Fire in the Disco... Fire in the Taco Bell

I just checked the Electric 6 "Danger! High voltage" lyrics, and it's supposed to be "fire in the disco! fire in the tacobill!" but I swear it sounds like Taco Bell. And I like it better that way...

So, this weekend we had some serious fire to deal with. Adam and I stoked David Stuempfle's 

kiln on sunday while he and Tim Ayers were trying to rest up a bit. When we got there, David thought we would almost finish up the firing with our shift... We did take the kiln quite a bit farther, but had to leave about 3pm for our landlady's birthday party, and heard a few days later, that David, Tim and Chad Brown were firing till monday morning!!!!! We have not gotten a first hand account from David himself yet, but Nancy told a funny story about Chad sleeping on the couch - sitting up - ignoring Gustav's ferocious barking...

For lunch on Sunday Nancy whipped up her Fancy Ramen noodle soup for us! It's become the staple and we always look forward to it!

Keeping with the WhatNot... What to knot or not to knot...

Adams brother Clint and his girlfriend Serena visited this weekend also, which added to the flurry of activities... we spent a few hours at work watching  Nick and Steve-O blow glass. Nick also let Andreas and Lyza blow some bubbles...

A bit of knitting history

SO we've been busy. 

Haa.

Who is not these days...

But seriously. We've been busy. Adam has been emptying this huge settlement tank for a week - riding a bike back and forth every hour to check on the generator, working on grants and whatnot in between. I staid up till midnight last night baking bread for this meeting that I catered today.

Quiet life in Star is over I'm afraid. The "busy" has caught up with us...

We managed to run to David's last weekend and drop off a few things for the woodfiring that is going now.  Sunday is our shift. That's as much clay based activity as we're going to get for an unforeseen future I'm afraid. 

But hey, I can knit almost anywhere with hardly any tools or space needed! 

As I was geeking around on "Knitty" just a few moments ago looking for something suitable to knit for Adam's sister's BRAND NEW BABY (That's right! Today is the day!) I found this article about knitting history. It never hurts to know some knitting history!

PS! Adam decided to stop pumping the settlement pond. There were millions of little tadpoles in there... and some HUGE bullfrog babies still in the tadpole stage... People laughed at him. But I am so proud!

Contraband Salad

Mouthful of nirvana...or heaven in a salad bowl depending on your choice of transcendent religious icon.  The accompanying photo represents the first home grown salad of the year from my green thumb goddess and her garden in the parking lot.  After a day of playing assistant and tour guide to the Our State magazine photographer, I come home to this.  The anticipation of the first salad of the season combined with the fact that I hadn't eaten all day, meant that those few moments I had to wait to inhale this melange of garden goodness was sheer lovely torture.  At least I had the sanity to take the photo before it disappeared.  Lyza's mouth was watering too although you may not be able to see it through her Estonian smile. 

 If you look closely you might make out a few leaf lettuces, sorrel, oregano, cilantro, parsley, chives, and some radishes along with some other toppings.  I know you're jealous.  Well, all I can say is get out and find a local farmer and join a CSA in your area, you might come close.  Just don't tell anyone in our CSA, they don't start getting delivery for at least another week.

As for the crazy events of the weekend, I bought a motorcycle.  

It's not too crazy if you take into account that I have retained my motorcycle endorsement for 15 years sans ride waiting for this moment.  It's a 2002 Kawasaki Concours, well used but in pretty good shape.  I had to leave it in the capable hands of my friend Seo in Greenville for the week but he is bringing it to me in Chapel Hill on Friday when we go to the Mogwai concert.  Pretty exciting at least from this end, more to follow.

Sorry about rubbing my kickass salad in your face, but it really was awesome.

Old postings

Somehow I end up writing blog entries while supper is cooking (except when there is something more elaborate on the stove, that demands full attention). Last time I tried to blog I had some great thoughts piled up in the back of my head, and suddenly - dinner was ready, everybody was hungry, and I had to stop. I've decided though, to be as uncensored as I can tolerate it - and upload even the unfinished business when finally there is time.

Today has been a FULL day, after a FULL weekend (of great company, food, beer, and series of crazy events that I will allow Adam to explain at his "spare time")   with our friends, Seo and Amy - their house full of pets; Kim and her family and everyone else we ran into in Greenville. Thanks to Seo and Amy for great times and for hosting us so graciously!!!

Today... I'm dirty and sweaty and tired from moving logs and inoculating them with mushroom spawn. Adam is popping corn for our homey movie night and kids are sound asleep.

Anyway, I was supposed to just explain this last entry and now it sounds like a bad home video. 

So I better stop...

Sweet Nothings

Speaking of nothing - this blog so far has no following... i wonder how long we can keep it this way? 

I think everyone is busy reading the hundreds of blogs already out there. I used to be a compulsive journaler (I know, that's not a word, thankyouverymuch - but might as well be, since I certainly was not a journalist) and I always wrote with a reader in mind...  of course, hiding the journal and trying to keep it away from prying eyes while writing for someone else was part of the whole fun. Well, now everyone is journaling online. Blogs are a great way to organize thought, ramble, record your activities - with an exception - it's not as lonely of a path of self discovery and written his/herstory as writing a journal on a paper. You get feedback. 

So it can be a tool - for artists who are not in academic setting it can be a great way to have critical discussion...

Here Goes Nothing

I've never quite understood that english expression. Here goes nothing. I mean - I know what it means, but... why is something always going down when someone says that? 

So, Here Goes Nothing.

This blog that Adam and I started. So far a lot of "nothing" has gone here... and a lot of nothing has been going on in our studio at STARworks as well. We're busy with very creative jobs. The studio is kind of far from home. We have kids. The studio is really cold in winter. We're not motivated. Too busy to take on another full time job trying to sell our work. And we're too interested in goofing around, experimenting, playing - which means our work is sort of all over the place and happens whenever it happens...

Thats where this name "WhatNot Pottery" came from. Actually, to be precise, it came from Adam's response to Seo's e-mail, and is a result of a complex thought process - all of which took place in Adam's brilliant head in a split second a few months back. Comes out Travolta is mixed in somehow, and I must have chimed a word in somewhere, but as usual, this is too much information for my chicken brain to retain...

Branding is a complicated affair. It's like naming a baby. Right? You want to get it right the first time. It has to sound right when you roll it on your tongue... It has to be visually cohesive, catch interest, and look balanced. And it has to convey content. An empty name will come back to bite your be-hind sooner or later.

In my mind this is also a tribute to our good new friends Mark and Meredith at Whynot Pottery and establishes some connection to local tradition. 

We feel really well received in this community and love this place and the people we've met!

So, here's the start. New blog begin and whatnot...