This is an archived page. (current posts)

Monday, June 27  

Of Walls and Weather

{The weekend, in review...} I took my last vacation day of the fiscal year last Friday, and so had three full days to thrash about in my studio and such. I made some pots - just a few, but enough to keep a bit of momentum going. My time at the wheel is frustratingly scarce, as all the projects working on the building itself keep taking over.

I continued on around the north and east interior walls; pulling off the plywood sheeting, adding insulation bats, reattaching the plywood, painting, and then moving all the junk and storage around into a slightly more condensed and useful order. About 1/4 of the way done with that project now, and reclaiming some valuable floor space as I go. (It's gotten so crowded in there, especially since the addition of the lawn mower parking space, that I'm like an animal amongst the tall grass, winding my way down narrow pathways to each destination. Hopefully, this will open it up a bit.)

With balmy Indiana humidity and a temp of about 95 degrees outside - lord knows how hot inside - this is sweaty work. The long sleeves, latex gloves and respirator mask for protection from the fiberglass are an unusual way to shed water weight, but what the hell, right? It's bizarre to sit in blasting AC M-F at a desk, then sweat my brains out Sat-Sun working in the natural elements. Oh, and we caved in to the inevitable on Friday and turned the AC on at home too, so every snack break indoors is like a freeze-thaw cycle. What must my metabolism make of this?

Wednesday, June 22  

Jobs Loves Jobs

You've got to find what you love... Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."
Steve Jobs Commencement Speech, Stanford 2005

Coming from him, this isn't just the same old same old. I'm impressed at how genuine this sounds (even if he probably had some help from a speechwriter) and I like the connection he makes between something you love, the work you do, and finding satisfaction.

I don't even remember who spoke at my graduation, but I am certain it wasn't as good as this.

Tuesday, June 21  

Neal Stephenson Geeks on Star Wars

"To geek out on something means to immerse yourself in its details to an extent that is distinctly abnormal - and to have a good time doing it."
Neal Stephenson, "Turn On, Tune In, Veg Out"

Stephenson is one of my favorite writers - he puts the words down and they just fit into my head like parts snapping in place. Long novels, short non-fiction, essays, even his disclaimer about why he doesn't answer email. Clearly he's smart enough to have figured out how dumb the rest of us are.

Monday, June 20  

Vanity

A blog is a vanity project.
A blog is a vanity project.
A blog is a vanity project.
A blog is a vanity project.
A blog is a vanity project.

 

On Blogging

"Last year, a survey of 3,000 blogs by the software company Perseus concluded that in the United States 91 per cent are maintained by those under 30 and 'the typical blog is written by a teenage girl who uses it twice a month to update her friends and classmates on happenings in her life'. It estimated that by the end of this year there will be a million web logs, although most won't last a year and, like clasped diaries in the physical world, the majority will be abandoned within a month."
The Guardian U.K.

Teenage girl, twice a month, happenings... that's me all over.

 

In Training

This morning's idea was that you can train yourself down the Comfort Curve. i.e. that an upper-middle class lifestyle doesn't have to expand forever, sucking in all available resources, obliterating toughness and resiliency and deferred gratification and genuine desire. That there can be more meaning in having less, or more satisfaction in taking the harder path.

But...

You'd have to really want to. Really, really want to. Because life is hard enough, and the lure to go with the flow is too strong, and we're swimming in thoughtless consumerism, brand name-ism, brand new-ism, more-ism. Gadgets, God and Gravy - pass me a second helping! Or don't. The hell with it.

 

RGB Dreams

I don't know what it is, but I sure like it as a title. Found hidden in the HTML of a cluttered page on the DePauw site...

Wednesday, June 15  

Techno?

Good lord, I've gone completely techno! Or perhaps it's more of a pastel stained glass look. Where did this come from? I suppose once you start goofing around with your main CSS file, anything can happen...

update: I've now swapped the column order around too, and removed some junk in the navigation column, and deleted all the HTML tables from the template. What were they doing there in the first place, nested inside CSS-positioned divs? Odd.

I'm finally discovering the power of CSS layouts (really, really late to the game, I know); but also the pitfalls. For example, it's so easy to make global changes once the supporting structure is in place, that it's tempting to just change stuff at random. And, also, hard to focus on fine-tuning, since I suspect I'll make enough big changes soon that it's not worth it.

Interestingly, the fluidity of the presentation puts the real value (such as it is) back on the text.

Monday, June 13  

Turning the Tables

"Under the table"? "Over it"? "Fuck those goddamn stinkin' HTML tables straight to hell"? I dunno.

Whatever the catchy title should be, I've finally started getting rid of them on my St. Earth site, starting with a simple one-column layout on the Rare Earth page. It's about time!

So now I'm unsure as to whether I should continue this throughout the site in it's current design - i.e. convert to all-CSS layouts - or if the redesign should happen first. Since one is technical and the other will require inspiration and decision making, the odds will start at 100:1 in favor of the former. I suppose an argument could be made that switching to as much CSS formatting as possible first will make the redesign easier, right? OK, the dummies that bet on the longshot lose: conversion first it is!

Friday, June 10  

Warren MacKenzie

"The good pots are the ones I like... for me."
Warren MacKenzie, NPR audio profile

MacKenzie has been the archetypal American potter for almost 50 years.

NPR did this profile on him last week and I find it so interesting to hear his voice, after reading all those words by him and about him over the years. He talks about why he stopped pricing his pots, how he got silicosis, and the idea of having to stop working one day. At 81 years old, he still makes about 5000 pots a year. That's about what I've made in the last ten. Simply amazing.

Wednesday, June 8  

She's Nice

s: "Where'd I put that whoozamajig?"
c: "I'm sure you had it last night."
s: " Oh, duh - here it is. I'm stupid."
c: "You can't be stupid on your birthday!"

Tuesday, June 7  

Seeya, 33

Today's my last day at age 33. Tomorrow I'll have outlasted Jesus himself, and only time will tell if that's a good thing. I'm ambivalent about birthdays. In preperatory celebration, I bought Coldplay's new album X&Y from the iTunes store, but I redeemed a gift card from last xmas to do it. Who says us old timers are cheap?

Damn kids - get off my lawn!

 

No. 11 With a Serious Vapor Trail

Last June, I wrote that my St. Earth site was #30 on Google's list of potters. A year later and I've soared to #11. My ego is awash with abundant stroking! My site is sorely outdated and needs scrupulous love to justify this high honor! I'm an idiot!

So where can it go from here? Paul Chaleff must be sweating it hard, as I surge into his rearview mirror. Dare I dream of the promised land: Dick Lehman, cemented into the top spot like a king on an iron throne? Nay, I dare not... those anagama guys get all the love.

Monday, June 6  

Of Mowers and Siding

{The weekend, in review...} So we finally bought a riding mower for our 3+ acres of grass, and have thus cemented our membership in the Bobo Lawn Tractor Club. We both resisted. We schemed and planned and tried to find a way out; we imagined ourselves with a yard full of rocks or mulch or wildflowers; we talked about using the pushmower instead of going to the gym; we considered outsourcing it for life at $70 a shot. But man, does that thing haul ass.

In other outdoor fun, I'm finally sealing the outside of the studio, weatherproofing the siding my dad and I put on in April. I left it exposed for about as long as one could hope to get away with, and am hoping to finish up before the next series of summer thunderstorms. I'm using this thin, semi-transparent stain that is supposed to go on with a brush, so it's slow going. It stinks, it's oil-based, and it's hot out there surrounded by weeds and wasps. Ah yes - all the joys of country living and the DIY lifestyle combined.