More early morning musings:

For the past three decades I have been passing information back and 
forth between two layers of the onion with my writing and consulting, 
though I had been thinking of it as perched on a fence that divides two 
fields, the field of preservation trades and building owners, and the 
field of building academics, professionals and scientists. I see now 
that my fence is the membrane between the layers of the onion, the 
membrane that divides is the print media industry where I write for the 
editors and readers, the membrane is business concept of consulting 
where you have to pay me to get the information.

So, the internet is a way to tear down the fence. The old 
get-your-book-accepted-by-the-big-publishing-house is a tall fence, more 
like a solid wall. The self-publishing that I now do tears down that 
wall (or maybe punches a door in it) and puts me in direct touch with 
readers. The internet is a way to breach the membrane, to drill a hole 
down through the many layers of the onion so the juicy goodness from all 
the layers can co-mingle and anyone can find the juicy juice that tastes 
the best.

So, the cat lover can find the cat lady and both get what they need. I 
can imaging that it costs a lot more to care for a panda, but via the 
internet a lot of folks with each contribute a little and pretty quick 
it adds up to a cute panda in good health.

So, if you would (or would not) help a kitty and help a panda, would you 
help a fellow tradesperson in need? Let's say a tradesman needs a loan 
of a thousand dollars to buy some tools so he can get that next job. 
Would you loan $1000 to tradesman who you do not personally know? Would 
you loan him $500? $50? $25? OK, ok, how about $.25? Even though your 
times are rough, his times might be rougher and somewhere along that 
scale of dollars you would be willing to help that tradesman get the 
tools he needs--and the internet will help you do it. Over at Kiva.org I 
have set up the Building Trades Hand to Hand group:

http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=6293

and helped Khodor, a mason in Lebanon, buy the tools he needs. Some 
other preservation tradespeople we know are doing the same. Which makes 
me wonder if we are helping each other out in the same way here at home. 
Perhaps I'll bring it up at PTN.

So, just to bring this back home, Ken, have you thought about selling 
subscriptions to your book? This is the way they did it back in Ben 
Franklin's day. You get a cash advance directly from your prospective 
readers. If you need it I'd be willing to plunk down fifty bucks now to 
get a first copy when it comes out--woooooooo, is it the power of the 
internet? Or, just friends helping friends.

John

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