September 11, 2004
Took the family on a trip to a glass factory (Simon Pearce) and watched artisans blow glass by hand. I could have sat there all day and watched them.
There are Creators and Destroyers. Creation is so much more difficult than destruction. It took an artisan about 30 minutes to turn out a single glass – and they sold for $58.
Now I’m a cheap-ass bastard by nature but I had to restrain myself from buying that glass. Why? Because I am so tired of mass-manufactured everything. I want to surround myself with unique objects – one of a kind things that show craftsmanship and thought. As I edge into middle age I find myself craving artistry in everyday life. While I find it relatively easy to create with words, it’s much harder for me to create by hand. That’s why I enjoy TV shows like “Monster Garage” and “American Chopper”. Cars and motorcylces are ordinary objects. Yet there is beauty in each custom creation that simply isn’t found on an auto or bike lot.
3 years since 9-11. There are creators and destoyers, and the men on that day thought that they destroyed, but America is about creation, moving forward often without a firm grounding in the past. But America creates, we create – and America continues on.