Went back over this evening, the fire is still going, I loaded another quarter ton of semi-rotten willow oak onto the coals. Someday one small part of that acre will be slightly less littered with windfall. Which reminds me -- I did turn several pieces out of that wood, and here is one of them:
It's got it all goin' on, natural edge, curly grain, prominent medullary rays, some bark inclusions, nice shape, thin walls, what can I say - that tree provided me with some great raw material.
But as we were discussing earlier, hearing one's voice as others hear it can be, shall we say, interesting. Back in the '90s, when people heard me talk they would say "You should be on the radio". Not sure if they were saying that I had a face made for radio or that my dulcet tones deserved a wider audience, but that's neither hear nor there. I finally decided that the next time someone said that I would return volley with "Works for me, how does one get such a job?"
Eventually I was at a party in a nearby university town and true to form, someone said "Blah blah radio blah blah" and I said "Fine, hook me up". Turns out the woman I was talking to had connections at the local radio station and the woman she referred me at the station asked "Do you have any demo tapes?" Sadly, I didn't so my brilliant career in radio and doing animation voice-overs was ended before it began.
But at that party I also met an attractive woman with curly hair, and when we were introduced I learned her name is Yonat. Hmm, being the half-witty guy that I am the first words out of my mouth were "Yonat from around hyeah, are you?"
You want to know what's funny? No? Well I'll tell you anyway - she still speaks to me, twenty years on, and has even bought furniture that I built. So you just never know how one's career will go - but for me, it has never been in radio.
5 comments:
How you can leave that natural edge without ripping it to shreds is beyond me. I suppose I could watch some YouTube videos but I believe I'll think about it for a couple more years before I cheat and watch someone actually do it. YouTube videos! Now there's an outlet for your voice and your wood turning although I'm sure you've already considered it.
Thanks, Dad Bones, it is fairly straightforward to rough turn a bowl with the bark on, the trick is getting the rough turned blank to dry without the bark falling off. Finish turning the foot is also more difficult than the usual reverse turning as the bark presents an uneven edge to mount on the jumbo jaws.
I have watched several woodworkers on YouTube and the only one that I can tolerate is Troop's neighbor Jimmy DiResta - he is very creative, can work in many materials and best of all, he speeds up his videos so that work that takes hours can be seen in mere minutes. They have a Keystone Cops feel to them - that really helps.
That's the thing with wood turning - it is tedious, but is it boring. Hey, that's a woodworking joke! You never know how your humor will turn out. Give it a spin! What goes around comes around.
Yes indeed what a spin you're in under that old black walnut...your neighbor's name isn't Keely is it? I've peeled the bark off many a stick and sanded them down. It feels kind of like magic revealing what they look like underneath that rough old skin that they no longer need. I made a few walking sticks and canes but considering the time I put into them I could make more money parking shopping carts at Walmart so I never tried to sell them. I did have fun making them for a few friends. - It's nice to see someone with the drive and talent to make a living off dead trees.
How hard can it be to make a demo tape? he said, not having the foggiest notion how to go about making a demo tape.
I don't know, and one of the things they were fishing for was "Where else have you worked?", as in who hired you and for what. At the time I had a good job, so I wasn't terribly interested in moonlighting so I let it all go. Now, of course, my story is different, alas, what's done is done.
Now my story is closer to that of Ted Williams, not the baseball player, rather the bum with the golden voice. "Will Read Copy For Food". It's good to have role models.
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