go buy things

, originally uploaded by nirbhao.

WithoutFear.etsy.com

that way, I can make more.

Grand Rapids people, especially those who frequent City Knitting, don't have to pay shipping. we can execute an IRL hand-off.

the results are in

, originally uploaded by nirbhao.

first, I figured out the watermark. the excess is done. now for the hotness.

the majority of this blog probably deals with how much I love opening the kiln after a glaze fire. this time, pretty much the entire kiln was filled with bobbin bowls. that's like getting socks as a birthday gift. not cute feety socks, either. white ankle socks.

fortunately, I had a bunch of chickens and two really good pieces for me to stare at my work like pygmalion once did. this is one of them.

first off, I need a new watermark

, originally uploaded by nirbhao.

we're nearly four hours in to the glaze fire. we being the kiln and I.

I will admit that this timing had a lot to do with needing more chickens, but I mostly filled the kiln with dip-glazed bobbin bowls. honestly, I'll be pissed if no one buys any. I have 18 of them.

my kiln shelves are warped. I suspect this has something to do with breaking a large pyrometric cone in half so that it would fit in the kiln sitter during the last bisque fire. sometimes, I am not the world's most intelligent human being.

I paid $200 for a kiln whose lowest price, which is the beginning bid in an ebay listing, is $350. in that listing, the seller repeatedly notes that the bottom is rotted out. mine, on the other hand, functions perfectly. it came with minor cracks that I have since repaired with kiln cement. the list price new is $1,650.

it is also 12 or 13 years old. clearly a good investment.

I'm really glad that I made art a priority in my life.

always a juxtaposition

sometimes the universe speaks quietly, originally uploaded by nirbhao.

I have less to say. I'm doing more.

genuinely, I no longer am able to determine what exactly is reality. no two people have the same thing to say, and I certainly don't trust my discretion.

really what I want is the damoclean sword to stop dangling. do it or don't, my body.

glaze fire tomorrow. mostly bobbin bowls. I'm not going to make anymore. people ask if I sell them and how much for and could I please let them know when they are available, but no one buys them. I don't enjoy making them, which was a major hesitation in the first place. anyway. enough of that.

, originally uploaded by nirbhao.

some of the reasons that I love my family are the same as those that make me crazy. I am now officially the greatest disappointment, taking a medical leave from law school while we sort out the reopened hole in my heart.

I want so badly for none of this to be true.

of course I'm high

when you are a hammer, originally uploaded by nirbhao.

everything in my life is great.

---

well, there is that one little thing. I like to pretend it's not real. other people seem to be far more concerned about it than I am, unaware what a relief the drop of the damoclean sword would be.

forgive me while I wax poetic.

---

• I unloaded the klin yesterday. I actually wasn't able to fit everything I had to fire in it, which is fun. more than half of the load was bobbin bowls.

I've started turning any piece I don't like or throw poorly into a bobbin bowl. what a gross idea that I would sell only the work I dislike. the selling happening because of a willing market, as opposed to the available supply. point being that I'm not going to make any more bobbin bowls.

• I've turned the heels on my orange socks. I've been a part of two blanket bouncing ball boxes. I like to add an extra 'b' for good measure-- bbbbb.

• research and writing class and I have a love / hate relationship. the research and writing are fine, but the punctuation either makes me giddy or pisses me off. seriously, who cares whether a period is italicized? WHO CAN TELL?

• family is great. being their silly selves. I love them.

• food is delicious. however, being gluten free and having to cook pretty much everything from scratch means I can get overly ambitious.

• I recently bought a 1TB external harddrive. wasn't it pretty recently that a megabyte was big?

• I've left the hedonistic convent.* kind of scary. mostly awesome. a relationship whose roots have the breadth of friendship and depth of time can grow tall and strong.

* I still argue that hamlet was calling ophelia a whore.

a ghost who still appears

happy birthday, catholic school crush. thank you. I will always remember and treasure you.