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“Fullness of knowledge always means some understanding of the depths of our ignorance; and that is always conducive to humility and reverence.–Robert Millikan

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Today has to be the most anticipated day in our woodworking kingdom. Today we celebrate the regrets and angst that come from building primitive things out of wood without considering the basic tenants of design. Today we announce the 2011 Sh!t Bunny Award!
 

 
Our annual Sh!t Bunny Award is a didactic award… it is easy to learn from — and remember — the mistakes of others. And yes, some mistakes are bigger than others, and if the mistake has caused years of regret, as in this year’s winner, well… we need to celebrate it!
 
We whittled the 2011 entries down to three finalists (don’t worry if your submission didn’t win, your images are stored in a zip drive and will be considered again in 2012. The pic below captures our judges sealing the zip drive in a jar that will be buried in our parking lot…)

 
Pictured below is a detail shot from the 2011 winning entry;

 
There are many good points to this entry. For example, look at all those books.
 

 
Prior to sharing the identity of Fred West‘s next new best friend, let’s see what the maker has to say regarding this effort…
 
“I constructed this sad set of bookshelves in 1998 when I was sorely in need of furniture–I had no woodworking or design skills, and no money to buy something that was well built and looked nice. So, I headed to the big box store, grabbed a couple packets of L-brackets, some screws, a can of stain and then headed for the racks of pine.
 
All the cross cuts were made on my grandfather’s ShopSmith, then I went to town with the L-brackets and screws. After an hour or so of work (plus drying time for the stain), I had a serviceable set of shelves that held a lot of books – I subsequently made two more of these monstrosities.
 
When I was hired by Popular Woodworking Magazine in 2005, I had yet to acquire design skills and nowhere in my job description did it say I was supposed to build stuff–I was an English major. I quickly realized that I’d be foolish not to take advantage of the opportunity to learn. It soon became obvious that my L-bracket shelves were…ugly, and not as structurally sound as they could be.
 
I now realize that “looking good” is just as important as “well-built” – who wants to build things that look bad? Might as well just use L-brackets.”
 
Our 2011 Sh!t Bunny Award recipient is none other than Megan Fitzpatrick and helping her celebrate is Robert Lang…

 
When asked “why” she decided to enter our little contest, Megan offered the following;
 
“Really, I just wanted the bunny. I was fairly certain that my 1989 bookshelves constructed with L-brackets, merited consideration for the ShIt Bunny Award.
 
You see, I’m the managing editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine, and one of my responsibilities is to weed the great from the OK and bad, and help decide what projects we should print in the magazine. I also design and build projects for the magazine. In other words, 22 years after making that first horrid-looking set of bookshelves, I’m now one of the folks who helps guide other woodworkers toward what to make and how to make it.
 
So I entered my L-bracket shelves in the contest in part as an inspiration – I now know that if I’ve a need for a piece of furniture, I can design and build custom work perfectly suited to my needs, space and taste – and it will be better built than anything ready-made that I could afford. And it is going to take WAY longer than two hours. Plus, I really wanted that bunny.
 
So why have I kept the L-bracket monstrosity for 22 years? I haven’t yet gotten around to designing the perfect blend of form and function to suit that little cubby. As soon as I do, those shelves will be relegated to the basement to hold cans of paint. For now, they’re the ideal place to display my new bunny.”
 
It is important to note that sitting right next to Megan’s “bookshelf” (insert coughing noise here), is this polar opposite effort;

 
So Megan, on behalf of the Drivel Starved Nation, THANK YOU for honestly sharing your woodworking progression, AND your candid admittance that you just wanted a Sh!t Bunny.
 
Now it is my turn.
 
You won not because your bookshelf is primitive and hard on the eyes, it is all that and more/or less. You won because you share the same initials as Megan Fox.
 
-John