And here’s a truth to mull (as opposed to mill) over: better is not necessarily better. Live is inherently better than recorded, but live means that the noise level is set at “loud.” Or maybe even “very loud.”
There are a lot of guys out there who can really scream it out when given the chance. Women as well, but the men are louder.
I thought about noise levels and how sensitive I am to them. In the village of Pierrerue, where the walls were built of stone, so thick that the room never warmed up, not even on the hottest, sunniest days, I could still hear my neighbor cough in the morning. I wished he’d quit smoking and take care of his cough.
In the loft, I am surrounded by quiet types, which is good because otherwise I would most certainly move out.
You may think that this pull toward silence is age related. Maybe your eardrums do get sensitized when the gray hairs come out. But I have always liked quiet moments and gentle music and sounds of rain and all the other low key stuff.
It’s tougher to do quiet well. If you like loud crashing music I would think you could not possibly tell if something is excellent or just very good. With quiet music, you can hear fatal flaws. And so perhaps it is good that karaoke leans toward the loud. These same dudes would fall flat if asked to tone it down by maybe 500%.
On another note, I promised Ocean policy changes: comin’ up! Look for them on July 2nd, an anniversary of sorts for me.
As for trips and adventures: July 8th starts one.
In the meantime I am doing what I do best: a little of this a little of that. If asked how I spent my free time today, I would answer that I got the loft ready for week-end visitors, studied recipes for Basque cakes and worked on my newest project: setting up workshops for guys (come on: name me one female who would spend money to do this!) who want to learn CNC milling and are willing to travel to Madison to grind away with great precision at heavy metals.
Specifically, I visited the workshop of this person – one of Madison’s best machinists – to see if space was to be had in his expanding shop:
No one ever accused me of having a limited range of interests.
CNC?? Where did that come from? I used to work at a place in Chicago that taught that...
ReplyDeleteYou're going to limit the CNC milling course to guys? Now that does surprise me.
ReplyDeletexilcnss
If I offered a 25% discount to women, do you think they would sign up? I am told that they would not, but maybe I should try...
ReplyDeleteWhat is CNC milling? If it is like knitting or scrapbooking, then I may sign up.
ReplyDeleteIf the guys you're in business with say women won't sign up, I wonder about their capacity to work in a mixed-sex shop environment (though they're comfortable with your involvement in the business end?).
ReplyDeletexilcnss
tonya: it's like knitting! You work with metal and you design stuff. Only with the assistance of a computer. Will you sign up? Please?
ReplyDeletexilcnss: oh, am I willing to bet I know you! Yep, it's the truth. Make of it what you want: women have not rushed to purchase or play with CNC milling machines. Anyone setting up a business should look at the potential market for it. I have looked at the market and I would say that the players have been and continue to be men. In this case, they will all have to work with me as I am running this show.
I don't understand what's going on here. I thought you said you were organizing a workshop for guys to learn CNC milling. But you're taking the workshop? Is there something in particular you want to make?
ReplyDeletechuck b.: no, I'm not taking it. Though I should. Right now I am feeding a need out there: to make metal things with home-sized machines precisely, perfectly.
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