catapult magazine

vol. 8, num. 12 :: 2009.06.05 — 2009.06.19

Those in the twenty-first century, industrialized world are increasingly dependent upon virtual realities for everyday tasks. Even the practice of typing on a typewriter has less direct mechanical relationship than that of typing on a computer keyboard. In this context, what is the value in choosing to do something by hand, in person, the old-fashioned way?

Feature

Life from scratch

by Jennifer Monroe

A life tapestry woven of baking bread and growing food and bearing children.

Editorial

Habits of the hands

by Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Spring rolls around again with broken earth and broken promises.

Articles

Old way, new way

by Sophie Blanc

A new movement among women is going back to the basics.

The Desolate Magnolia

by Brent Aldrich

Short film juxtaposes images of destruction and handmade creation.

What I made

by Joy-Elizabeth Lawrence

Chronicling one week of creating something out of something by hand.

A common thread

by Sarah Lynn Phillips

On the beauty of choosing the "by hand" way, while honoring the divine purposes of all human activity.

The perpetual calendar makes a comeback

by Christina Crook

A practical guide for creating a useful craft from days of old.

Conversation: “By Hand”

by The *cino Community

Your opportunity to contribute thoughts about making things by hand.

Confessions of a techno-literary Luddite

by Reverend Lawrence W. Farris

The question of whether Google is making us "stoopid" may only begin to assess what we stand to lose.

Technology as the mediator of experience

by Matt Gerrelts

A reflection on the purposes of hands and how technology can both enhance and hinder those purposes.

Gallery

In case you missed it the first time

The Little House life

by Dawn Berkelaar

On skills, creativity and dependence.

Navigating family history

by Chris Fuller

A tradition of boating finds its current home in longing.

God's love made edible

by David Wenger

The journey of a skill from a hobby to a spiritual discipline.

Weaving the web

Head and hand together: Rediscovering craftsmanship

Comment Magazine

Brian Dijkema reviews Richard Sennett’s book The Craftsman.

daily asterisk

Even in a country you know by heart
its hard to go the same way twice
the life of the going changes.
The chances change and make a new way.
Any tree or stone or bird
can be the bud of a new direction. The
natural correction is to make intent
of accident. To get back before dark
is the art of going.

Wendell Berry
“Traveling at Home” from Traveling at Home

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