What’s in my NOW? — Whit King

issue #220

Whit King is a philanthropic advisor, yoga instructor, and insatiable bibliophile based in Austin, helping small nonprofits grow with clarity and purpose. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

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PHYSICAL

• Kindle Scribe – Instant access meets intentional reading—because sometimes I need the book now, not next week. I highlight, annotate, and move through ideas at the pace they arrive.
• Blackwing Pencils – For when my hands need to move slower than my thoughts. Tactile, grounding, quietly nostalgic. Blackwings have been my go-to for writing anything that matters. I choose pencil over pen because you can erase and begin again—a quiet reminder that most things in life aren’t permanent.
• LEUCHTTURM1917 Hardcover Notebook (Blank, B5) – Where the noise clears. A place for first drafts, bold starts, the patterns I notice over time—and anything else I want to give shape to. I’ve used these notebooks for years—always blank, always B5, always in color. I’ve collected them in every shade, and when I line them up, they form a vivid rainbow—a visual archive of my thinking across seasons. Each one holds its own chapter. I build an index in the back of every notebook and log it into a master index organized by keyword—so if a thought needs to be retrieved, I know where to look. I know digital would be faster—and I use iNotes and Google Docs, too—but my best thinking still happens on paper. Seeing how I’ve spent my days in physical pages just feels right.

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DIGITAL

• AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Canva Magic) – I use AI the way I use my notebooks: to clarify, refine, and sort through layered thinking. It helps me develop my own thinking while expanding the frame with perspectives I hadn’t yet considered. From there, I can test assumptions, spot gaps, and check for coherence. Part research assistant, part sparring partner, part mirror—it complements my thinking by showing me what’s missing, not just what’s already there.
• Goodreads – There are more books on my TBR than I have shelf space, free weekends, or lifetimes. But I’ve made peace with that. Reading is the one habit I never have to schedule. Goodreads is where I track what I’ve read, what I’m reading, and what’s still lingering in the digital pile—organized by theme, year, and a tagging system that occasionally only makes sense to me.

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INVISIBLE

“If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not ‘washing the dishes to wash the dishes.’ What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future—and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.” —Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness

This quote strikes me because it reveals a simple truth: presence isn’t about the task—it’s about showing up fully. Some of my most memorable moments occurred when I was completely present—and they’re proof of what Thich Nhat Hanh means by being truly alive. When I’m mentally racing toward the next thing, I miss both experiences. I’m not fully engaged with what’s happening now—I’m distracted, going through the motions. And when that next moment arrives, I’ll still be somewhere else mentally, already chasing what comes after.

The power lies in the doing itself. One action. One breath. One moment. Not the endless chain of what’s next.

It’s the difference between living and surviving. When I stay present with what’s in front of me—really stay—something miraculous happens. The ordinary becomes alive. The mundane transforms.

Presence is a practice.

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08/13/25

Papertoy Monsters / The Animator’s Survival Kit

Issue No. 79

PAPERTOY MONSTERS – BUILD 50 3D TOYS WITH JUST PAPER AND GLUE

Papertoy Monsters: 50 Cool Papertoys You Can Make Yourself!
by Brian Castleforte (author) and Robert James (illustrator)
Workman Publishing Company
2010, 124 pages, 8.6 x 11 x 0.9 inches (softcover)

Buy on Amazon

As a child, I often viewed school as an evil creature that could be temporarily subdued only by sickness, weekends, government holidays, and art/craft Fridays. Among my favorite Friday activities were the various papertoys that I got to color, cut out, and assemble. Some were mechanical, some were static, some would have a specific purpose, and some would just be neat little creatures to play with. But, they all had the same feature that I found so intriguing: they were three-dimensional toys born from a single sheet of two-dimensional paper. Three decades later, I can finally relive those fond childhood memories as well as share them with my nephews.

Papertoy Monsters is a collection of 50 monster designs by 24 papertoy artists from around the globe including the author, Brian Castleforte. Building one of these monsters is pretty straightforward, and the only required tool is some glue. The author recommends some other tools, but glue is really all that is required. Inspiring mad scientists have it so easy nowadays.

