I paid my way through college as a carpenter and a woodworker. So I've built the house I live in and most of the furniture that's in it, and I do a lot of woodworking still.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
As I mentioned, I was a carpenter for a time.
For my first apartment, when I was first married, I went to the lumberyard and bought stuff and made couches. My then-wife made cushions. I was really very interested in furniture. I was in school for architecture, but I had to live, and making furniture was different from designing buildings, which I couldn't do for myself.
I like making things. I have a wood shop at home. I am a terrible carpenter but I love doing it.
I am quite handy; not to sound bragadocious, but I've been working with wood and building things my entire life. I used to be a skateboarder and built ramps with my father. Then, the first two years I lived in Los Angeles, I worked as a carpenter building sets.
I used to sell furniture for a living. The trouble was, it was my own.
I like to work a lot with wood. I make furniture that falls apart. I also sew.
I am an architect at heart. I designed every home I've ever had, plus my studio.
I was making $150 a week in workshop. It was a rough year. I had trouble paying the rent. But I had evenings free to spend with my wife, Olive, and our baby daughter. In terms of family-building, it was one of the most blessed years of my life.
I spend a lot of time doing carpentry. Sometimes there is nothing that gives me the contentment that sawing a piece of wood does.
I'd love to do more woodworking, and maybe will someday, but I wasn't brought up in that environment. My wife is better at woodworking, and most around-the-house skills, than I am.