Bernard Walter

Tag: Daily Blog

  • February 28, 2024

    I was thinking about doing something to help support humanitarian efforts the world over. The idea of making and selling pens came to mind this morning. I’m not sure how to go about it, or even if it’s worth the effort, so I’m going to look into it a bit more.

    There’s a greedy part of me that wants to gain a little bit from this effort. Not much, but something. I also want to get some advertising out of it. This is going to be harder to wrestle with than will figuring out what I’m going to do…if I do anything.

    It’s too easy to sit over here in my privilege.

  • February 27, 2024

    I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment when I measured the corner angles on the box I made a couple of days ago. They come together at 90° angle. Brilliant.

    This seems simple enough, and, truthfully, it is. Still, it’s taken me at least a year to get a joint this clean and precise. A lot of wood has been cut and glued together at irregular angles in order for me to have been able to put these four pieces of wood together this accurately.

    I left the shop today with a sense of success.

  • February 25, 2024

    We went to Costco today, an adventure that’s exciting in its own right. But, the real treat was seeing the sunset as we were leaving.

    There are a few apartment buildings in the area. Every time I’m there during the golden hour, I wish I had my camera with me. There are two buildings in particular that I’d like to capture. Today, though, we got some pretty clouds on my phone.

    For everything we have in the world – a quick look in any Costco shopping cart is a good reminder – there’s not much we can do that’s better than what already exists. The world, in all its majesty, sometimes reminds us that it’ll always win.

  • February 24, 2024

    I’ve been trying to 3D print pieces that’ll fit together. I thought it’d be so much easier than it’s proving to be. I’m not sure what I’m getting right and what I need to fix.

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  • February 23, 2024

    “Look, he’s even smiling,” said one of my students today after I had told the whole class how well they have been doing, how they’ve really turned things around since the beginning of the school year. This is the third year that I’ve worked with most of these students, so we have some familiarity with each other. They’ve seen me smile before.

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  • February 22, 2024

    My mom is an incredible cook. Very slowly, I’ve been trying to learn some of her recipes. Tonight, I made chana batata (chickpeas and potatoes) for dinner.

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  • February 21, 2024

    Unclear.

    I was reading a math textbook today. It took me a few pages to realise that I didn’t retain any of what I was reading. The same thing happened last night when I was looking up the difference between “who” and “whom.”

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  • February 20, 2024

    Somethings off.

    We watched Julie & Julia. It took us three sittings to watch it through. In the movie, Julie works her way through Julia Child’s cookbook in a year. She, Julie, blogs about it along the way, which brings her fame. A movie is eventually made about it.

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  • February 18, 2024

    I haven’t been getting to the shop as much lately. The cold, even though this has been a rather mild winter, keeps me away, so too does the fatigue. I’ve just been tired lately. It hit me good when I got home this evening. I was completely spaced out.

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  • February 16, 2024

    I was sweating a fair bit. Through the window, I could see naked men walking through the hallway from the change rooms to the showers, and then back again. Staring at the grain of the wood lining the walls, I was convinced it was cedar. I was sitting on the top-level bench in the sauna at the YMCA when I started hearing the Village People singing in my head.

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  • February 15, 2024

    I don’t know what’s out there, but Ouli and Genevieve keep begging to “go for a walk” in the hallway. Ouli will jump up on the shoe rack and Genevieve will claw at the door while whining. I can’t figure out what’s out there.

  • February 13, 2024

    I haven’t been getting to the shop as much lately. A friend I’ve made there called it my sanctuary. It is.

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