Good luck and stay with it.

Rob

Imre, I too like an audience but first I’ve got to feel good about the work.

Sean, thanks for the family-woodworking stories, something I definitely relate to. I have a special affection for functional projects, even the simple ones, that I made for the family. Imre, I guess the audience does matter!

Rob

For a long time, I liked making stuff, but lacked knowledge of the best ways, so just groped along. Even that imperfect (and frankly laughable in many ways) stuff is still meaningful to me and I enjoy it. For example, when my daughter was due to be born any day, a friend gave us a Moses backet to use. We decided we were going to let her sleep in it in our bedroom when we first brought her home from the hospital, but lacked anything to get the basket off the floor. Well, I went down to my basement “workshop” and in the course of one afternoon used 1x pine I had on hand along with a Nobex miterbox and some screws and came up with what amounted to wide stance table with a lip to support the basket. The lip kept it in place, and the wide stance made sure it couldn’t be tipped over even by a half asleep parent. The thing violates various “rules” of woodworking, but is surprisingly charming in it’s way, and definitely continues to have meaning for me. It was fun and satisfying to meet that need, and, in a way, capture that memory. We still use it a a plant stand in our sunroom.

I have other examples - like when my daughter needed a step stool to get into her big girl bed and ethan allen wanted $200 for a pocket screwed piece of ____, but I’ve bored you enough. Perhaps just a picture on that one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chevy_chase_hughtos/2863765957/sizes/o/in/set-72157607001006126/

A stool you could park a tank on!

Anyway, Rob, you are completely right. Create!!