i said i was going to post about woodworking but i’ve been doing anything but that recently.

first, i started writing on my substack. mostly stories, some essays. it turns out i had more to say than just “look at this dovetail.” though honestly, dovetails are still magic but i’ve got to take a class on routing to get to speak about them properly. what came out instead were stories about odd libraries, rented-out lives, diverse notes, and maps that weren’t there yesterday. also a series trying to make sense of the political mess we’re living through, which i call The Unraveling. i thought i’d be writing about walnut finishes. instead, i’m elbow-deep in speculative emotional economies and politics. it’s been a good trade because it’s helped me stay sane. but i miss woodworking, so i’ll be back at it soon.

then, there was France to help my parents move out of their three-story home into a one-story house. they love it but it was a challenge with all the usual move-related things. things are shifting there. they’re aging, and the house is full of memories, and sometimes it’s hard to know what to do with all of it. still, i love going home and spending time with them, they are the most wonderful parents i could have ever asked for. i have been terribly lucky.

meanwhile, i’ve been building other things too: i put together a little elegoo robot car this summer, which was satisfying in the way that a wind-up toy might be if it had ambition. it’s not much, but it scoots and turns and obeys (most of the time), and there’s something delightful about watching something come to life on your table, especially when you built it.

i still have to finish the Karmann Ghia RC car too. and soon i’ll take on the petoi bittle x, a robot dog with legs that move like they mean it. this one feels a little more real. maybe too real. once it starts walking, i suspect we’ll name it and then regret giving it feelings. but it’s part of a bigger project, one that asks: what happens when the thing you built starts noticing you back?

also, i built a lego set: the Great Wave off Kanagawa. it was a gift and a quiet couple of days of fitting color into color until the wave crested right in front of me. if you’ve never seen a wave in lego bricks, trust me, it works. somehow the plastic softens into something almost moving. some might say i have a thing for the wave as i collect coins and other related items.

and, i did some practical things too that are needed on the island, like getting ready for a windstorm knocking the power out and i bought and tested a new generator. once i saw it in action, it felt like a small victory.

so: no woodworking lately. but building, always.
stories, robots, waves, ways forward.