Today I looked around for someone who can cut a transparent colored acrylic sheet to my specifications, for a photography project, and I quickly realized that this is not in the realm of your typical art store. Phone calls to four local art stores resulted in quick “no”s. Looking around on the Internet, I finally found a place that didn’t act like I was crazy. They’ll do all the work. They’ll even cut rounded corners or zigzags if I want them. Their prices are good.

“What part of town are you in?” asked the guy in the manufacturing department. “Boston,” I replied. “Oh.” .. turns out they’re in San Diego. Maybe a local place would be better.

More yellow pages hunting revealed a few local plastic fabricators. It’s strange calling up a fabricator because your call is always an interruption. Usually it sounds like someone turned off an industrial scroll saw to answer the phone. They’re not interested in chatting it up about plastics. So far a couple of them have said no. The search continues…