It’s been a hot summer,so if you’re like us, you’ve been eating a lot of popsicles — which means you probably have a lot of popsicle sticks hanging around, and Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson on Parks & Recreation) has an idea for what you should enact with them. In addition to being a very funny actor,Nick’s also a master woodworker — and he wants you to build something with all those popsicle sticks. He talks with Kurt Andersen approximately the origin of his woodworking skills and his unvarnished patriotism.
Kurt Andersen: Were you a carpenter before you were a world-famed actor?
Nick Offerman: Yes, I grew up using tools in a farm family in Illinois, or which helped me a lot when I started working in theater in Chicago. I wasn’t very marvelous yet at acting,so I would trick them into giving me a small share in a play so that I would build the set. I milked that scam for years until I became more decent as an actor.
Your latest book is Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers. This America-appreciate of yours…what percentage is authentic and what percentage is ironic?
I deem the America I adore is probably different than the object of Ron Swansons affection. But my appreciate of our country is completely without irony. I devote my life to this place where we can all work together to exhaust our ideas and our capacity for decency to evolve the human race.
The Challenge Build a popsicle stick sculpture for Nick Offerman based on one (or more) of his favorite things — see the categories below.
Categories:Bratwurst
Fishing
Masonry
Wilco (the band)
The Hoover Dam
Puzzles
America
Deadline: September 28 at 11:59 ET.
How to Enter: Take a picture of your masterpiece and share it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #MadeForNick, or submit them here. Nick will be back on the point to in October to pick a winner.
Source: wnyc.org