Hey!

[tomEisenbraun]

Shit guys!

Haven't been on here in a little while. Life has been....busy? If you're interested, I guess I'll throw in a bit of an update of the past few weeks of life over here?

Realized there was no way in Hell I could envision myself working in a public high school, or really any high school. I'm so damn tired of English as a major, and I'm looking forward to just finishing up this last year of school.

So what do I want to do with my nearly-finished college education?

Wood. All sorts of things with wood. You ever have an urge come alive and grab you by the ass and squeeze until your eyes water a little bit, leaving a permanent handprint? This was one of those things. Along with the squeeze came this screaming in my ear to "DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO BE HAPPY DAMMIT!" and my ears finally perked up, had a big, "Oh shit" moment and went and started making changes. Freed myself up to move about the country (understandably a little difficult if you've seen pictures I'd posted of me and another lady sometime over the course of the last year and a half or so). Figured that out, and now I'm a free agent for the cabinetry/carpentry/luthiery of the United States.

I want to build shit with my hands. I want to plant a tree, cultivate it, watch it become huge, then chop it down, saw it up, fire it, cure it, and take to it with my tools--brings its soul alive in its death even moreso than its life. There's got to be a metaphor somewhere in there for life and faith and regeneration and redemption. I'm sure of it. I don't want to tear too far into that yet, though. Not without first having gone through the process and gaining a fuller understanding of it.

So, let's see. I just threw away job security, benefits, any solid idea of what happens next May when I graduate, a long-term relationship that turned out to be horribly unhealthy under a mask of "Oh, that's nice",  a horrifically overbearing potential father-in-law who'd already begun prepping me for the "How are you going to take care of my daughter?" that he claimed would be the first question he'd ask after I asked him for his daughter's hand in marriage (if you like, we certainly can go there about how that is the wrong question to ask if you have any idea of your daughter being a capable and independent and solid woman, on her own or in a beautiful way in her marriage), and also being stuck in the eternal swass that is Georgia (don't get me wrong, it's a cool spot here in Athens, but I'm tired of my undershorts developing their own ecosystem in the summer).

What have I got on the other end? A damn smile, the knowledge that I can go out and make my future whatever the hell it needs to be in order for me to do my most solid good for the world. I can also find and marry a girl who's jazzed about moving to new places, whose father isn't going to demand me to be the bread-winner (not that I won't be, but I understand it takes a bit of a while to get established as a man o' wood, and I can deal with making less than the counterpart just fine so long as there's not a third party breathing down my neck about it). I've got a view of teaching that extends into apprenticeship, now. One that offers me the ability to have a really personal relationship with a student as I guide them through learning, after I'm qualified to teach anyone anything, of course. Hell, it'd be a dual process of discovery more than anything, I imagine. There's more gains than just these here, but my brain is doing that Jello Jiggler thing trying to quantify and provide some sort of concise idea of everything, here...

So we'll see. My future just split wide open again. I smile a lot. Sometimes I don't even realize it. All the colors are back and all the roads go somewhere and it's never just Away, but possibly toward some manner of Home. I'm cool with that. Happy, definitely. Fired up? Hell. Yes.

And if you read all that, sweet. I figured you'd guys had been long enough without one of my books.

And Dylan. I'm sorry, man. Good to see you back. I'll help with carving away at the Tabs catalog when I get some more time on my hands. Hope your time away was refreshing and energizing, and I apologize for the bullshit.

All is well and glowing and getting better and better.

I love you guys,
Tom

[vespachick]

Good for you Tom!!

The next time you have a potential father-in-law, show him this article as testament to sticking to your dreams. Arthur Espenet Carpenter, a really really great furniture maker, IMO:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/04/BAGOUJ89241.DTL

[Angry Ewok]

I knew you were lumberjack material from the second we met.


p.s. My future father-in-law has managed to cancel, at the last minute, every single one of Megs attempts to introduce us. So we've got opposite experiences in that department (overbearing versus reclusive)... He and I have talked on the phone several times, and he's a really cool dude, but it's just kinda weird he doesn't seem interested in dinner or something. Anyway, yeah, father-in-laws are really fucking weird but I can't wait to be one, myself.

[getinthevan]

Welcome back Tom!  Glad to hear that you've gotten things figured out.

[ycartrob]

The Woodcarver a Taoist tale

Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand
Of precious wood. When it was finished,
All who saw it were astounded. They said it must be
The work of spirits.
The Prince of Lu said to the master carver,
"What is your secret?"

Khing replied, "I am only a workman.
I have no secret. There is only this.
"When I began to think about the work you commanded
I guarded my spirit, did not expend it
On trifles that were not to the point.
I fasted in order to set
My heart at rest.
After three days fasting,
I had forgotten gain and success.
After five days
I had forgotten praise or criticism.
After seven days
I had forgotten my body
With all its limbs.

