Made by Hand



Read Made by Hand by Mark Frauenfelder, the founder of Boing Boing, one of the best hit blogs on the block. Frauenfelder has an easy, readable writing style and wants us to know that DIYing is worth the time and effort. He raises chickens, builds his own instruments from cigar boxes and upgrades his espresso machines. He's a talented and cool hipster who would like you to know that doing things yourself is satisfying, the fast paced life of heating up soy based organic frozen mac n cheese for your pre-ker gets old and we need to slow down and smell the coffee espresso.
His chapter on after schooling was especially interesting and highlights the limits of the entire book. Frauenfelder toys with the idea of thinking and living outside of the techno-paced postmodern world where he lives, but has no real motivation to do so. And, while I got some great ideas and enjoyed the writing, I found it totally humorous that he spent x amount of dollars for each and every project. Of course, DIY cost. But his philosophy of DIYing is so different than mine and Dr.Dh. We DIY, in part, to conserve and to steward and to invest.

Rob  Dreher did it much better in Crunchy Con, (read my review here), asserting that our lives should affirm the sacred. It's about more than being satisfied or challenged.