Introducing myself - western MA slate carver

["daedelus lanthanien" <daedeluslanthanien@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Welcome Sarah,
Your letter caught my eye, I have been seeking a grave stone carver for some
time to swap knowledge with. I hope that we get the chance to chat. I use
the Yahoo messenger, my nick is daedeluslanthanien. Please say hello when
you have a chance.

I learned something very interesting during my apprenticeship about old
stoneworkers, most of them have also mastered blacksmithing. Working with
tools that you have personally forged is very satisfying. You may want to
hunt up a local smith. I have recently met a fine blacksmith that lives by
our quarry. I am very impressed by this man, his name is Rick Furrer. He has
a web site: http://www.doorcountyforgeworks.com/about.htm I have hired him
to produce tools for our quarry. Glutting and cutting stone all week and
forging tools all weekend has become tiresome for me. I am sure Rick would
help you with whatever it may be that you require. If you are interested,
send Rick a E-mail, contact me if you have any trouble reaching him.

Rick's artist statement is pretty cool:
Artist Statement
Man has shaped metal for over ten thousand years yet the struggle with the
material is as fresh and current as anything born of Silicon Valley. The
world of information superhighways and cyber space has left me rather cold
and disenchanted and though I embrace some of the technology I willingly
shun the rest. Through the interaction of fire, metal and flesh I feel a
connection to a past that many have abandoned. I feel more at peace tapping
on the anvil and not the keyboard.

Which brings me to pitch my 2 cents in on all of the poor folks struggling
with the airlines. All that I need to do to convince myself that my proper
place is home, is to read this stuff. You can have New York, London, Rome,
leave the Northern Wisconsin forest, lakes, and rivers to me.

The Badger has had a good day, have a good night, daed