HOME |
RSS | 
Hello Neatoramanauts! We’ve just concluded another fun Neatorama Mini Hunt featuring Made by Hand
The winners were selected by the random number generator algo at random.org. Congratulations to amanderpanderer, timdrew, and doodledawne who won the autographed book.
Also congratulations to oasisob1 jorenko who won the buckyballs, oasisob1 who got the Ice Invaders Ice Tray, and sunup who got – my personal favorite – the Henry VIII Disappearing Wives Mug.
We’ve also had great participation over at our latest What Is It? Game 142. Congratulations to e7c who won the Clever/Stupid Ambigram T-shirt!
Comments Off
Hello
Neatoramanauts!
I'm happy to announce our second Neatorama Mini Hunt, featuring Made
by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World
The Mini Hunt is a quicker version of online treasure hunts we often do on the blog. We'll give you a clue - solve the question and you'll be in the running for some really cool prizes!
But first, the book.
If you're stressed out by the frenetic pace of modern life, the never-ending emails, the ceaseless errands and the overwhelming accumulation of stuff, then this is the book to read.
In Made by Hand, Mark started by telling us his version of the all-too-familiar story of the stress of living in the city. But while the rest of us just moan about it, he actually did something we've all talked about: he moved his family to a remote and idyllic South Pacific island. But rather than finding paradise, he found that his problems and stress actually got worse!
The book isn't a "how-to" guide - rather, it's tale of a journey in discovering the joy of DIY. Mark killed his lawn, raised chicken, built his own cigar-box guitar, whittled his own spoon - and for the love of God - kept bees! Mark's breezy narration, peppered with neat facts and humble depictions of the many mistakes he made along the way make for great reading, but it also delivers the message that the antidote to the stresses of modern lives can be found by slowing down and reconnecting with the ways of yore - of making things with your own two hands.
Here's Mark being interviewed by Stephen Colbert about the book:
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Mark Frauenfelder | ||||
| ||||
At this point, let me confess that despite my being a typsographically-challenged bumbling fool on this blog, I'm actually quite handy. My wife and I remodeled our own house: we tiled, framed, sawed, hammered, and painted pretty much everywhere. Sure it was hard work, but there's quite a bit of happiness at the end of the process and a lot of pride in being able to say "yes, we made that."
With three lil' Neatoramanauts to raise, we've sadly strayed from our DIY ways (after all, it's easier and quicker to buy things than to make 'em) and I've found our lives more stressful than ever. While it was an entertaining read, this also book serves as a timely reminder for us. I'm not going to keep bees (they sting!) but perhaps it's time to revisit my vertical vegetable garden.
Links: Made
by Hand Official Website | Amazon
Now, on with the hunt! We'll ask you a single question, the answer to which makes a hidden URL on Neatorama:
What is the name of the South Pacific island that
Mark and his family moved to?
To find the answer, visit Made by Hand's official website and read the free First Chapter [PDF] (don't rush - it's a fantastic story). Then type the answer into your browser bar in this format: http://www.neatorama.com/answer (one word, all lower case) and leave a comment there.
We'll pick 6 random winners: 3 will win free autographed copies of Made by Hand, and another 3 will win neat items ($50 or less) from the NeatoShop. IMPORTANT: Please write what you want from the NeatoShop, otherwise you forfeit the prize.
Good luck!
Comments Off 
Woot! (literally) Our pal Adam "Ape Lad" Koford is curating this week’s excellent T-shirt selection over at Shirt.Woot to help celebrate the second anniversary of the site’s launch.
Along Adam himself, Shirt.Woot will feature three exceptionally talented artists: Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing and MAKE Magazine, R. Stevens, creator of the Diesel Sweeties webcomic, and Mitch "Spacesick" Ansara (of the "I Can Read Movies" series fame).
The first T-shirt is The Evil That Men Do Except Instead Of Men It’s A Kite, by Adam Koford:
Check it out here: Link – Thanks Adam, and good luck!
