This Is Drivel

Category: hobby

  • fiat lux

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    Demolition is complete. Now begins reconstruction. Locked in the grip of this jerry-rigged vise is the base of a lamp we bought at auction some weeks ago. It’s actually carved from two pieces of wood somebody, a long time ago, tried to glue together with a tar-like, probably asbestos-based adhesive and, when that didn’t work, Read.

  • brasswork

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    Who would look at a nifty brass light fixture like this one and think, “You know, what would really make that look better is an uneven coat of crap-colored spray paint. And I just happen to have a can in the basement!” My Darling B got this for me at the last auction we went Read.

  • power tools

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    I’ll be using many sharp-edged power tools all afternoon. I started out with all ten fingers. I’m always amazed when I finish with all ten after repeated use of power saws, power drills, routers, and all kinds of whirling dervishes that could snatch away a digit so fast I wouldn’t even see it happen. I Read.

  • Krirkoviz

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    I still haven’t discovered whether this is a Belorussian or Urkrainian typewriter. Or maybe it’s got enough characters on the keyboard to be either of those and a Russian typewriter. Wherever it came from, this typewriter’s put on a lot of miles, and it wasn’t the most solidly-made typewriter in the first place. It’s got Read.

  • seventeen

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    Andy Rooney had the same affliction I have that makes me collect typewriters: There were six Underwood #5 typewriters [in the newsroom] and two L.C. Smith typewriters. The Underwoods were my age, twenty-three, but had lived a harder life. Those old Underwoods were the best typewriters ever built – one of the best of anything Read.

  • Baskerville

    Front entrance to the Baskerville building on Hamilton St. (This is a hand-held shot, although I had to take about a half-dozen snaps to get it, and hold my breath each time. I’ve learned a new setting on my digital camera that lets me take photos at night. ) Read.

  • The Lamb Building – Michaelangeo’s

    The Lamb building on the 100 block of State Street, home to Michelangelo’s, the finest coffee shop in downtown Madison. Wouldn’t it be heaven to live in an apartment over a great coffee shop? Especially an apartment with leaded, stained-glass bay windows. Maybe someday… Read.

  • Inside Taylor’s

    Time to share a few more photos of the interior of Taylor’s antique store, on Carroll Street in capital square (next to Shakespeare’s book store). I wandered in today to see the newly-arranged selection of trinkets and baubles. The assortment is dizzying. The shop resembles nothing so much as your very rich aunt’s eclectic collection Read.

  • Taylor’s on North Carroll

    Taylor’s on North Carroll Street in downtown Madison has decorated their front window with a dizzying display of old-time toys. It’s more than I can do justice to in a few snapshots, but perhaps I can capture a tiny bit of the fun to be had looking in the window. A close-up of a few Read.

  • Mautz mansion

    I went for a walk through the ‘mansion district’ once again. Most of the old piles have fallen on hard times, their rooms now parceled out as flats to students. The landlords certainly aren’t much interested in preserving the character of the buildings, as evidenced by the cartoonish color of this lost mansion. Pink? Read.

photo of the author and the author's best friend