"By the time all thought of your Highness
And of the court had faded away.
All that might distract me from the work
Had vanished.
I was collected in the single thought
Of the bell stand.

"Then I went to the forest
To see the trees in their own natural state.
When the right tree appeared before my eyes,
The bell stand also appeared in it, clearly, beyond doubt.
All I had to do was to put forth my hand and begin.

"If I had not met this particular tree
There would have been
No bell stand at all.

"What happened?
My own collected thought
Encountered the hidden potential in the wood;
From this live encounter came the work
Which you ascribe to the spirits."

[ycartrob]

[tomEisenbraun]

The Woodcarver a Taoist tale

Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand
Of precious wood. When it was finished,
All who saw it were astounded. They said it must be
The work of spirits.
The Prince of Lu said to the master carver,
"What is your secret?"

Khing replied, "I am only a workman.
I have no secret. There is only this.
"When I began to think about the work you commanded
I guarded my spirit, did not expend it
On trifles that were not to the point.
I fasted in order to set
My heart at rest.
After three days fasting,
I had forgotten gain and success.
After five days
I had forgotten praise or criticism.
After seven days
I had forgotten my body
With all its limbs.

"By the time all thought of your Highness
And of the court had faded away.
All that might distract me from the work
Had vanished.
I was collected in the single thought
Of the bell stand.

"Then I went to the forest
To see the trees in their own natural state.
When the right tree appeared before my eyes,
The bell stand also appeared in it, clearly, beyond doubt.
All I had to do was to put forth my hand and begin.

"If I had not met this particular tree
There would have been
No bell stand at all.

"What happened?
My own collected thought
Encountered the hidden potential in the wood;
From this live encounter came the work
Which you ascribe to the spirits."

Beautiful.

[Crispy]

Winging it is as good a plan as one can ask for (remember to go ahead and pick up that diploma, tho). Maybe you'll be the guy who can make manifest the mechanical rolling-ball binary clock that's in my head, but that I can't make with popsicle sticks.

[tower]

Jealous!

Wood is good Jerry.

[TheBigChicken]

Diploma first. Not a day goes by that I don't regret not getting my bachelors degree. Only have an associates degree in culinary arts (13th grade). Been considering going back soon so I can teach school. Oh have you heard of the Vinyl Strangers? They are from Athens...GO DAWGS

[megalicious]

i feel you 100% on the english major thing, tom.

i am maybe 10 classes or so away from getting my degree in english lit, but i have no motivation to do so. i started the program wanting to be a high school english teacher, and then i realized that what i really wanted to do was broadcasting. it's too late to change my major, so i am stuck with the english thing.

i'm so sick of reading the same texts, writing the same essays... i used to have such a passion for it, but now i'd rather jump out a window than read another jane austen novel.

i mean, i found something i LOVE doing and have some major skill for it. i know i will go back, suck it up, and finish the degree... but i just... sigh... i hate english classes.

:(

ps: kudos on the newly found interest in carpentry. if you ever want to make me and brad some furniture, we're so down with that.

[ms. yvon]

tom!  good to see you.   i'd been wondering where you've been.

dude:  congratulations on shaking off the fog and looking at the open road!  it is amazing how dramatic a shift in perspective can be.

[tower]

My day job is high school teacher...psychology and sometimes US History.  Can be very cool but the adults are the biggest problem.  The kids are the good part!

[primushead]

Whoa!  It's Tom!

Yes!  Move about the country!  Screw teaching English!  Enjoy your wood-working trade!

How's the beard?

[tomEisenbraun]

Dude, I'm just following the wood, brother.

Actually, this week at Borders, a guy was checking out with some guitar mags, so I asked him if he'd heard of The Fretboard Journal (www.thefretboardjournal.com -- Bad. Ass. Guitar mag.)--turns out he's bought it since the beginning, has built a couple acoustics already, too. So I asked him how he got into it, turns out he's a carpenter/cabintry-dude/home remodelist. Pretty awesome. We really vibed with the idea of pulling the beauty from the wood and delivering it back into it with the new creation. Guy has the right spirit for what he does, and we lined up a bit there, which is pretty cool. So I asked him how he got into what he does, and he gives me a little bit of advice and then says "You know what, let me get your number."

Turns out, he's in the running for remodeling the Dooley's house. For those of you who don't live in Athens or love the Dawgs with an undying passion, apparently Dooley is the winningest coach in Dawgs history. And this guy's in the running for a bid to remodel his house. Except he's also friends with the contractor here, which means he'll most likely get it. And he's offered to hire me as a laborer on the project if he gets it. And start showing me some ropes.

