I was honored to be asked to provide the February Picks for the American Amateur Press Association which distributes members’ printing and writing efforts each month in a “Bundle”. You can see my article and other AAPA stuff here.
A collection of links and information from recent journeys through life and the internet. Irregular describes the schedule and the path. It’s a sort of occasional Magical Mystery Tour that helps me share these links as well as preserve them for myself.
Today in History, February 17 – The House of Representatives, breaking a tie in the Electoral College brought an end to one of the most acrimonious presidential campaigns in U.S. history and resolved a serious Constitutional crisis. I learn lots of things from the Library of Congress. Most come by way of email lists I have subscribed to or the inevitable rabbit holes they lead me down. Since there is a somewhat, I believe, false lull in the political turmoil (at least by comparison of the past four years, this link struck me. It sounds too much like today though it refers to 1801. You’ll have to click on it to see who the declared winner was.
Virtual Woodworking Show – In January of 2020 I finally got to travel to the Woodworking Show in Timonium Maryland after missing it because of work even though I worked in the area very close to when it was held. I traveled with Mike and his wife Lois from our scrollsaw club unaware that he would die just two months later. It was a good day. This year the show is virtual and stretches over all the weekends in March. Visiting the vendors is the best part and free. Classes cost a little something but are worth it.
Perseverance – Seeing a live space event, like the landing of the Mars Lander Perseverance on February 18 can still bring tears to my eyes. Being a part of these great explorations is pretty amazing these days watching it live from the Jet Propulsion Lab control room via my iPad. With this link the adventure can continue as you can virtually follow the rover around mars. I’m sure there will be additional Reflection links for the Mars Helicopter that rode along and of course pictures.
Bang – Whether they truly were “America’s answer to Black Sabbath” or a misfire, Bang was a Philadelphia group I discovered browsing the LP bins in the early seventies when an interesting dust jacket would result in a purchase. I rediscovered that they still have an internet presence with some free ringtone downloads if you’re into that kind of thing. Maybe it’s time I abandon the old man ringtone I have… a ringing phone. And on YouTube there are some songs from the album like The Queen.
Emerson’s Complete Works – In 12 volumes that you can read online or download from the Internet Archive. This search gives you a complete matching set from the Boston Public Library.
Experimenting with some linoleum cuts, this groundhog track was pretty simple. It’s made of a soft e-z cut material and mounted on a wood block. It works well as a rubber stamp.
I finally finished repairing the Common Press model that I bought on eBay. When I purchased it there were some pieces missing and it was assembled incorrectly. Actually it was designed incorrectly with the frame being reversed. The leg to the far left was turned to the right and intruded into the space where a printer would stand. When I looked up pictures of the same model on the internet this was the way all were assembled, so I assumed it was perhaps the design of a press I was unfamiliar with. That part was broken loose from the rest of the press and I even glued it that way at first, but became less and less happy with it and decided to break it loose and reverse it to be assembled as shown. The finish on it is inconsistent, but rather than restore it fully by removing the finish and starting over I decided I liked the “used” look instead. I did much of the retouching and the staining of the new parts I added with a brown magic marker which I even described to the Scrollsaw Club members as cheating, but the result worked in the end, I think. I reversed the screw a bit so that it doesn’t actually press on the tympan, but there was some damage present because the small range of motion prevented it from being fully withdrawn. The last part was to tie the strings to facilitate cranking the bed back and forth.