Every monster is printed on both sides, so the finished toy has colorful graphics inside and out. Pieces are perforated for easy punch-out, and pre-scored for easy folding. Even the slots are pre-cut for easy assembly (no dangerous X-Acto knives to contend with). Construction difficulties range from easy to advanced, and are recommended for everyone nine years or older … but, my six-year-old nephew gets a kick out of them, too.

With 24 artists, there is a wide variety of monster styles and designs ranging from strange and cute to creepy and bizarre. In fact, just choosing which monster to build is a tough choice. As if that wasn’t enough, there are ten additional blank templates that allow you to design, color, and build your own monsters. Decisions, decisions! Papertoy Monsters is a young mad scientist’s dream. It’s a portable laboratory with enough body parts to create an entire army of fiendish and friendly monsters whenever the mood strikes; no grave robbing required. – Robert Nava

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THE ANIMATOR’S SURVIVAL KIT: A MANUAL OF METHODS, PRINCIPLES AND FORMULAS

The Animator’s Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Forumlas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion, and Internet Animators
by Richard Williams
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
2012, 392 pages, 9.4 x 10.9 x 1 inches

Buy on Amazon

In middle school, I was absolutely certain that I wanted to be a Disney animator … until life threw me a curve ball right after high school. Now, I’m a papercraft artist. But, I still love animation, and I keep learning what I can.

Richard Williams, the director of animation for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, has spent his entire career learning from the best classic animators from the Golden Age of animation. He has taken all that he has learned and boiled it down to the simplest and fastest way of doing things. This allows animation to become second nature, freeing the animator to focus on the performance and actions of the characters.

The Animator’s Survival Kit focuses mainly on traditional hand-drawn animation, but the methods and principles work no matter what tools are used. They work because they are the core principles of all animation. Whether it’s CG, stop motion, or computer games, all can benefit greatly from this well of knowledge. The book is very friendly, filled with energetic hand-drawn illustrations and handwritten text; the pages look like excerpts from an artist’s sketchbook. Williams provides examples for everything from timing and spacing to dialogue, acting, and directing. In most cases, there are creative step-by-step drawings to illustrate Williams’ points. There are also wonderful quotes and anecdotes from his decades of collaborations and friendships with animators.

Whether you’re an aspiring animator or just interested in the genre, The Animator’s Survival Kit provides a fun and highly informative insight into traditional animation. And, the knowledge can be applied to many of today’s animation styles, and is practically future-proof. Although my edition of this book is out of print – and therefore a bit pricey – the edition linked above is an affordable, updated edition that has been expanded to include more on “animal action, invention and realism, with sophisticated animation examples.” – Robert Nava

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Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.

08/12/25

Calligraphy

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 150

Refillable Manga medium

Copic Markers

Copic markers are Japanese-made markers that have been used for years by Manga and other artists in Japan. Though generally relegated to that purpose, they’re a very functional medium, an alcohol-based, refillable marker that can also be used with an airbrush. They are initially expensive to buy, but because they are refillable and so versatile, over time they prove to be less expensive than Prismacolor markers. Because they are alcohol based, they are also blendable; similar to watercolor in application, but much more convenient.

Copic markers are somewhat limited in application, and not something generally as versatile as acrylic- or oil-based media. The advantage in my case is mostly portability. For anything larger than an 8 1/2X11″ page, they wouldn’t be practical. Think of them as more for cartooning than fine art. I do a lot of caricaturing and figure drawing, for which they work well. — Stephen Young

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For indelible writing on dark glossy surfaces

Metallic Sharpie

The Metallic Sharpie is a vast improvement over other metallic pens out there — no shaking the pen before use, and the ink doesn’t puddle up. It dries permanent and shows up great on dark surfaces as well as light ones. It became favorite art tool in my arsenal when I was able to write a friends phone number on a freshly opened, ice-cold beer bottle. Seconds after jotting the number, it was indelible. I try to take it everywhere — it’s good for men’s room graffiti, VHS tapes, I even labeled various keys on my key ring. You can get metallic sharpies at Staples or Office Max. — Chris Sperandio

There’s almost no other way to easily write on slippery surfaces. The metallic sharpie uses silver ink, which has remarkable contrast against both light and dark surfaces. For writing on black plastic or enamel (there is more of it around than you think) nothing else will do. — KK

I have managed to accumulate dozens of small transformers over the years. Those black plastic “wall wart” things. They get unplugged from the device and usually they are totally generic in their labeling. Whatever they powered has gone away, but the transformer remains.

