Building the Cave

December 2009: I decide that I'd like to start modeling somewhat "professionally" or rather, well enough to satisfy myself. (I find it very therapeutic, its almost like meditation) So, with fantasical dreams of the perfect workshop in mind, I begin to build one of the lower-end models that had been gathering dust in my closet. A few nights of meticulously cutting and sanding, I finally had something that looked somewhat like the robot on the box. That's about as far as I got. (We'll get to that in another post.)

Spray booth with furnace motor

January-April 2010: I spoke with my cousin on building a booth for airbrushing. Working for a heating and air business, we had quite the hook-up with sheet metal and motors. After a couple months of planning, we finally came up with a design that functioned. For about 90 bucks worth of parts, we made a spray booth that was actually better than what was on the market for 4-6 times that much!

Damn Commercials

July 2010: My wife and I decide to finish the sanding and painting of the walls in our half-assed garage/storage room. After just about dying of heatstroke for a couple months, we finally finish the arduous task. The fun finally begins!

This space has potential

Let there be light!

September-November 2010: I learned quite a lot about building and finishing furniture. I had my friend build some custom cabinets for my "workbench" that I hadn't started yet and a rolling cart for the spray booth. I spent the remainder of the summer sanding, staining and clear coating my cabinets. Somewhere in between that time and October, my alpha male counterpart helped me to install some nice lighting too. In October, Dad finally made it up to help me mount my cabinets and knock a hole in the wall for the spray booth.

Distressed Cabinets: What $200 worth of stain, clear coat and other finishing products look like.

During this time, I made several expensive trips to Lowe's and Home Depot. With some amazing power tools in hand, I finally had the resources to start building my bench. I wanted to build the bench tall enough that I wouldn't be hunching my back over, as this hobby is quite time intensive. I made it tall enough to stand or sit in a drafting stool, which works out amazingly well.

After a couple weeks of Five Finger Death Punch and Type-O-Negative themed evenings, (Not limited to fire, hammering, sawing, and making a hell of a lot more noise than needed late at night) I finally completed the bench successfully. Framing the bench wasn't horrible, but the shelves were a definite learning experience. (Thank god for jig-saws) This reminds me of a Tom Waits story.....

Bacon. Why you ask? Why the hell not? I earned it didn't I?

Winter 2010-11: Didn't do much. It was cold. I ate and hibernated. 

Early Spring 2011: The work had paid off. With the man cave completed, its time to rock n' roll. I've got heating and air-conditioning, music, and a portable DVD player. (If I start hoarding food, I should be able to stay out here for extended periods of time.)

This picture makes me look like I ready to roll in
some asbestos, or cook up some meth.....

In conclusion, I've made an ultimate creative playground. Its been quite the investment of time and money, but it was definitely worth it. Now I've got a place to hide out when the moon is full and the pregnant wife becomes a hormonal train wreck! j/k. Its kind of like a dream come true. 

Well all, its been real. I need my man-brination. I've got a full day of fighting bears and writing poetry ahead of me. Fin.

Even the basset enjoys a break
out in the man cave from time to time.

P.S. This layout is god aweful. I'll get it figured out soon. Bear with me!

- Andy

Life at 153bpm

Today, I saw a glimpse into my future. For those of you closest to me, you already know that I will be a father in the next 8 months. Well, I saw it today... The peanut with a heartbeat.

The experience was surreal; hearing a 153bpm heart beat from something no bigger than a nickel. I helped create that small blob of life up there. (Let's just call it "Eno the Embryo" for now) These feelings, I'd love to share with you all, unfortunately, I feel like I've hijacked them from too many cheesy greeting cards. When I am able to own these floating sensations of euphoria, I'll be sure to share.

Right now, I'm excited, worried, scared, a bit impetuous, proud, erratic..... floating.

Am I ready for this? I guess I have less than 8 months to decide. "Ground Control to Major Tom..."