Nick Offerman doesn\u2019t subscribe to any particular religious dogma, but he can deliver a sermon on the value of self-sustainability.<\/p>\n
“Rather than try to write a book about something in the world of materialism, I instead prefer a radical propaganda, suggesting that we can make things for ourselves, requiring no technology whatsoever,\u201d Offerman said.<\/p>\n
His passion for craftsmanship and knowing how to do things yourself is the motivation behind his book, Little Woodchucks: Offerman Woodshop\u2019s Guide to Tools and Tomfoolery<\/a>.<\/p>\n Offerman cowrote the book with Lee Buchanan, and both authors will be in Des Moines Oct. 14 for an appearance at the Franklin Event Center with Beaverdale Books.<\/a><\/p>\n Ahead of his visit, he talked about how he takes solace from an internet-obsessed, consumerist world by working with tools and sharing that knowledge.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m not going to go online and give my hot takes like some jack*** pizza reviewer,\u201d Offerman said. \u201cI’m going instead to make something. What can I offer that’s positive?”<\/p>\n The more that our society relies on AI or technology or the internet, the more helpless we’re going to become \u2014 the more incredibly valuable it’s going to be to know how to use a pair of pliers.<\/p>\n Nick Offerman<\/p>\n The film and television actor is best known for his Parks and Recreation character Ron Swanson \u2014 a meat-eating, scotch-drinking, government-hating libertarian. Swanson is also a skilled craftsman, something Offerman has in common with his character.<\/p>\n Growing up, Offerman\u2019s father was an amateur furniture maker and woodworker. In his farming family, everyone knew how to sew buttons onto their clothes and bake a loaf of bread.<\/p>\n \u201cThen I became a scenery carpenter through my 20s \u2014 mostly in Chicago \u2014 and so my tool proficiency increased, and it wasn’t until my late 20s that I said, \u2018Oh, wait a second, I can actually make a dining room table. That’s pretty neat. I think I’m going to focus in on that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In 2001, he founded Offerman Woodshed in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n As he\u2019s gotten older in an increasingly technology-dependent society, he feels that the tools of his childhood have come to feel more like a superpower.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more that our society relies on AI or technology or the internet, the more helpless we’re going to become \u2014 the more incredibly valuable it’s going to be to know how to use a pair of pliers,\u201d Offerman said. \u201cI have adult friends that literally don’t know the difference between a Phillips screwdriver and a standard. If they see me hammer a nail, they look at me as though I just gave birth to a kangaroo.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to offer creativity and positivity and say, \u2018Let’s love one another. Let’s make stuff together for each other.\u2019 <\/p>\n Nick Offerman<\/p>\n In his latest book, Offerman invites kids and their parents to become knowledgeable about tools and feel empowered to build things themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to offer creativity and positivity and say, \u2018Let’s love one another. Let’s make stuff together for each other.\u2019 Because the things in this book \u2014 some of them are so easy,\u201d he said. \u201cThere’s a pair of toast tongs that you can make in like 10 minutes. And then the box kite is just so fun. It’s some long sticks, some wine corks and some paper. And you can make a super-cool kite that you can decorate however you want.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the projects are simple, but some are not. Offerman hopes people embrace trying new things and also understands no one will achieve mastery of their craft without mistakes.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is me casting my vote for how we can be good citizens and good members of creation \u2014 whatever you believe that to be. I think that’s our responsibility. That’s how we should bring up our families,\u201d Offerman said. \u201cAnd so I expect everyone to put this book in the drawer of every hotel room.\u201d<\/p>\n To hear this conversation, listen to\u00a0Talk of Iowa<\/a>, hosted by\u00a0Charity Nebbe<\/a>.\u00a0Dani Gehr<\/a>\u00a0produced this episode.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nick Offerman doesn\u2019t subscribe to any particular religious dogma, but he can deliver a sermon on the value…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[288,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-67997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}