Crafting

One of my favorite things to do while I'm crafting alone at home is to open up my laptop and listen to an episode of NPR's "This American Life." I was trying to think of how to describe the show, and not really satisfied with my own explanation I turned to their web-site. Here's what they say:

"There's a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It's mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always. There's lots more to the show, but, like we said, it's sort of hard to describe."

So, I guess I shouldn't feel bad for not coming up with anything.

I love this radio show so much. It has everything from interviews to biographical stories to short fictional stories to radio plays. Sometimes they do little documentaries about personal projects they take on. Over time, the more episodes you listen to, you start to get favorite contributors. Some of my favorites are Sarah Vowell, David Sedaris and David Rakoff. So I was thrilled the other day when I started listening to an episode called "Meet the Pros" which not only had a project documentary by David Rakoff, but it was one about crafting.

Act Three. Martha, My Dear.
Contributor David Rakoff visits his dream job: in the crafts department at Martha Stewart Living magazine. If his hobby became his job, he wonders, would it still be fun?

You should go over and take a listen. The part where he goes to visit Martha Stewart Living is pretty darn cool, and his musings about doing what you love for a living is something I often think about. There's more to the segment though. Rakoff also talks about why he loves crafting and how he feels about gifting. It really made me think about my own crafting and I'd love to know what other people's reactions to Rakoff's thoughts were. Plus, I just wanted to share the craft accompanying joy that TAL has been for me.

p.s. Please note that I give Kalin a hard time about not putting pictures in her blog posts and now I'm doing only my second post and there's no pictures. Hopefully the links to good things will make up for it.