Making something real...
Once when I was working for a Washington, DC newspaper, I went back to my hometown for a visit. My uncle Curt asked me what I did for the paper.
"I lay out the Commentary pages and write some articles," I said, no doubt with an immense amount of pride.
"But what do you make?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" I said. "I take articles of different lengths and make them fit into a neat, predictable pattern. And I 'make' articles for the Features page."
"But what do you produce?" he persisted.
That stuck with me for a long time. He was in construction. He made homes, and a lot of them. He could - as could all of my relatives - drive down any road in Clark County and point to beautiful constructions that he and his teams built. I could walk down any street in DC and see garbage cans filled with the newspaper I helped produce. I don't think he meant to be disparaging, but I suppose that creating disposable things daily didn't quite rate on his "producer" scale.
Similarly, when I ran a moving company, I could drive around the District pointing at buildings my teams had moved people into or out of, but it wasn't the same. We didn't have much to show for our work.
"I lay out the Commentary pages and write some articles," I said, no doubt with an immense amount of pride.
"But what do you make?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" I said. "I take articles of different lengths and make them fit into a neat, predictable pattern. And I 'make' articles for the Features page."
"But what do you produce?" he persisted.
That stuck with me for a long time. He was in construction. He made homes, and a lot of them. He could - as could all of my relatives - drive down any road in Clark County and point to beautiful constructions that he and his teams built. I could walk down any street in DC and see garbage cans filled with the newspaper I helped produce. I don't think he meant to be disparaging, but I suppose that creating disposable things daily didn't quite rate on his "producer" scale.
Similarly, when I ran a moving company, I could drive around the District pointing at buildings my teams had moved people into or out of, but it wasn't the same. We didn't have much to show for our work.
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That little seed he planted in my head must have germinated into a compulsion to make beautiful, tangible things, so I started making these notebooks. I do it to satisfy that desire to produce real, beautiful, and perhaps most importantly, actually useful things.
I love and use my notebook everyday. I hope you'll enjoy one, too. - Christopher |
Meet Your MakerHey there. I'm Chris and I make cool stuff on the side.
After nearly five decades, I finally figured out the most important lesson in life: If you want success, first you have to...ah...dang it. |
