I posted this on on blogger.com, but i like this joint a litle better. starting over... Hi! My name is Steve and I operate the Etsy shop dubbed SineCera Carpentry, where I express my most inner self via hand-carved wooden pieces mounted to hip flasks, wind-proof lighters (sadly, not everyone's favorite kind of lighter due not wanting to infringe on another's work... but similar), bookmarks, coffee tables, and more. SineCera comes from the Greek for "Sincerity" and is the root word for Steve (cool, right?). Originating from the stamp Greek carpenters would stamp on their tables and cabinets if they didnot have to use wax to fill in a bad joint on a piece. SineCera translates directly to "Without Wax". That honesty and sincerity is what I hope to earn and use to inspire. Starting a blog about my work has been a long time coming, the long time resulting from countless excuses and lack of motivation and/or fatigue. You see, I'm currently serving in the US Navy as Corpsman (field medic with the Marines) and there are times when I have no time for my hobbies whilst being burried in patients or out in the field. Recently, I've found it within myself to do better. There are those in this world, some comlpete strangers and others very close friends who have accused the military (and therfore, myself) of being an overpaid, tax-guzzling monster. Well, being someone who's here and sees it all... yes,yes it is. In light of this realization, I've taken it upon myself to not let my short stint in the military define me. After being on my own for ten years before I joined up I'm defined by so much more. I'm a Browncoat. To some this may not seem like much. Others might not know what it is. Browncoats are a coalition of fans of the short-lived cult tv series "Firefly" upon which most of my work is based. The Browncoats fought on the loosing side of a bloody war, but not necessarily the wrong side. Channeling the feelings of this fiction helps drive me to do what I do. I may put on a blue or desert or woodland camoflauge uniform, but underneath is always a brown, leather duster. My whole life has felt like a loosing battle, low grades in school, allowing people to judge me for how I looked and dressed, rejection, hunger, bankruptcy, violence, and countless brushes with death. These events have tanned my skin into that cracked brown leather to the point that nothing the military throws at me I can't handle. I'm a Corpsman. Despite earlier saying I won't let the military define me, its still a part of what makes me. In less than two years, I have learned to suture, learned to fight, give IV's with my eyes closed, cut open a truck accident victims throat (cricothyroidotomy) to insert an intubation tube due to the patient's face being to mangled and avulsed to breathe any other way, been shit on, bled on, attacked, and watched a man many years my junior as life left his eyes due to friendly fire as I compressed his chest again and again, trying to fight off the reaper. The military itself may be the overpaid, tax-guzzling leviathan as described above and by my collegues, but I am not. If anything, for the work I do, I'm grossly underpaid, but you don't hear me complaining. I'm a Journeyman. A jack of all trades, if you will... a Knave. My whole life has been full of taking on new jobs and starting my journey towards the mastery of the craft. Like a true journeyman, I lay now claim to be amaster of anything ("for it truly means that I don't know" -Kansas). From being a carpenter, to an actor, a stuntman, a welder, a lumberjack, a rock climber, writer, a medic, an archer, a motorcycle mechanic, to all tne other trades under the sun I have taken part in define a little piece of me. I never did well in school... Multiple choice doesn't have a learning affect on my mind (another reason I'll never do well in my military record for all the advancement exams are multiple choice), so I sought to teach myself whatI could from books, other knaves like me, and hands on experience. A College degree in this generation is nothing short of worthless, thankfully I paid for that piece of shit up front instead of choking on climbing interest rates for the next forty years. The feeling I get from that liberation of depending on my degree makes me incredibly happy. I see friends and colleagues drown in misery every time they make a payment on those loans for the piece of paper that never helped as much as we dreamed. Thats why I do what I do on Etsy.com and SineCera. It makes me happy. It makes other people happy. Last year I donated several high dollar items to an auction run by Slay-A-Thon (A Joss Whedon inspired spin off of the Make-A-Wish foundation) and I didn't think twice about it. It makes me happy to be taking steps on changing the world with my art. Like the faomous quote from V for Vendetta goes "Artists use lies to tell the truth." The fiction that inspires my carvings may be fraught with fantasy, but theres always truth to it. Which is why despite the fine work I've done and lives saved as Corpsman, I'll always take more pride in being a Browncoat and a rebel. I hope you enjoyed my work here. If you did, stay tuned, I'll be writing about items in my shop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/SineCeraCarpentry) and what inspired them as well as others that inspire me on a day to day basis. Stay Shiny Steve @ SineCera
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