Maker Fair!

I haven’t made much lately–I just haven’t been feeling like it for some reason. My own lack of motivation didn’t keep me from wanting to go to the Maker Fair last weekend, though. It was held at the San Mateo fairgrounds, which is about 20 miles south of San Francisco. Since I sold my car and exclusively drive a scooter, I had not yet gone on the highway or driven with a passenger. To get to San Mateo, one can take the “scenic” route, through the towns on highway 82, where the top speed is only ever 45. So, not nearly as scary as crossing the Bay Bridge or driving 75 mph with the maniacs on 101. Steven was visting, though, so I also had a passenger for the first time. A few days before he got here, I practiced with a friend of mine, but she probably weighs around 100 lbs, so it was a bit different with Steven on back. We drove around town on Saturday, which was his first time on my scooter, and I got a feel for scooting with a larger passenger, and then on Sunday we zipped on down to San Mateo for the event. After we went to Bay to Breakers in the morning. It was a busy weekend.

My only regret is that we didn’t get to spend more time at Maker Fair. Next year I will definitely try to go to the first day, so that I can see some of the presentations and events. Both of us really enjoyed what we did get to see, though. I didn’t take nearly enough pictures, but I found the whole event really inspirational. Since I started writing this post a couple of days ago, I even started a few projects!

First we scoped out the weird/cool contraptions and machines outside.

The giant head behind Steven and the mechanical dragon was a guy who stuck his finger in his nose if you powered him by running on his giant hamster wheel.

Then we headed to the Swap-O-Rama Rama, where we both dug up shirts to have silkscreened. These aren’t the best photos, but you get the idea. Sorry for cropping mine, but my hair and jeans were a mess.

There was a ton more at the fair, including a lot that we didn’t get to see due to time constraints (including the presentation of Tricia of Bits and Bobbins!). Some of it is covered in this video from ThreadBanger, though:
http://www.threadbanger.com/episode/THR_20070525