeled steeds. Hard tail with great components and a frame that is made in Colorado. Oh yeah - and the name: Yeti. How could you go wrong?
I checked in with the doctor last week and had some good news - the blood pressure is way down and I dropped another 10 pounds - which might actually make mountain biking fun. I've got a weight differential from last year to this year of 30 pounds. The new bike is at least 5 pounds lighter than my old steel Trek, and I am 25+ pounds healthier than I was last June. Which theoretically means it shouldn't hurt as much when I hit something - seeing as my mass has been reduced by a good percentage... |
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5.20.04
stay together
learn the flowers
go light
from "For the Children"
Gary Snyder
Turtle Island |
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5.16.04
Cold wet green weekend in the Finger Lakes. The rain and fog have jump started the growing season.
Lush green life abounds.
Finished some small timber brackets for the Lake Titus cabin. The brackets fit under the kitchen countertop for the built in seating area. I used birch branches and some recycled Douglas fir. Looking forward to my trip up there with Dad over the holiday weekend. |
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5.15.04
Ran errands and wrenched on the bicycle this morning - thinking about taking a fall edu-vacation to a bike mechanic's workshop. I've found the Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colorado Springs and United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, Oregon. Riding the bike as primary transportation and discovering that I can do my own (limited) maintenance feels like magic... such a simple, elegant machine...
... especially after this morning when I put $54.51 into the gas tank of my truck. When did that happen? Last time I filled up gas was $1.79 a gallon.
I don't have the energy to work in the shop on any number of the projects I have going... so I'm focusing on a little design assignment I started during the winter. I've been working on a tiny little house for myself in the vacuum of computerland. I doubt it will get built anytime soon - and should the chance arise I will redesign it to take advantage of the specifics of the environment that I site it in. The plan is a story and a half cross gable, just over 1000 square feet. |
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5.12.04
Started writing on the walls over the winter. Thinking about life, art, graduate school, building, design, health... I filled three of the walls with recycled test plots from the office and scribbled and sketched and schemed and noted and planned and diagrammed. |
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5.9.04
Despite the still sore back I managed to cycle to work 4 out of 5 days last week, logging 70+ miles. The topo below is from the short version of the ride, about 7 1/2 miles one way. I'm still working up to the full ride from Seneca Point, just about 18 miles one way which includes a grueling mile and a half climb just before I get back to the house.
Stopped in at the Geneva Bicycle Center and invested in a work stand to wrench on the bike. It's a whole lot easier to do my own maintenance now that I am not balancing the bike on my saw horses. Thanks to Jim for the outstanding service and thoughts about commuter and racing bikes. The bike center is fast becoming one of my new favorite places - it's small and local and populated by respectfully friendly wicked intelligent bike folks....Found these folks on the web... I knew they made bike trailers, but they have a whole line of frames and complete bikes, and they operate as an employee co-op out in the Willamette valley in Oregon.
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4.28.04
Spent most of the last two weeks in and out of town on the road. Managed to sit in the truck for 6 hour stints with a sore back I tore up last week.
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4.22.04
Commercial Radio Sucks.
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4.21.04
Somewhere in Upstate New York...
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4.9.2004 to 4.11.04
Spent the weekend in Hinckley visiting family and friends. Drank beer and discussed the life and philosophy of the craftsman with Chris and Tim.
Hiked in the Cuyahoga Valley with Sar and discovered these polite relatives of the tree I met last weekend.
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4.4.2004
Nice Hike.
Beautiful Tree.
Sore Knee.
N
42°38.251'
W077°15.726'
1779'
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4.2.2004
Fenders. Call me a sissy.
I finally switched out the "clip-ons" and opted for the real deal.
Tired of the wet sloppy road muck. |
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4.1.2004
Rode the bike most of
the week. Chilly and rain. Upgraded to Sidi shoes and Look pedals
this past weekend. The burning in my feet during longer rides seems
to have gone away. | |
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3.22.2004
Greg Wallace and Chris
Harvan - Thank You. | |
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3.17.2004
Spring sprung - and it
was promptly buried by a foot of snow. There will be no bicycling
this week. My ride last week in the light snow ended in a slushy
sloppy mess. | |
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3.14.2004
I've been designing
and cutting a barn for good friend John Schnell and family. Things
are going well - the timber pile is getting smaller and the finished
stack is getting taller.
The project has been in the planning stages for well over four years.
The new barn will replace a previous structure that was damaged
beyond salvage from time and the elements. John razed the existing
structure last spring, and is now setting the sandstone foundation
walls. Watch the web site for a raising date - we'll need the help
- and company for the party! | |
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3.12.2004
Researching what it would
take to put some of my furniture into production. Thinking about
licensing my table / chairs to Chris and The Alternative Object.
I don't know where it will go - but they are one of my favorite
pieces. | |
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3.11.2004
18 days without the bean.
My co-workers think I have lost my cynical edge. I don't find myself
so manic. | |
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3.6.2004
Parentals in town this
weekend. Going to visit a frame I designed that we just raised up
in Webster and probably have dinner at Bristol Harbor. | |
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3.1.2004
First commute
by bike of the season. Dry but COLD. Looking forward to crisp spring
mornings pedaling to work. Stopped in at Park Ave to drool over
the latest Cannondales... dreaming of riding like I did in high
school. | |
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2.23.2004
I'm giving up coffee.
Cold turkey.
Time to resist the roast of the dark side. I'll try tea to have
that warm drink in hand early morning. The shop switched over from
the "vending service" - to having our coffee supplied by the local
roaster. I have been drinking 3 and 4 cups a day. Time to stop.
This is not the bean I am looking for... | |
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2.22.2004
Centered. Whole. Inspired.
I've been visiting back and forth with Greg and Michelle. They have
made the trek down to Canandaigua and I have been up to Montpelier
more these past few months than in the last few years. Montpelier
is a beautiful town - and it is the only state capital without a
McDonalds. It fosters 4 independent book stores on main street -
one of them name Rivendell. Should you get hungry there is the New
England Culinary Institute kitchen - they super size whole food goodness
and tasty desserts.
Greg has been teaching Tai Chi - and I have always stood at the
edge watching. A few weekends ago he convinced me to try. Thanks
go out to the Rochester Tai Chi Chuan Center for making it easy
and unintimidating to begin classes here at home. | |
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1.20.2004
Starting to design a
lake house for some friends near Ithaca, NY. The shape of the house
is derived from the golden spiral, and nestles into a wooded site
that overlooks Cayuga Lake. Timber may come directly from the property...
pending a good relationship to the specific location of the house
and size of timber needed for the structure. Intertwining life and
home with shape and texture will be a challenge. Much of our lives
seem to float in the blur between spirit and form. | |
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12.27.2003
Remembering how to cross
country ski. Greg and I are planning a back country trip for some
winter camping in the Adirondacks. This weekend I went up to Osceola,
NY - there was no snow on the ground at my house but there was a
32" base on the trails at Tug Hill.
My legs are sore. | |
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Christmas
I am taking a week off
of work to enjoy all the family festivities in Hinckley. Steve is
in town for a week from NYC. He, Dad, and I are going to spend some
quality time up at my place for a few days between Christmas and
New Years. I imagine there will be wine tasting and plenty of good
food. | |
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12.19.2003 to 12.21.2003
Had a fantastic
crunchy granola Vermont weekend. Visited Greg in Montpelier and
Stacey in Burlington. The snow was incredible.
I spent most of the weekend outside... on the snowshoes. | |
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