I grabbed one and wrote the product the new transformer belonged to in silver ink on black plastic. I’d tried grease pencils and tags and such stuff before, but they just never worked out. This seems to be the fix. I am so excited about this discovery, I just had to share it. — Norm A.

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Fine point performance

Sharpie Twin-Tip

Sharpie markers are well-known for being indelible, particularly on plastic, glass and metal surfaces. Folks in labs, movie sets, and hospitals who need to mark things permanently use Sharpies. If the ink goes on, it won’t come off. What’s special here is that the other tip of these pens is an ultra-fine point Sharpie, fine enough to write like a ball-point pen – but permanently — when you need to. The “industrial” version of Sharpie ink will even resist chemicals and scrubbing. Since more writing surfaces seem to be plastic-like, I find we use Sharpies all the time now. — KK

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Learning to hand letter

Calligraphy • The Calligrapher’s Bible

Calligraphy: A Course in Hand Lettering is the best book for teaching yourself calligraphy, which you can do on your own. It’s how I learned. The book is spiral-bound to lay flat and includes transparent guide sheets for practice. You write over its pages. The course is structured simply and will teach you the basic Italian cursive hands. I prefer it over other guides because it focuses on getting the basics right, without intimidating you with a lot of fancy work. By the end of this course you’ll be able to do a passable wedding invitation, envelope, or framable quotation.

If you want to move onto additional scripts, the Calligrapher’s Bible (also spiral bound) will show you how to hand write over a hundred of them. The directions for each hand are clear and concise. This will last you many years. — KK

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Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

08/11/25

K-Pop Demon Hunters/First apartment tool kit/Charting wholeness

Recomendo - issue #474

Fun animated musical

For lightweight family-rated summer entertainment, try K-Pop Demon Hunters. It is an animated musical fairytale in the manner of Shrek or Frozen, but with Korean-American characteristics. In this fantasy, the battle is over fans, who are the scarce resource. Catchy K-pop songs score the fast action, which also delivers an emotional payoff. The film streams on Netflix, and is getting a lot of attention. It’s the meme source for this summer. — KK

Perfect first apartment tool kit

I got this Workpro Home Tool Kit as a gift for a relative moving into his first apartment. We used it to assemble flat-pack furniture, mount a TV, and install blackout curtains. The 12V cordless drill/driver, bits, wrench, pliers, level, utility knife, hammer, and tape measure handled everything we encountered. I’d add a socket set to round it out, but the kit contains all the essential tools a first-time apartment dweller needs. Everything stores in the included tool bag. — MF

Charting Wholeness

This chart, “A Guide from Pain to Presence”, explores how human expression changes when it is a reaction to past loss, future fear, or present discomfort. It also offers alternative expressions that stem from wholeness and embodiment. For example, personal boundaries may become forms of control or avoidance when motivated by past loss or fear of uncertainty, but when rooted in wholeness, boundaries express a healthy authority based on inner clarity. The language can be a bit jargon-heavy, but I find the framework helpful for shifting from old, anxious patterns to more intentional and grounded action. — CD

A creative follow

My favorite current New Yorker cartoonist is Roz Chast. I love her whimsy, childlike drawing, inventiveness, and silly sweet humor. But she creates more than cartoons. On her Instagram page, she posts weird painted eggs she makes, her marvelous embroidered dreams, her arrangements of Japanese matchboxes, her block prints, her photographs of New York shops at night, and more. It’s the most refreshing definition of being creative. I get inspired every visit. — KK

Smart scale for easy health tracking

My old bathroom scale was giving inconsistent measurements, so it was time to get a new one. I wanted something inexpensive, highly rated, with an easy-to-read LED display, and that could sync with my Apple Health app. The Fitindex Smart Scale checked all the boxes. The scale measures up to 400 lbs in 0.2 lb increments and runs on included AAA batteries. — MF

50 Ways to Unplug

The Analog Life: 50 Ways to Unplug and Feel Human Again offers a great list of practical ways to go old-school and become less screen-centric. I love the advice to use devices that do one thing well, such as an e-reader, record player, or kitchen timer. My crystal radio—tuned to one station and one station only—is one of my favorite and most nostalgia-inducing possessions. All these tips help to reclaim a more intentional, analog way of living—like allowing days to go unaccounted for and enjoying experiences without feeling the need to document them. — CD

