the shortest distance

 

the shortest distance to the cutting edge is to fall behind and then stand still until everyone catches back up to you.  i’ve been making things all my life… simple things, low tech things.  i had a phase when my main tools were pipe cleaners and rubber bands, and a phase when i banged stuff together with a hammer.  i had another phase when i made my own baggy corduroys, my own silly shoes and my own fuzzy hats.  but the point has always been, that on a certain level, i see the world as something that we’re able to participate in.  beef doesn’t come from the supermarket, it comes from cows, and those cows grow somewhere with the help of a guy in overalls.  if we want something and we have a little perseverance, we can probably make it happen.

 

and while i’ve been doing more or less the same thing all this time, the rest of the world has changed a lot.  now we’ve got the internets, which we never had before.  lots of people are talking about how the internet levels the playing field, how its democratizing our world, giving more people a voice, and allowing people to make something from nothing, almost.

 

but most of that is in the context of doing things online, high tech things like blogs and web businesses and stuff.  i’m interested in seeing how much the internet really flattens things out when your primary interest is low tech.  wooden toys… stuff made from logs instead of blogs.