This is my 100th woodworking blog for Woodshop News. I could make a big deal of that, but I’m not.

In the time-honored tradition of the media, if an anniversary ends in five it’s Special. If it ends in a zero it’s even More Important. And if it ends in two zeroes, why, it’s time to declare a Holiday. Frankly, I hate when the media does that. Why is the 10th anniversary of something more special just because it ends in zero? How does ending in a two zeroes make it more important than a 99th or 101st anniversary?

Besides, making a big hoopla over my 100th woodworking blog simply because it ends in two zeroes seems to me to be somewhat inappropriate, seeing as how with my recent surgery and my right arm still wrapped up from wrist to elbow, I can’t do any woodworking right now. Heck, I can barely pick up a hammer. So, I’ve decided to observe this auspicious occasion quietly, at home with my family.

The media seems to agree with me on this, as there was no coverage of the milestone in this morning’s paper. The Today Show seems to have missed it as well. I’ll have to wait till 6:30 to see if Katie Couric mentions it.

But the media doesn’t work in the real world. To the media the first this, the 50th that, or the 100th of the other thing is cause for celebration. In the real world, where woodworking exists, we have better things to do because we consider the second and third things just as important as the first – for that matter, they’re often better, because our skills grow with the second and third attempt at something.

So I’m taking this 100th blog in stride, and looking forward to the 101st, which comes up on Friday. That one is a far more important occasion to me, because that’s the day the wrapping comes off and the stitches come out, and I can officially be a woodworker again.

Till next time,

A.J.