All paper conservators know the agony and the ecstasy tape brings to our lives: the joy of warming our hands with a blow dryer while joyfully peeling still-sticky polyester tape off of a smooth-fibered paper…and the wretchedness of cross-linked, stubborn, horrible, awful, no-good masking tape that refuses to let go of the brittle, brown paper held in it’s clutches. Hours of swearing, hours of hunched scraping, and in the end, we hope, a bit of paper that might live a little longer, be a little prettier

And am I the only one who, every time, is sent back to pleasurable childhood memories of peeling things off of other things? It’s a kind of disgusting version of Proust’s madeline, isn’t it, to remember the deep satisfaction of peeling off intact inches of dead skin after a sunburn – the bigger the surface area that came off whole, the better. I remember practicing with Elmer’s glue – covering my palm with it, letting it dry, and trying to peel it off whole. I think of these things every time I sit in the zen-zone, peeling tape off of someone’s beloved letter or book or watercolor.

So, I’ve created some stuff you can buy to celebrate the struggle. Check it out at http://www.cafepress.com/tapeisevil

Enjoy!