What's a Maker?
ealdthryth has been reading up on what is referred to as "Maker Culture". Some people claim it is a cheap marketing trick by Make magazine to affiliate their name with a subculture. To be honest, I don't actually know how to classify what a "maker" is. Artist? Engineer? Craftsman? Some folks claim that "hacking" (not in the traditional hysteria-inducing media sense of the bad boys & girls of the computer world) or repurposing pre-made stuff into new stuff is "maker culture". Whatever. I don't feel the need for yet another label to apply to myself.
In my mind, artist and engineer are the two extremes and craftsman is what you get when the two are blended. I can and have been all three. I've even "repurposed" things. Does that mean I am a maker? If that's true, there are a lot more makers out there than you'd think. All those yard art whirl-a-gigs made from old soda or beer cans? Maker culture! The original sock monkey? It was made from socks. Maker culture! Armor from old aluminum street signs? Maker culture! Built a car from the ground up? Maker culture! All those little craft project shows on HGTV or DiY channel? Maker culture! Made a toy drum from an empty oatmeal cannister? Maker culture! Glued uncooked macaroni to a sheet of construction paper, painted it and handed it to your maternal unit? Maker culture! Ever sewn on a button? Maker culture!
Wait. I'm not too sure about that last one.
At any rate, I think it is just a way to draw attention to folks who don't just buy stuff off the shelf and to make (heh) making stuff sound a lot more sexy than it usually is. Installing a dishwasher is not maker culture. Building a dishwasher from parts you had laying around the house is. Repairing your home dishwasher can go either way. I guess it depends on whether you buy the stock replacement parts or use bailing wire, duct tape, and a little WD-40.
So, if I were to draw a logical conclusion from this, we are all members of the same culture, and we've all been part of it ever since we were allowed to stick things together with glue, stack blocks, or shove sand into something we thought looked like a castle.
Or do I simply not "get it"?
Mine Fu
Giving the cats two tins of food per day plus the kibble to "graze" on is going to make them all chubby. Since the second tin is essentially to help AElf' gain some weight back, I've started scaling back the portion to 1/4 tin in the evening and enforcing the rule that AElfgifu eats what she wants before anyone else can shove in. The limited amount of gooshy food in the evening seems to frustrate the other cats who definitely want in on it.
Last night, both Josie and Ignatius lay down within paw's reach of the bowl while AElf' gnommed at the food. Josie wriggled up close enough to get a taste of the food that had been shoved to the side of the bowl, but she decided to wait. Ignatius was a little more aggressive, and I finally firmly moved him away with my foot. He turned his back to me and plunked down at the edge of the foyer as if sulking. I gave him a couple of treats in consolation for not getting to be "first at the trough", but Kiera stole one from him--which was kind of funny to watch.
Ignatius finally got tired of waiting and stood up as if to announce he was ready for his share. He bunted AElf' on the shoulder with his nose, Hey! Are you done with that yet? and was rewarded with a rude word from AElf'. Hsssssssss! Fine! Chow down, pesty boy! And she abandoned her mini-feast, stalking slowly away from the food. Once AElf' walked away, the other cats swooped in for their share of gooshy food.
Sigh. Even with that minor display of temper, the cats still are pretty good about sharing. Well, in general. I still feel badly about so obviously favoring AElf' in this way. The other cats don't seem to understand.
Sketchy Redux
What kind of dhrama do people inflict over this stuff? Now they are worried that I was offended by the request for my sketches. I never said I was offended, just that I don't like to give out my preliminary work for publication. Maybe I do come across in email as being stuffy. I can see that. I do tend to have a more formal writing style than most people. I guess they missed the point when I said I would happily make cleaner art for their forms....
In my mind, artist and engineer are the two extremes and craftsman is what you get when the two are blended. I can and have been all three. I've even "repurposed" things. Does that mean I am a maker? If that's true, there are a lot more makers out there than you'd think. All those yard art whirl-a-gigs made from old soda or beer cans? Maker culture! The original sock monkey? It was made from socks. Maker culture! Armor from old aluminum street signs? Maker culture! Built a car from the ground up? Maker culture! All those little craft project shows on HGTV or DiY channel? Maker culture! Made a toy drum from an empty oatmeal cannister? Maker culture! Glued uncooked macaroni to a sheet of construction paper, painted it and handed it to your maternal unit? Maker culture! Ever sewn on a button? Maker culture!
Wait. I'm not too sure about that last one.
At any rate, I think it is just a way to draw attention to folks who don't just buy stuff off the shelf and to make (heh) making stuff sound a lot more sexy than it usually is. Installing a dishwasher is not maker culture. Building a dishwasher from parts you had laying around the house is. Repairing your home dishwasher can go either way. I guess it depends on whether you buy the stock replacement parts or use bailing wire, duct tape, and a little WD-40.
So, if I were to draw a logical conclusion from this, we are all members of the same culture, and we've all been part of it ever since we were allowed to stick things together with glue, stack blocks, or shove sand into something we thought looked like a castle.
Or do I simply not "get it"?
Mine Fu
Giving the cats two tins of food per day plus the kibble to "graze" on is going to make them all chubby. Since the second tin is essentially to help AElf' gain some weight back, I've started scaling back the portion to 1/4 tin in the evening and enforcing the rule that AElfgifu eats what she wants before anyone else can shove in. The limited amount of gooshy food in the evening seems to frustrate the other cats who definitely want in on it.
Last night, both Josie and Ignatius lay down within paw's reach of the bowl while AElf' gnommed at the food. Josie wriggled up close enough to get a taste of the food that had been shoved to the side of the bowl, but she decided to wait. Ignatius was a little more aggressive, and I finally firmly moved him away with my foot. He turned his back to me and plunked down at the edge of the foyer as if sulking. I gave him a couple of treats in consolation for not getting to be "first at the trough", but Kiera stole one from him--which was kind of funny to watch.
Ignatius finally got tired of waiting and stood up as if to announce he was ready for his share. He bunted AElf' on the shoulder with his nose, Hey! Are you done with that yet? and was rewarded with a rude word from AElf'. Hsssssssss! Fine! Chow down, pesty boy! And she abandoned her mini-feast, stalking slowly away from the food. Once AElf' walked away, the other cats swooped in for their share of gooshy food.
Sigh. Even with that minor display of temper, the cats still are pretty good about sharing. Well, in general. I still feel badly about so obviously favoring AElf' in this way. The other cats don't seem to understand.
Sketchy Redux
What kind of dhrama do people inflict over this stuff? Now they are worried that I was offended by the request for my sketches. I never said I was offended, just that I don't like to give out my preliminary work for publication. Maybe I do come across in email as being stuffy. I can see that. I do tend to have a more formal writing style than most people. I guess they missed the point when I said I would happily make cleaner art for their forms....