The Next Big Thing

Well sirs and madams, it looks like the Grand Bookbinding World Domination Trail is going to begin in tiny, beautiful Telluride, Colorado. Have I ever even been to Colorado?  No.  Am I excited to go live for a month in a tiny hamlet nestled in the Rocky Mountains that is less than a mile from one side of town to the other?  Surprisingly YES.  Here are all the pictures of Telluride I've been able to find:

Okay I lied, I found plenty more on Google image search but they become kind of redundant, yes? Bottom line: does this place look like HEAVEN or WHAT?! Question mark exclamation point INDEED! So, I'm going to be there from April 25 through May 27 taking classes from the American Academy of Bookbinding, which I gather is much less traditional and horrible than the name leads you to believe.  The incredibly kind administrator called me the other day just to check in with how I'm doing, and to say that so far there are only 3 (!!) people signed up for the first few weeks of class so if they don't get at least one more person they might have to cancel (!!x2).  So hey if any Dear Reader is interested in being really cool and learning about Basics in Paper Conservation, Sewing Structures, and/or Restoration of Cloth and Leather Bindings, you should definitely sign up and then we can be roomies in paradise.

What's been REALLY fun is going over the class supplies lists and getting all the cool tools and materials that they want me to have.  I think the way that the stereotypical woman views shoes and handbags is the way I view awls, glue brushes, and bookcloth.  I got SO EXCITED when I saw this picture--SO MANY AWLS!!!  So, after dropping upwards of a hundred bones, I have ALMOST all the things I need.  The last thing that kind of scares me is the Paring knife I'm supposed to buy, which, before you offer helpful suggestions, is DIFFERENT from the kind of paring knife you use to chop up vegetables and threaten home invaders (though from the pictures it looks like this kind would be much better suited to home defense).  As far as I can gather it is for trimming leather (!!), and apparently there are many different

varieties, as one supply list demands a Swiss or
 French paring knife, while another wants a German.  I guess getting the Swiss one would represent a nice compromise between the French and German, so probably that's the one I'll go for.  The other problem with them is that it's the one thing that is expensive by itself--like, $30-$60 expensive, whereas all the other stuff is generally under $10 per thing.  So, point being, hey Mom and Dad, if you feel like getting me a Mid-March Festival present, I have a good idea of what it could be?

In further supply-based questions, I also need to bring with me several books and such to practice my conservation madness on, so if any one has any of the following, and doesn't mind me messing around with it, I will conservitate it for you for FREE!! :

-any print or drawing (basically any piece of paper) from before 1850
-any repair-needing book published before 1900, preferably less than 1" thick and 12" tall
-any leather book in need of repair
-any cloth-bound book in need of repair