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MORE NON-PLAYER GUIDELINES

1. Get yourself a whole bunch of trees. A whole passel of 'em. After all, your probability of producing a masterpiece will increase in proportion to the number of trials, right? Ignore the fact that you won't have any time to spend with any one in particular and revel in the possibilities.

2. Cancel your subscriptions to periodicals like Bonsai Today, International Bonsai, Bonsai Europe, and especially the Japanese rags like Kindai Shuppan and the annual Taikan-ten album. Those exhibition books are for squares! The bonsai magazines rarely have anything new to say, and are directed at beginners, not bonsai masters like yourself. You could pay $100 for an exhibition book and that could go towards a bonsai pot or another tree.

3. Be a cheapskate. I mean a real skinflint here.

a) Who needs to invest in quality stock when you can raise your own in 20 years for virtually nothing? You can spend that time catching up on your reading, taking vacations and spending time with your friends.

b) Don't buy any bonsai tools After all, the bonsai hobby has been practiced almost 1000 years, and bonsai tools have only been around for the past 50. Who needs expensive tools like concave cutters and wire cutters when you can get by with a sharp breadknife and a pair of rusty vicegrips?

4. Keep a coffee can of full of recycled wire by your bonsai bench. If you practice hard at it, you can usually unwire a tree without breaking more than one or two small branches. Roll the wire on a hard surface and it will be good as new again. Stuff it in a jar and you'll always have a piece handy that is four inches shorter than you need and just wrinkly enough to give it character.

By the way, don't play with copper wire. Sure it holds like the dickens, but you can't recycle and reuse it like you can with the aluminum stuff.

5. Don't show your trees Exhibits blow a whole weekend and take time away from your bonsai master projects. Besides, other would-be masters could steal your secrets!

6. Forget cut paste. Trees heal better on their own - they always have. Professional arborists don't go around with big vats of cut paste for landscape trees, do they? Why should you invest $12.95 in a tub of goo that's only going to last you a year or two? You could buy another future bonsai masterpiece for that much! If you absolutely must use cut paste, why not make your own? Their are plenty of good recipes here if you search on "cut paste". Elmer's Glue, wood putty, Gorilla Snot, Play-doh, modelling clay, and bondo are just the tip of the iceberg.

7. Don't take the time to teach anyone else Not only would they learn what you know, they might surpass you at your own game. The less information out there, the better!

8. Don't part with a tree. Every one you create is a future masterpiece. If you were to swap, sell or give one away, you'd be that much further from your goal of bonsai masterhood.

28-Nov-2003	#5
TreeBay Tips:5¢ Advice:Free *MODERATOR GROUP* Join Date: Aug-2001 Location: Silicon Valley Country: USA USDA Zone: 9 AHS Heat Zone: 4 Posts: 9,747	MORE NON-PLAYER GUIDELINES 1. Get yourself a whole bunch of trees. A whole passel of 'em. After all, your probability of producing a masterpiece will increase in proportion to the number of trials, right? Ignore the fact that you won't have any time to spend with any one in particular and revel in the possibilities. 2. Cancel your subscriptions to periodicals like Bonsai Today, International Bonsai, Bonsai Europe, and especially the Japanese rags like Kindai Shuppan and the annual Taikan-ten album. Those exhibition books are for squares! The bonsai magazines rarely have anything new to say, and are directed at beginners, not bonsai masters like yourself. You could pay $100 for an exhibition book and that could go towards a bonsai pot or another tree. 3. Be a cheapskate. I mean a real skinflint here. a) Who needs to invest in quality stock when you can raise your own in 20 years for virtually nothing? You can spend that time catching up on your reading, taking vacations and spending time with your friends. b) Don't buy any bonsai tools After all, the bonsai hobby has been practiced almost 1000 years, and bonsai tools have only been around for the past 50. Who needs expensive tools like concave cutters and wire cutters when you can get by with a sharp breadknife and a pair of rusty vicegrips? 4. Keep a coffee can of full of recycled wire by your bonsai bench. If you practice hard at it, you can usually unwire a tree without breaking more than one or two small branches. Roll the wire on a hard surface and it will be good as new again. Stuff it in a jar and you'll always have a piece handy that is four inches shorter than you need and just wrinkly enough to give it character. By the way, don't play with copper wire. Sure it holds like the dickens, but you can't recycle and reuse it like you can with the aluminum stuff. 5. Don't show your trees Exhibits blow a whole weekend and take time away from your bonsai master projects. Besides, other would-be masters could steal your secrets! 6. Forget cut paste. Trees heal better on their own - they always have. Professional arborists don't go around with big vats of cut paste for landscape trees, do they? Why should you invest $12.95 in a tub of goo that's only going to last you a year or two? You could buy another future bonsai masterpiece for that much! If you absolutely must use cut paste, why not make your own? Their are plenty of good recipes here if you search on "cut paste". Elmer's Glue, wood putty, Gorilla Snot, Play-doh, modelling clay, and bondo are just the tip of the iceberg. 7. Don't take the time to teach anyone else Not only would they learn what you know, they might surpass you at your own game. The less information out there, the better! 8. Don't part with a tree. Every one you create is a future masterpiece. If you were to swap, sell or give one away, you'd be that much further from your goal of bonsai masterhood. __________________ Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today! bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!