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08/10/25

Gar’s Tips & Tools – Issue #202

Access to tools, techniques, and shop tales from the diverse worlds of DIY

Top-o’-the-Top Modeling Tips

I’m so happy to see my modeling articles in the latest issue of Make:, the “Props, Models, and Miniatures” issue. I did a piece on “trashbashing” (making hobby models out of kitchen trash) and a collection of modeling, painting, and weathering tips. Bill of Bill Making Stuff has a wonderful sidebar in there, too, with his own trashbashing and modeling tips. These articles present many of my top-level takeaways on modeling for tabletop gaming. Here are a few tippy top tips:

One Brush to Rule Them All — New modelers get sucked into the idea that you need half-a-dozen different miniature-painting brushes, from sizes 0, 00, 000, down to ridiculously small ones like 20-0 and 30-0. These brushes have so few hairs that, by the time you introduce the paint to the model, it has already started to get sticky and dry. It’s best to learn how to use a single brush to do the majority of your miniature painting work. A Windsor & Newton Series 7 Size 1 brush is a perfect go-to brush. Use the very tip of it for fine detail work, apply more pressure for medium coverage, and even more pressure for full coverage. It’s made for water colors, so it can hold a lot of paint. It just takes practice to master. Keep it scrupulously clean and pointed, and it will serve you for years.

The beauty aisle is your friend — There are all sorts of tools and materials for modeling to be found in the drug story beauty aisle (or beauty supply stores): nail polish agitators (paint mixing), nail polish racks (hobby paint holders), fluffy make-up brushes (dry brushing), nail polish remover (acetone), cotton pads and plastic cotton swabs, and much more.

Chop up and recombine — In my trashbash piece, I talk about developing an eye for seeing models in your trash (and how I turned a single crudites platter into a derelict sci-fi outpost town). In Bill Mullaney’s sidebar, he talks about further developing your ability to see specific shapes or textures within those pieces of trash. You don’t have to use the piece as-is. You can cut-up and recombine. Super glue and baking soda go a long way to “welding” all of these recombined pieces together.

Quick lens and canopy effects — Painting a lens or glass canopy white and then glazing it with a colored glaze or art ink of a suitable color (blue, yellow, red, green, etc.) effortlessly creates a pretty convincing glowing lens effect.

Micro-pens for eye pupils (and other tiny details) — You can use fine tip India ink pens to add pupils and other super-fine details to models.

Use art pencils and art chalks — Edge highlighting a model can be hard and takes a steady hand. One way of cheating this is using art pencils. You can draw on edges and raised areas to introduce highlights. Just be careful not to scrape off the underlying paint with the pencils. Cheap art chalks can be ground up and used for dirt, dust, mud, rust, and other weathering effects. Just wear a mask when grinding and applying. That dust is not your friend.

DIY Precision CA Glue Applicators

In more hobby news, this video offers a number of really great tips and tricks for using CA glue in model-making (and beyond). The real aha tip for me is the idea of making your own precision super glue applicators by stretching the barrels of plastic cotton swabs (there’s that beauty aisle again). Plastic stretching is a modeling skill unto itself. I can’t wait to try this out.

Impressive Guide to Woodworking Screws

Joseph of Five Duck Studio presents one of the best primers I’ve ever seen on wood screws. It’s practical, funny, clear, and no-nonsense. He breaks down why not all screws are created equally, how the tip, thread, shank, and head each play vital roles in the screws engineering, and why things like cam-out, wood splitting, and screw “jacking” happen. You’ll learn why drywall screws are woodworking’s guilty pleasure, when to pre-drill, and how to avoid crushed fibers or failed joints. Bonus: He introduces the “screw with the mullet.”

The big takeaway: When in doubt, pre-drill. When you don’t, you’re gambling with your time and materials.

Engineering… IN MY MIND!

Well, I guess this issue has taken on something of a modeling theme. I’ve been working on a trashbashed spaceship for the tabletop miniatures game, Stargrave. There are dozens of non-trivial construction issues to resolve. It’s covered in weird angles, and there are structural challenges and constraints imposed by the scrap materials I’m working with. I’ve been finding that most of the design work isn’t happening at the bench. It’s happening in my head, while in the shower, going to sleep, taking out the trash, etc.

