MAKE editor-in-chief Mark Frauenfelder has a new book out, called Made by Hand. I’m reading it now and really enjoying it. Mark has a very personable, no-nonsense, humorous writing style that I’ve always loved. The book is a very personal journey into his various DIY pursuits, from packing his family up and moving them to Gilligan’s Island (OK, it was Rarotonga, but close enough) to his obsession with cigar box guitars and amps. The thing I like the most is Mark’s willingness to admit, and laugh at, his own mistakes in pursuing his maker interests.
Mark has been getting some good press with the release of the book. Here’s a snippet from a piece in the LA Times:
His pursuits range from the artsy craftsy — colorful cigar box guitars and ramshackle treehouses — to the aforementioned science geek explorations: the homemade yogurt, an espresso machine jury-rigged with a temperature control device used by NASA and a dark closet full of fermenting kombucha tea, each vat covered in a layer of gelatinous, vaguely menacing, mushroom flesh.
“It’s delicious, isn’t it!?” says Frauenfelder as he pours me a glass of the fizzy, vinegary liquid. And it is. As is the creamy, perfectly brewed espresso he serves me from his high tech, hacked-into machine. Frauenfelder is as enthusiastic about his DIY adventures as he is generous with the results. I will leave his house with not only new knowledge and a refreshed curiosity about the DIY movement, but a kombucha mushroom mother and two vats for use in home pickling.
Be sure to see the photo gallery of Mark’s “DIY Utopia.”
Citizen scientist: Boing Boing’s Mark Frauenfelder’s handmade touch in a tech-driven world
Also:
Here’s a recent editorial by Mark on The Courage to Screw Up: Why DIY Is Good for You
And he was on TWiT recently, too.
ADVERTISEMENT
