Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The connection of Toddlers and Two Wheels
Aaahhh... I found it.
I lost my blog for a while. Not that i really had anything to contribute. Strike that. I do have things to add to my blog, but i never thought about doing it. The rare times that i did... I couldn't find my way back.
And here i am.
Kids and NAHBS. These are related, in kind of a circuitous way.
Eli is my son. Currently, he is almost 22 months old (you stop counting months after they turn 2, btw), he weighs something like 25lbs and is about 3 feet tall. I think. Honestly, i don't care that much as he is full of life, and that's all that really matters. Sometimes too full.
Several weeks ago, it became pretty obvious that he and i were deep in a drawn out power struggle. My assets included physical might and relatively higher intelligence, his arsenal consisting of non-stop energy, stubbornness and repetition. Point is that i would come home to a house that Eli has worked hard to destroy, and this is not what i want to see. I would immediately go into discipline mode, which Eli would start fighting and things would escalate into him hitting or head-butting me, which would just really piss me off. Obviously not a good situation, and one which made me very insecure as a parent.
Controlling your kid just doesn't work. And sadly, this is a lesson for me.
I'll talk a little bit about NAHBS, and then get back to the Eli thing...
NAHBS stands for the North American Hand Made Bicycle Show, although technically i think the acronym of that is NAHMBS, but whatever. For my birthday, i received the super-deluxe "seminar" pass which got me into all three days of the show, and additionally, access to some of the biggest names in the indy bike scene - Paul Sadoff (Rock Lobster), Steve Potts, Ross Schafer (Formerly Salsa Cycles), and several others. Not to mention all the beautiful frames on the floor with over 100 exhibitors from the guy who just built a couple, to the guy who is pumping out a couple thousand a year. Probably my favorite was Wolfhound Cycles, with a beautiful take on rideable, functional art. Really nice people, too. But really, there were too many bikes to name.
Getting back to the point. During the seminars, more than one builder belabored the point that craftsmanship and artistry is disappearing from this country. This is, in large part, due to the outsourcing of jobs to China, India, wherever. As an engineer, i've been begrudgingly part of that process as product cost concerns drove the company i was with to source overseas. It wasn't until this show that i really made the connection between the craftsman and the product.
I think it is pretty easy to argue that as more and more things get made in distant ways, that human-ness drains out of our life with every purchase. I'd love to know that my toaster was made by Frank the electrician, or that my plates were made by Frank the potter. That just doesn't happen these days, and that is a direct result of capitalism and an internationally free market economy. Oh and let's not forget consumers who are cheap bastards. I'll probably go off on how people's use technology is really alienating us. So what i'm getting at is try to buy local and know who is responsible for helping you live your life. Who grows your produce, makes your products. Personally, i think life would be a lot richer if those stories were in every cupboard and meal.
Back to Eli. Human-ness, right? I was too busy controlling the little guy and not busy enough connecting with him. I'm still not as good as i'd like to be, but at least i'm seeing the fruits of my early changes. He is a lot more fun to be around... as long as i'm not getting up tight. And isn't that always the way?
I think this is getting way too long, but hopefully what i was trying to say came across OK.
I hope i can find my blog again...
-Damon
I lost my blog for a while. Not that i really had anything to contribute. Strike that. I do have things to add to my blog, but i never thought about doing it. The rare times that i did... I couldn't find my way back.
And here i am.
Kids and NAHBS. These are related, in kind of a circuitous way.
Eli is my son. Currently, he is almost 22 months old (you stop counting months after they turn 2, btw), he weighs something like 25lbs and is about 3 feet tall. I think. Honestly, i don't care that much as he is full of life, and that's all that really matters. Sometimes too full.
Several weeks ago, it became pretty obvious that he and i were deep in a drawn out power struggle. My assets included physical might and relatively higher intelligence, his arsenal consisting of non-stop energy, stubbornness and repetition. Point is that i would come home to a house that Eli has worked hard to destroy, and this is not what i want to see. I would immediately go into discipline mode, which Eli would start fighting and things would escalate into him hitting or head-butting me, which would just really piss me off. Obviously not a good situation, and one which made me very insecure as a parent.
Controlling your kid just doesn't work. And sadly, this is a lesson for me.
I'll talk a little bit about NAHBS, and then get back to the Eli thing...
NAHBS stands for the North American Hand Made Bicycle Show, although technically i think the acronym of that is NAHMBS, but whatever. For my birthday, i received the super-deluxe "seminar" pass which got me into all three days of the show, and additionally, access to some of the biggest names in the indy bike scene - Paul Sadoff (Rock Lobster), Steve Potts, Ross Schafer (Formerly Salsa Cycles), and several others. Not to mention all the beautiful frames on the floor with over 100 exhibitors from the guy who just built a couple, to the guy who is pumping out a couple thousand a year. Probably my favorite was Wolfhound Cycles, with a beautiful take on rideable, functional art. Really nice people, too. But really, there were too many bikes to name.
Getting back to the point. During the seminars, more than one builder belabored the point that craftsmanship and artistry is disappearing from this country. This is, in large part, due to the outsourcing of jobs to China, India, wherever. As an engineer, i've been begrudgingly part of that process as product cost concerns drove the company i was with to source overseas. It wasn't until this show that i really made the connection between the craftsman and the product.
I think it is pretty easy to argue that as more and more things get made in distant ways, that human-ness drains out of our life with every purchase. I'd love to know that my toaster was made by Frank the electrician, or that my plates were made by Frank the potter. That just doesn't happen these days, and that is a direct result of capitalism and an internationally free market economy. Oh and let's not forget consumers who are cheap bastards. I'll probably go off on how people's use technology is really alienating us. So what i'm getting at is try to buy local and know who is responsible for helping you live your life. Who grows your produce, makes your products. Personally, i think life would be a lot richer if those stories were in every cupboard and meal.
Back to Eli. Human-ness, right? I was too busy controlling the little guy and not busy enough connecting with him. I'm still not as good as i'd like to be, but at least i'm seeing the fruits of my early changes. He is a lot more fun to be around... as long as i'm not getting up tight. And isn't that always the way?
I think this is getting way too long, but hopefully what i was trying to say came across OK.
I hope i can find my blog again...
-Damon
# posted by Damon @ 10:57 PM 