This mental workshop, where aha moments happen before the glue ever hits the scrap plastic, is a place of true joy and discovery. It’s quiet, recursive, sometimes obsessive, and deeply satisfying when a plan comes together. By the time I sit down to build, my hands are just catching up with what my brain has already figured out.

Concealing Layer Lines in 3D Prints

Via Donald Bell’s Maker Update comes this clever video about how to design various textures into your 3D prints to hide the tell-tale layer lines of FDM 3D printing.

Shop Talk

Tips & Tools readers join in the conversation.

Michael Butler writes:

Sadly, this doesn’t work on typical amber prescription bottles, but works a treat for OTC meds like Tylenol and other granular things with the “safety sealed for your protection” sheets stuck on top. Use a utility/X-Acto knife to remove half or less of that sheet, and voila, you limit how many pills get dumped out at a go. I find this handy in general and suspect it’d be especially helpful for people with certain mobility limitations or difficulties such as tremor. I know it helped me when I was recovering from a stroke.

My old Make: colleague, Michael Colombo:

I saw the piece about Japanese hardware stores in your newsletter, and it reminded me of this piece just released in the New York Times about French hardware stores. I thought it may be of interest to you.

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Hal Gottfried sent a link to this piece by Mike Smith, on his journeys through ham radio. I like Mike’s emphasis on the idea that ham radio is less about chatting and more about learning, tinkering, and building resilient systems that work when the internet doesn’t.

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Consider a Paid Subscription

Gar’s Tips & Tools is free. But if you really like what I’m throwing down and want to support it, please consider a paid subscription. Same great taste, more cheddar to help keep me in Walrus Oil. Plus, I’ll occasionally pick paid subscribers at random and send them little treats, tools, or tip-related treasures.

Your support keeps this whole Rube Goldberg contraption lovingly cobbled together and running…smoothly (enough). Thank you!

Special thanks to Hero of the Realm members: Jim Coraci, Donobster, Peter Sugarman, and Will Phillips for your generous support.

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Gar’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here.

08/8/25

RyanAir Bag Spies/Kuhl Sun Hoody/Bike Route Planner

Nomadico issue #165

Incentives for Hitting You With Extra Bag Charges

In case you didn’t have enough reasons to hate Ryanair, the Irish budget carrier added a big one this month. It turns out they’ve been handing out bonuses to their employees for flagging your bag that doesn’t slide right into the sizers. The employees who are definitely not “at your service” aren’t getting much for ratting you out at the gate—€1.50 per oversized bag. That seems like a stingy commission on gate fees that start at €75. Another report said that EasyJet is doing the same but paying the employees even less.

Sun Hoody for Skin Protection

I never enjoy slathering my whole body with sunscreen and the goop comes with a lot of baggage, like water contamination, questionable chemicals, nanoparticles, and high prices in foreign vacation destinations. It fills a need, especially at the pool or beach, but often swim shirts and sun hoodies can accomplish the same thing. I’m especially liking the one I packed for California and Florida this summer: the Kuhl Engineered Hoody. It’s lightweight, cool, and odor-resistant. Plus it’s flattering on my non-gym-rat body so if you’re more pumped up, it’ll look fantastic. Get it direct at that link or at REI.

Veloplanner for European Bike Routes

If you’re planning a road cycling trip in Europe, you might want to check in on Veloplanner to see what the routes and distances are like. Although more limited in scope than hiking sites/apps like AllTrails and Wikiloc, there’s a helpful depth of information on established rides, from a one-day circle around Lake Balaton in Hungary to the 1,101km Ciclovia del Sole where “cyclists will climb 9,275 meters and descend 10,103 meters.”

Paying Tolls in a Rental Car

In this age of virtual toll scanners you drive right past or under, it’s easy to miss a toll you’re supposed to pay when you’re in a rental car in the USA. Mark F. from sister newsletter Recomendo highlighted a hack via The Toll Roads website that works for southern California, but unfortunately there’s no universal solution for other geographies. The best I’ve seen is this Uni device that works in 19 states and will cover you up the entire East Coast except for South Carolina, which doesn’t have many toll roads to work around.

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A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

08/7/25

What’s in my NOW? — Whit King