It has been months since I have put up a comic, I know. I would like to blame it on the malicious and dangerous Time Faires and their quest to bring the Oceanauts to their knees but the truth is I have been starting too many projects and needed to finish some of them up before going back to this story.

   Recently grad school has popped back into my mind, specifically pursuing a degree in Industrial Design. I knew a professor through an artist from the PCA and I arranged to go and take a look through the Admissions office of Carnegie Mellon University. It was an interesting experience, although I am still not sold that it is worth the money. Oh, and the pain of finding funding and those damn GRE's.

   I also decided to build a kayak on my front porch in the middle of November. I reused a lot of the wood from my previous boat and bought some oak to steam-bend for the ribs. After three days suddenly the temperature dropped to below freezing so the frameworks sits on my porch until warmer weather. Once it gets warm I will cover it with nylon and paint on my waterproofing polyurethane so I can launch it. I don't have a car so I am devising a way to carry it the two miles to the water using a front bicycle fork and a shoulder strap. It should get some looks as I walk on the sidewalk with this 16 foot Greenland Kayak behind me.

   It is W.K. Rose Fellowship time again and I have spent chunks of January tackling that. I finally got it done yesterday and sent it out at the last possible second. I don't think it is strong enough to get accepted, but it was a good experience to see all that I have accomplished this year.

   There has also been job hunting and interviews, none of which I have actually been accepted for. Times are getting harder but that is just one thing or another. Just keep looking and seeing what I can find.

   This final project is the one that has consumed a majority of my time. It formed in my head after going to Free Rides in the Fall. The [pittsburgh]Workbench program would create a space for learning traditional hand tool skills to repair, reuse or rebuild donated common useful household items in exchange for small donations or volunteer time. It would provide a place for people to learn the skills to build or fix what they no longer can afford, while at the same time giving back to the community.

   Participants (or Apprentices) would select a donated object, work with a Mentor to learn the skill they needed to fix or restore, and either take it home or sell it through the program. If Apprentices would like to be more creative they might work with raw reused materials and create projects from scratch. For a more structured experience there would be occasional workshops with a teacher guiding participants through classes towards creating a finished project (like kayaks for example).

   So far I talked to a lot of people and organizations, written out a basic plan, looked into funding with the Sprout Fund, and hopefully trying to get fiscal sponsorship from Construction Junction. It is moving forward and I am excited about what it can become, but progress is hindered by the fact I am learning the process as I go. I have never done anything like this before. It should be interesting...

Enjoy.

Peace,
Kendall