Month: December 2014

Sprong!

My guillotine has a metal guide. When I moved, the little spring, washer and nut that hold the guide to the ruler disappeared. I’ve been using a clamp to hold it in place. But the clamp causes the far end of the bar to lift up, so then I had to use tape to keep it down…

Clamped

I finally called the guillotine manufacturer and bought the spring, washer, nut…

repair parts

I took pictures of them, then carefully put the parts on the guillotine to figure out how it all went together. Immediately, the spring launched into the air, bounced on the floor and ended up under the cabinet next to the guillotine.

where the spring landed

As I started to take the baseboard off, I remembered we had a retractable magnet (an indispensable tool!).

retractable magnet

I waved it around in the slot under the baseboard and the magnet picked up the spring for me. I gingerly put it back on the guillotine and managed to get the guide back together without another mishap.

guide

all fixed.

Distinctive Handwriting

My sister visited over Thanksgiving, and when she looked at my matchbox Miss Emily’s Desk, she asked why I didn’t use Dickinson’s handwriting. The obvious answer is that no one has made a font of her hand. But that got me thinking that I have on my list to see what it takes to make a font of my own handwriting. Turns out it’s pretty simple to make a so-so font (kerning and baseline problems being the first glaring issue) for free at PaintFont.com. I also took a look at Dickinson’s handwriting, which is very unique.

Dickinson Because I could not stop for death

(From the Emily Dickinson Archive)

And found this by Emily Babcock, “A page of a booklet of communications from the Prophetess Anna and a native spirit named Carifick P.” (1843) on this blog. He says “Here, each letter appears to be related to the Latin alphabet but written in the shape of a flower.”

Emily Babcock, [A page of a booklet of communications from the Prophetess Anna and a native spirit named Carifick P.] (1843)

A Perpetual Disappointments Diary

Just in time for calendar and day planner buying season, this is an appointments diary and journal with a series of disappointing twists. The “address book section includes space for People Who Never Call and Imaginary Friends. A notes section includes Ideas You’ll Never Follow Up and Notes Toward A Tweet Everyone Will Ignore.” I especially like the section pictured in the third picture below. Available here.

Perpetual Disappointments Diary

Perpetual Disappointments Diary

Perpetual Disappointments Diary