Episodes
Monday Jun 18, 2012
Episode 82: Miyazaki Chicken Curry
Monday Jun 18, 2012
Monday Jun 18, 2012
Anger and frustration are wonderful motivators. Sometimes. Bookbinding is not the place to vent your anger, though. And what is anger but frustration at yourself for not accomplishing in real life what you see in your mind and heart? Last week I had a beautiful vision in my brain of a moleskine-esque blank notebook. It had a yellow spine, black cover, and a yellow band to keep the thing closed when you're running out of a bank you just held up. Yellow and black. Black & Decker or heavy equipment operators would love it. But... Yes, there is a 'however'.
First, I mis-measured the black book cloth so the back had more than the front. The yellow spine book cloth was okay but then the big mistake. The big BIG mistake. I attached the endpaper on the back OVER the strap that keeps the book closed during your bank robbery escape. Yes. OVER the strap. Covered the strap Completely! Then the front endpaper smacked too much glue on the text block and kept it closed. Even without the strap. STRIKE THREE!
Tossed the book across the room. Kicked myself (figuratively) and kicked the garbage can (literally). Picked the book up & ripped the covers off. Ripped the spine off. Ripped the book cloth off the back. Ripped the endpapers off. All in about two seconds. Rapid ripping, after which I went and had dinner. Slowly and with a bit of humor about the chicken. Chicken jokes.
That was a good week ago or more. Last night, after a glass and a half of organic South African red wine that came with a dinner of chicken curry, I returned to the pile of material that was, at one time, a ripped up book. I carefully measured and cut black book cloth for the covers. Then I cut the cover off the curry packet and used it as the spine cover. Except, well, anyway, uh, yeah. I cut it to exactly the height of the book. Yes, the exact height. No bit to bend and glue. Oh, well. No frustration here, eh? It has eight signatures of five sheets for 160 pages and is B6 in size (about 51/2" by 71/2"). The spine reads: Miyazaki Chicken Curry. (Miyazaki is a prefecture in southern Japan.)
The end result is a fun-looking blank notebook called Miyazaki Chicken Curry. Retained from the vision in my head: the black book cloth, the yellow strap, the off-yellow paper. Added since my blow up: the curry packet spine, yellow endpapers, pictures of Miyazaki, leftover string & a scrap of endpaper paper on the cover. Plus the exposed spine at the head and tail through my miscalculation of cutting the spine paper to the exact height of the book. But fun. Humor. Laughter this time instead of anger and frustration. They might be wonderful motivators but they inhibit the enjoyment of bookbinding that I have in my mind and heart.
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