Hell. Yes.

And of course, there's always the possibility that he'll show me what he's done instrument-wise while we're at it.

Hot damn. Hello wood.

Guh-guh-guh-gregg: the beard is comin' along. I tried to give it a little bit of the Leonidas touch a month and a half ago or so?


Not quite this beaut, but it's a start at least?


Problem with the whole breakup thing was that the former counterpart had decided to name my beard, so I had to un-name/shave the damn thing as an act of separation. That was four weeks ago tomorrow, so I'm crossing over the whiskers/beard threshold these days. It's fun to watch it grow again, because it's been awhile. Looking back to those pictures I posted like crazy about two years ago, it's really come a long, long way. Things grow in well in different places, but overall there's just more of it. Good deal. It's turning into a giant mane. Big hair in Georgia is pretty obnoxious in September, but it'll at least be a nice scarf come November?

[mjkoehler]

Have a side biz where you build custom guitars for a living. A lady I work with, her husband makes customs for a living. They are pretty nice (way the hell outta my price range). They do alright for a living and the most important part? He's fucking happy. Do what ya love man.

[primushead]

Guh-guh-guh-gregg: the beard is comin' along. I tried to give it a little bit of the Leonidas touch a month and a half ago or so?


Not quite this beaut, but it's a start at least?


Problem with the whole breakup thing was that the former counterpart had decided to name my beard, so I had to un-name/shave the damn thing as an act of separation. That was four weeks ago tomorrow, so I'm crossing over the whiskers/beard threshold these days. It's fun to watch it grow again, because it's been awhile. Looking back to those pictures I posted like crazy about two years ago, it's really come a long, long way. Things grow in well in different places, but overall there's just more of it. Good deal. It's turning into a giant mane. Big hair in Georgia is pretty obnoxious in September, but it'll at least be a nice scarf come November?

Looks good.  Maybe too good.

[tomEisenbraun]

Have a side biz where you build custom guitars for a living. A lady I work with, her husband makes customs for a living. They are pretty nice (way the hell outta my price range). They do alright for a living and the most important part? He's fucking happy. Do what ya love man.

Exactly man. I want to get trained in building--learn how to build a beautiful acoustic from the ground up and build really beautiful jazzboxes and acoustics and semi-hollows on the side. I figure if I gift a few musicians with some really beautiful ones, it might help get my name around, too? I can think of a few who might be receptive to the idea of a nice guitar built just for them...

Also, does anyone here live in New York City? I know I should've been paying more attention earlier, but I never thought I'd think much about moving there before. Anyone know anything about carpentry, cabinetry, home remodeling in that area? I'd imagine with building renovations into apartments and whatnot, there might be a decent market for that stuff there, but I'd like to know if I'm looking at being a singled-out white guy in a business where my ability to speak Spanish is absolutely vital (I can't except for only veeeery basic stuff). I know down here in Georgia, you can't do much in the home building business unless you're pretty much fluent, and while I'm certainly not scared or sheltered about doing that, but I would like to learn a craft rather than a craft and a language. I'd like to find out what the scene looks like in New York if anybody on here knows or has any connections in the area.

Rock on dudes.

And Mr. Stanley--there's no such thing as too good. Currently working on grooming something truly big. I'm about a month into the one I've got going now, and there's oh, seventy-ish years left to grow something demonically huge. I like that challenge.

[ali]

tom, my friend, you have the most awesome collection of beard photos i've EVER seen... that in itself deserves congratulations!

good to hear that you are on the path... to happiness, travel, building guitars, whatever makes you happy. and most of the joy in life is just trying new things! if teaching doesn't fit with you as a person at the moment, it doesn't mean that you won't teach, it just means that maybe at this particular moment, you have other things that you need to do first! you seem like you would be a really good, very thoughtful considerate teacher, so don't think of it as putting it behind you, maybe just moved to the side for a little while.

it all takes us quite a while to get ourselves sorted... maybe we never do, but the fun is in trying!  i think that is all we are ever doing - being on the path, but moving forwards looking at the view.

the world is such an exciting place, full of potential!

and sometimes what we need is a change - to put yourself deliberately out of your comfort zone challenges your perception of yourself, your ideas, the way you deal with the world.  which is good.

personally, there is nothing more satisfying that being involved in something creative, where you have something you can touch at the end of the process and say - i actually MADE that!

keep with it man, look forward to hearing how it goes, and the various forms of beard that will eventuate along the way!!  :)

[tower]

I'll take one of those guitars...I'm not (yet) famous, all I need is one of your masterpieces to get me over the hump!