I've always liked to make gadgets and gizmos that have some function, either useful or not so useful. It started with the simple things that many kids make - slingshots, a simple bow and arrow, a toy boat. Occasionally I made more involved items such as a canoe and a dune buggy. Then there was the grass hut - 12 feet across, octogonal in shape, and thatched top to bottom with a thick layer of grass. I built it in a remote location, near a stipmine filled with water. Hauled the cut grass in a 1972 Volkswagon convertible with the top down. Piled the grass high in the back seat. It must have taken a dozen trips back and forth from a nearby hay field.

Simple things appeal to me more than costly homemade items. A small project lets me pursue an interest without interfering with other goals. A project with a small amount of time invested seems more like entertainment.

So now when I don't feel motivated to do more practical things I often turn to an idea about some device or other that I've wanted to try making but never got around to.

I can recall many such improvised devices that gave me satisfaction and enjoyment. Each project gives me something to be proud of and relief from the tedium that often must be endured with more practical endeavors.

Ideas for things to make come from many places. Most often the idea comes from some need. I do a lot of keying of text using a computer keyboard. I tend to keep the room temperature a bit cool, cool enough that my hands become uncomfortable. I ended up rigging a length of electrical heating tape

Around The Jazz Internet: Feb. 3, 2012
A new crowdfunded festival in Philadelphia, plus Jamal, James and Junebug.

Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: Live At The Village Vanguard
There's a tradition in many New York City jazz clubs: Monday nights are reserved for big bands. The Village Vanguard, the most storied of clubs, has observed this practice since 1966. Watch a live concert webcast at 9 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 13.

Clark Terry On Piano Jazz
Legendary trumpeter and educator Clark Terry got his jazz education playing with the Basie Band and Duke Ellington's orchestra. Commanding a wide range of styles and a dazzling technique, Terry went on to become one of the most influential jazz horn players of his generation. In this 1994 session, he joins host Marian McPartland for Ellington's "Come Sunday" and Terry's most famous tune, "Mumbles."

As we build and invent, we become more able to manipulate the physical things that are around us. We gain pride in our ability to do so.

The thoughful tinkerer comes to understand that even simple things are complex. And what is complex can be summarized in simple terms. This understanding inspires appreciation and enjoyment of the physical world.

Both intuition and logic are used to make a homemade gizmo. The more the two abilities are used together, the more powerful the combination becomes. A strong partnership of reason and creativity helps a person to produce and enjoy life.

It is fun and satisfying to conjure up and build simple devices. Those created items command more appreciation than more casually acquired, purchased items. And it feels good proving that imagination and ingenuity can make life better. Having witnessed first-hand the process of invention, we wonder what other things we can achieve.

Alan Detwiler is the author of the ebook Homemade Devices For Inventive Teens available at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000231WF2. He has a web site about homemade items at http://www.makegizmos.com.