favorites...

One of the ways that I can assess my own participation in this blog, and its value to my readers is through a tracking service which tells me which posts are read again and again by readers or forwarded to new readers via email. It also tells me how readers have found their way into my site. Tracking services are one of the advantages that internet writers have over writers of the past who often labored over their words for years before seeing any kind of response from their readers. Most wrote without knowing whether it would be of any interest whatsoever. Writing with the assistance of modern technology is far easier than ever before, and is thus of less value. In that it is on a par with most other human endeavors that have been assisted and simultaneously undermined at the same time.

One of my readers' favorite posts has to do with the narrative, or story telling aspects of craft, and a search for a discussion of narrative is a thing that brings many first time visitors to this blog. Seeing numbers is not the same as having a personal conversation with readers, but it does show interest in what I've had to say, and helps me to know that what I discuss has growing relevance. You can read a reader favorite on the subject of narrative here. The photo above left is a "narrative" work, as  described in the earlier post. Another favorite post concerns the relationship between Pestalozzi and Froebel in laying the groundwork for Educational Sloyd. That post can be read here. Readers of this blog can give feedback through the comments link below. Do you have a favorite post or subject area? Let me know. A conversation if far better than statistics.

A reader, in Buffalo, Jeff, who does woodwork with his 7 year old son, sent a link to Childhood Engineers. The article describes how the various opportunities that children have for play can be a strong influence in their future capacities in science, technology, engineering and math.

Today, I am cleaning the shop and preparing for my class at the Kansas City Woodworker's Guild and for filming my DVD Building Small Cabinets the following week.

Make, fix and create.