Kate McKinnon

It’s great to say.  Creeping fig.    Try it out.

I planted several of them today, to creep up the new arbor.  Also some marigolds, mint, sage, an oleander, and a yellow lantana.  All of the slats were painted, more posts set for the outdoor bathroom, the bars came off of our back windows.  No more prison ambiance to the back of the house.  I bought trellises, attached them to the wall, and twined and secured the vines.   Looking good!

I also shipped a big stack of stuff out, packed up to fly off to St. Louis tomorrow, and went to the vet to get an antibiotic for poor little Simon, our 13 week old baby kitten who is laid up with a respiratory infection he got at the shelter.  His pal Rook seems fine- she was born at the Humane Society and so had a chance to get it and get well.  Simon is miserable, his miaow is rusty and he’s having a hard time breathing through his nose.  Tiny little sneezes.  It broke my heart to see him feeling so low. And then to have to pry open his teeny little mouth and give him yucky meds. Man.  I hope he’s feeling better when I get home, it’s all up to Bria now.

Congrats to the Diamondbacks, winning tonight.  Too bad that Eric Byrnes got hurt and Chris Snyder got hit in the nuts and Augie Ojeda got stepped on at home plate. Eric’s injury is a serious matter, he pulled his hamstring, which was hurt already, but Chris and Augie will feel better tomorrow.  My White Sox won again, too- mysteriously all of my favorite teams are still up front.  

Dustin has some really sharp new stuff up in his shop, you should check it out.

I don’t want to get on an airplane.   But I am.  

It’s beautiful.  I’m off to St. Louis on Tuesday for just a few days, to teach a class, see my boys, and visit my friend Scott in Chicago.   My husband and sons prefer the sticky Midwest summer, with the fireflies, snow cones, community park and pool, while I am a desert rat and can’t imagine leaving Tucson during the hot season.   So we usually spend about a month apart.  It’s amazing- no one around.  I miss them all, like I might miss an arm, but it’s also restful and energizing, and I can get the house really clean and fix things that need fixing and do lots of neat projects.   I can stay up late and get up early and forget to eat and wander off if I want to.  

It was 107 today and I was in heaven.  I worked in the yard for hours, making flowerbeds, staining the new arbor, digging a trench, and going in and out of the pool.    Bliss.  

Admittedly  I have not spent much of this week on my web site.  My blog will be here at WordPress for now, and I’ll get some links up to the archives when I get it all figured out.  But for now, we’ll live in the moment.

I found the quotes below on the Yarn Harlot blog.  She’s writing during Pride week in Canada, which sounds like a lot of fun.   Parades, rainbows, trannies, maybe unicorns.  I love these quotes.  So reasonable.  I especially like what Paul Newman had to say.  I sure hope he’s not sick, as some say he is.  He maintains that he’s being treated for athlete’s foot and hair loss, not lung cancer.  Funny guy- I love him and I don’t care if he’s in his 80’s, I’d still hit that.

Damned cigarettes.  I hate them.

It always seemed to me a bit pointless to disapprove of homosexuality. It’s like disapproving of rain. 
~Francis Maude 

I’m a supporter of gay rights. And not a closet supporter either. From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being… by the time I get through with all the things that I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is probably so low on the list that it is irrelevant. 
~Paul Newman 

As long as society is anti-gay, then it will seem like being gay is anti-social. 
~Joseph Francis 

May I just say:  What a disappointment.  Here it is, in its entirety.  It fails to address burnout core materials completely, does not mention torch firing, which is really different than kiln incineration, doesn’t mention whether or not the Guild and the senior PMC instructors will act to try to keep kilns out of the classroom, or cut down on dry filing, and it completely ignores the tutorial up on the Guild web site that Barbara Becker Simon did on large beads built around floral foam (phenolic resin) and styrofoam cores.  The firing instructions on that one say, simply, “fire as usual.”  I asked Tim to either defend that, or tag it with a firing caution.  This is what I received.

In response to concerns about health issues of working with Precious Metal Clay, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation and Rio Grande Jewelry Supply commissioned several tests from the US Testing Laboratory and other independent scientific facilities. The data collected shows no health issues for normal use of this product or materials associated with it. Details of these tests are available through the PMC Guild at www.pmcguild.com/gettingstarted/health_safety.html.

            As with any craft product or process, individuals with special concerns should take responsibility to develop methods consistent with their situation. People with asthma or allergies should insure firing of PMC is done with good ventilation. Although it is rarely needed, appropriate protection should be taken by those with sensitive skin. Though PMC presents no known health risks, women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant should consult their physician if they have  concerns. 

You know what?  This statement doesn’t even go as far as the package directions, which instruct users to always fire with ventilation, and notes that burning metal clay binder is a respiratory irritant.  I alternate between disappointment and disgust when I review what the senior PMC staff is doing.  At a minimum, they could be teaching people the safest ways to work, and moving all of the kilns out of the classrooms.  As of this writing, they won’t even do that.  Meh.

I’ve been blogging for a long time.  Eight years?  And in all that time, I could only update my blog from my home computer, using an antiquated piece of software that came with my first IMac in 1996 or so.  Well, I’ve moved it over to WordPress, so I can update from anywhere I happen to be.  This will be how we communicate from France; I’m going to try to post some video from class.

Above, my previous web tools.  Progress…