Side businesses for fun?

Instead of a fancy frame, what I did splurge on, at my first grad. was a college ring. $200 for a gold one, in the late 80s. Mine is small for a man's ring - but I like the design. Some people say it looks like a Law School ring. Others say it looks like a Nursing ring. It's neither, but I'm OK with either comparison. :smile:

But I digress....

Johann

 

Just scored a BEAUTIFUL frame for my hubby's BS for $1.99 from my Goodwill. It is quite nice, and unless you're looking closely, it looks almost the same as my very expensive one. THANKS, this was a great thread!

 

I attended a small high school art show many years ago. Some of the high school students were quite talented. One young lady painted a nice picture of an old house/shack that was slated for demolition. The frame was made from wood taken from the house. I thought that was clever.

 

I think so, too. A relevant and artistic re-purposing of the wood - something I'm in favour of.

It sort of reminds me of Billy Gibbons of Z.Z. Top. He had the two famous "Muddywood" guitars built from a piece of a cabin on the Stovall Farm in Mississippi, the childhood home of the late, great bluesman, Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield). The cabin had been tornado-damaged and was slated to be destroyed.

There's an account of it here: https://www.facebook.com/BluesAdvocate/posts/168166536654953

Mr. Gibbons donated one guitar to the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale MS and the other is his. Great historical reverence and modern craftsmanship, as I see it - and two fine players, too! :smile:

Johann

 

The problem with the Goodwill route is if you have several diplomas and want all the frames to match. After my 5th and last degree, I splurged a bit, took them all to the local craft/frame shop, bought 5 nice identical frames (iirc, they were on sale for $39 each, but had been about $80), and had them all mounted. That should do for life.

 

Perhaps University grads should be allowed a special ceremony. First, they stage a group teardown of some specific building on campus. Perhaps an examination hall. Then the wood could be made into diploma frames...:smile:

Johann

 

Perhaps it would be better if they could schedule a senior project and offer to rehab a local home or structure for a deserving person/entity who is unable to pay full price. Like tear down an old dilapidated wheelchair ramp and build a new, safer one. Then use the waste wood for frames. Of course that might not be as satisfying as tearing down an examination hall.

 

This is a terrific suggestion! Far better than my poor joke -and that's all it was, of course. I hope some people who can make this happen see this post. It could start a great trend!

Johann

 

Good for you. I like the Goodwill for diploma frames.

As far as having the frames match, I guess I'm of the school of thought that I would only display my highest degree received where someone could see (Like in my office at work). The rest of my degrees are at home where they are out of public view. (Having all my degrees on display seems tacky/overkill IMHO)

I'm a complete hypocrite in hindsight, because even at work I don't have my college diploma hanging from the wall in my office like most managers do. I have a copy of my Air Force Commendation Medal from Operation Iraqi Freedom hanging above my desk; but to each their own.

 

Side businesses for fun? My Dad used to say that when he retired, he wanted to move to a mesa-top somewhere and have a hardware store with no customers.