Maker Faire

=Awesome. There's a very solid steampunk contingent now, a trend capped off by an appearance by Jake von Slatt (which I missed because the schedule on the website was wrong and we arrived too late). Also, if you know the guy featured on YouTube who did the TGI Friday's comedy routine--he was there too, wandering about taking pictures. Is he local to me? Now I can't help but wonder if he goes to the same TGI Friday's I do. :p

The faire has grown exponentially since last year. Events go all the way to 10 PM tonight and they use the entire convention center grounds this time. There's just so much to see, it's overwhelming. And refreshing and inspiring. I'm going to look into Ponoko, for one. Their shtick is offering fabrication services for whatever you design. It sounds like it is totally awesome for people who know what they're doing but don't have the means or time to make all of it. But it also sounds like it's a PITA for people who don't know what they're doing, and really, the DIY mindset is great only up to a point. I would not trust myself for making, say, a dining table, since I have no experience in industrial design or engineering. I like the idea of using them to make custom jigsaw puzzles, and if I'm feeling really ambitious, I might use it to make myself a custom portfolio rack, since I have several large hand-me-down portfolios that are always awkward to store.

Tomorrow Adam Savage will be there to talk about his sculpture and movie replicas, but I don't think I'll be going back--a decision made reluctantly. It took a lot out of me and I was in pain before I finally decided to call it quits after the life-sized Mousetrap replica. And I guess I should get going on making my own stuff. Seafood dumplings comes to mind, as do some long-overdue earrings. I'm a little sad that Adam Savage is going to be only a mile away from me and I can't go meet him, but I've got to take it easy this weekend.