My woodcarving tools

Here are the tools that I use for the wood carving that I do. At the top is a Gransfors Bruks Wildlife Hatchet. It's used for the rough shaping of the wood. It's possible to do most of the carving with this as it's a surprisingly versatile tool. On the left is a Leatherman Wave. This doesn't get a great deal of use but the small saw comes in handy at times. Next to it is a Mora crook knife. This is used for hollowing out spoons, bowls and kuksas. Finally I have two general purpose knives. The first is a Mora clipper. It's a cheap carbon steel knife that holds a surprising good edge. Next to it is a much more comfortable, and much stronger tool steel knife with an apple wood handle. This knife keeps it's edge better than the clipper and I find it much more enjoyable to use.
Soon I'll post some picks of the various carvings that I've made.

Life Update

After spending the past few months uming and ahing over what to do after Korea, we seem to have reached some sort of consensus. The plan, as it stands, is to visit the US for a couple of months then on to teach in Costa Rica. We've got flights booked to LAX and on from their to Wisconsin but nothing else is set yet.
We're planning on spending a week in LA with Courtney's sister before flying up to her parents at Lake Geneva, WI. From there the idea is to pick up her car and follow Route 66 back to her sister's place. Since her parents use her car, we'll probably have to drive it all the way back again, probably along a different route.
Once we've had our fun in the States we'll fly down to Costa Rica. We plan on traveling about a bit to find work. Courtney wants to be back in the States for her sister's first baby so she'll head back once I've found work.
There's a lot of unknowns in this equation but we're both pretty jazzed about the plan in general. We hoping that we've learned from our mistakes in Thailand and so will be able to make this a much smoother transition. I think I should take some Spanish lessons sooner rather than later.
Hasta Luego.

Photography Competitions

I've just submitted two photos to a National Geographic competition. You can help me out by voting for them. Click on the photos to vote.

Thank's for helping me out!

Alamy

I've just had my initial submission accepted by Alamy stock image library. I've read a fair amount of bad news about the state of the stock image market, but I've got over 20,000 images in my own library, a few of which have a much better chance of making me money in somewhere like Alamy rather than a couple of hard-drives hidden in a drawer where my images currently reside.
We'll see if I actually make any money out of this venture.

Trying A Different Direction

I've started a new blog about ways to stay calm in the face of adversity. I still want to keep this one running as a digital tale of my international exploits. The other blog is an attempt to get started on maybe becoming location independent. There's a whole community about being able to get an income that doesn't require one to be in a certain place. A good way to start is to create a blog that will foster a large readership.
It's great to have a fresh project to work on. It's also nice to have homework to do. I have a little notebook that I spend a lot of time furiously scribbling in, researching my ideas. Maybe I just miss university, maybe I just haven't really had a creative outlet to focus on for a while, but now I've got something cool to pour my creative juices into!

Working LIfe

Personally, I have nothing against work, particularly when performed, quietly and unobtrusively, by someone else. I just don't happen to think it's an appropriate subject for an "ethic."

-Barbara Ehrenreich

Might just be that it's Monday, and it's raining, but this whole work malarkey is a bit of a bum deal in my eyes and I don't even work all that hard! Looking into ways to get self-employed...

Thoughts of a Bohemian: Become Who You Are

I think this is a great idea:

So stop sending press release about how low your prices are, how you can have 3 images for the price of 2, how your company can out price any competition. Leave that to the Wal Mart’s ( Corbis and Getty)  and other discounters. Value your work. Value what you do for a living. Be proud, be expensive, be exclusive, be valuable.  Leave the crowd, become an individual.  Because at the end, you are how you present yourself.