Bookbinding and a little writing
One of the reasons I don't think that printed books will ever die out completely (although I do think the mass-market paperback is headed dodo-ward at high speed), is the sheer beauty of the things on the shelf. Even if people never read them, interior decorators will continue to clamor for yards of red books or whatever.
So, suddenly allowing my inner interior decorator to emerge, I decided to see if I could find someone to bind a collection of old car magazines into something that would look good on the shelf. I chose a nice expendable set for the first trial and went out to look for a bookbinder.
Bookbinders, it turns out, don't grow on trees. But I was able to find a lady who did a very good job - not, perhaps meseum quality, but it looks good and it also looks like it's going to last for quite a while despite the fact that this is a collection about three inches thick. I got the binding (spine and a part of the covers in leather - and there are points for whoever can remind me what this is called, I seem to have forgotten) and gilded lettering on the spine for 30 US dollars. Not bad, and I'm seriously considering giving all my magazines a similar treatment to keep them from finally disintegrating into small pieces of parchment.
As for the writing side of things, I attacked the novel again, and got 1150 words into it.