Read A Stray To Botaram at Web Comics Nation

I've taken a few important steps lately. I've got the apartment straightened up enough to gain easy access to two important pieces of equipment.

The first is a Hamilton drafting table, which I believe was made circa 1950-60. It's model L7797-58 and I know little else about it - if anyone has more details, please let me know.

As can be seen from this close up of the surface (about two inches square), this is not a display piece but a well-used tool. I found it at the side of the road over a year ago, and I spoke to the man who was discarding it. It had belonged to his late wife, who was a graphic artist. He encouraged me to take the table and put it to use.

I cleaned up the layers of old tape, adhesive and paint, but there was nothing I could do about the pin pricks and X-acto knife scratches, and I don't think that I would remove them if I could; we take a certain pride in scars as we get older. However, I do not intend to add more. Should I use the table for cutting, I will put a self-healing mat down first.

The prior scratchboard drawings (back to the entry for 4/09/08) were created on this table.

The next piece of equipment is this weight bench. It, and most of the weights, belonged to a previous tenant who stiffed us on his share of the rent when he left.

The bench sat in the basement for a while, and I am sorry to report that up until now, the most exercise I got out of it came from taking it apart and reassembling it somewhere else. I tried to put it in the office at first, reasoning that I would see it out of the corner of my eye while web browsing and perhaps do a few arm curls while a page was loading. As it happened, the machine quickly became just another horizontal surface on which used computers could be stored and jackets could be hung.

After a year or so of that, I decided that the living room was a better place for it, but this room as well was too cluttered to permit unrestrained use. Once this room was cleaned and organized, the last real excuse for not using the bench was defeated.

I am now using the machine at least twice a day, and taking things easy at first as I am drastically out of shape. Even at a slow pace, I have already lost over five pounds, and I intend to continue until I am much healthier.

Now that I have no excuse not to draw or not to exercise, I hope that things will get better for me, and by extension for Page at a Time.

Until!