Save time -- or time saver?

Why does living in the era of time-saving devices seem to make life more hurried? It is as if we are compelled to keep up with the pace of our time-saving devices.

We don’t save time, because it can’t be done, just as Jim Croce sang in “Time in a Bottle”: “If I could save time in a bottle”.

There is a scene in one of my favorite movies: Sabrina, starring Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford, when they are going to fly to Martha’s Vineyard in a private jet -- which they were taken to in a helicopter -- ‘to save all that time fighting traffic.’ Ford’s character, Linus, is working away on papers.

Sabrina (Julia Ormond) asks:

“Don’t you ever look out the window?”

“When I have time.”

“What happened to all that time you saved taking the helicopter?”

He replies offhandedly, “I’m storing it up.”

She then matter-of-factly says, “No you’re not.”

As “Time in a Bottle” and that scene from Sabrina highlight, time can’t be saved up. We use it one way or another, while we are in that moment. This being the case, time-saving devices is a misnomer: they should be called ‘get-the-job-done-faster-devices’.
"Time in a Bottle" lyrics
Noe

https://www.amazon.com/author/noeandcindy.write

More on scroll sawing

One design variation I am proud of developing on a scroll saw pattern has to do with portrait pieces. The scroll saw is capable of cutting so fine a line as to make it possible to take a photograph and reproduce it in wood.

The process is simple: scan your photo to make a printout. With your scroll saw, cut out dark areas of the photograph, such as shadows, dark hair, etc. By doing this you have successfully made the photo into a piece of wood. The type of wood used for this is usually ¼” plywood; the cut-out piece is placed over black felt and then framed. It is an interesting memento and conversation piece.

But it occurred to me: if instead of a thin piece of plywood, a piece of solid wood ½” thick were used, a two dimensional statue could be created. I tried it, and call them statuettes. In addition to following the same procedure used as described above, I further accentuate the piece by rounding over the edges and carving certain features, making them stand out more dramatically. I have done this with a picture of my son when he was two years old, and converted a pencil sketch of beautiful Cindy the same way. The result is a much more striking piece than when it is done the traditional way.  

One other variation I have made on the photo pattern is to take a silhouette, and instead of having it be cut from the ¼” plywood, I used ¾” solid wood. I wouldn’t just cut the outline of the face as is usually done with silhouettes. Most of the interior part of it would be cut out too, leaving the shape of the eyes and cheek bone, as well as hair line. Then I designed it to hang protruding out from the wall -- like a deer head, if you will. I know it may sound a bit gruesome when described this way, but the effect is actually quite striking! Take a look at this statuette and silhouette:

   

Noe

https://www.amazon.com/author/noeandcindy.write

Anniversaries

Our 34th wedding anniversary is this month, and it set me to thinking: we humans put greater emphasis on anniversaries of multiples of five. To mention to someone that we will be celebrating our 34th draws a, “Congratulations for being married so long!” On our 35th (just as on our 5th, 10th, 15th, and so on), there will be the additional, “Are you planning something special?”  

If, for instance, the 5th was special, why wouldn’t the 6th be more special by virtue of it being a year more? It’s funny that on the subject of anniversaries, be they marriage or any other, those multiple-of-five dates seem more significant, but when it comes to money the addition of the one is met with its obvious import... it would be easily understood that having that extra dollar is better than not having it.

Would we be congratulated if, after twenty years, our marriage ended with, “At least you made it to the big 2-0!”, instead of still being married for another year? Or if our marriage ended sometime before next year, would we be bemoaned as not having been able to make it to the big 3-5?

So then, why do those anniversaries that are multiples of five seem more significant, and all the others that come between less so? Do all cultures have similar regard for such milestones in time? I find myself also considering such dates with some significance, which led me to ponder as I have on this. Our 30th was something, but our 34th is four years better!

I will endeavour to apply this new philosophy from henceforth, because every moment I have with my dear Cindy is worth celebrating. I am reminded of the 1969 song by The Spiral Starecase (correct spelling!), "I Love You More Today Than Yesterday", which expresses the point better than I can.
Happy Anniversary!
Noe

https://www.amazon.com/author/noeandcindy.write

I found an art form I love

My artistic side took on a new outlet after I was surfing the net one day about nine years ago. I came across something that absolutely intrigued me. It was a clock that was cut out of wood... I don’t mean just the housing, I’m talking about the gears and everything. It was designed so that the gears are exposed and are moved by a pendulum. It is something to see, and to me it looks like a moving piece of artwork. I had to know how someone could make that.

I found out that they used a scroll saw. Not knowing what that was, that was my next search. For those of you who don’t know, think of a sewing machine using very thin blades instead of a needle. Like a sewing machine, the saw moves the blade up and down. There is a surface -- a tabletop -- and you push the wood through the blade following a pattern. Because the blades are so small, the designs can be quite intricate.

After doing a bit of research, I bought a saw for about two hundred dollars. This was a nice saw, but the really good ones cost a few more hundred dollars, and I wasn’t ready to invest that much, not knowing any more than I did. My son, who was seventeen or so at the time, immediately took to scroll sawing with amazing aptitude. He could cut out some of the most intricate designs with speed and dexterity. Without exaggeration, he could rival anyone that had been working for years on the scroll saw. I can honestly say this (because so many scrollers put their work online and we also subscribed to scroll saw magazines); it’s not just fatherly pride talking.

When I saw how good he was and the potential for him to make some income from it, I purchased a much better saw. Sad to say, because of our lack of marketing know-how, he had to give up the idea of sawing for income. I guess also we just didn’t get his work in front of the right people, because he got a lot of praise on his work, but didn’t sell much.

It did permit me to make some interesting design patterns, which have taken on a whole different life in the wood than they had on the paper. In a future article, I will share some of the designs I have made.
Noe

https://www.amazon.com/author/noeandcindy.write

Original poem: Getting Old

The young look forward to the day they will be old
So much that can be done then
So much that can’t be done now

The old look back when they were young
So much that could be done then
So much that can’t be done now
Noe
copyright ©2012

https://www.amazon.com/author/noeandcindy.write