Another Minute of Fame

Andy Warhol's quip about 15 minutes of fame comes to mind every time I see my name in print. My own 15 minutes seems to take the form of 10 seconds here, a minute and a half there. In November of 1994, I managed to track down and post the portion of the US Armed Forces Military Chaplain's Manual of Religious Requirements and Practices that pertained to the practice of Wicca; Witchcraft. For a number of years, probably until the relevant materials were revised in 2001, I would occasionally run into someone who knew my name in association with that document. I met several people who had used the document to support their religious freedom in custody hearings and anti-discrimination suits and who said that it made a real difference for them. At this point, it takes a bit of digging in a search engine to connect those dots and it's not something that I bring up on a regular basis.

My fame in the field of ceramics is based on a bit more history. Whether it's posts on the CLAYART email list, links to the handbuilding lessons that I wrote and posted on my website, ceramic beadmaking techniques and firing information, the article that I wrote for Pottery Making Illustrated, or the tips that I've submitted to Ceramics Monthly, I have a reasonably high profile.

I'm contacted frequently by people who are interested in using my written materials in one way or another. I've received email from teachers in Europe, South-east Asia, South America and throughout North America asking for permission to use the handbuilding lessons in schools, rehab facilities, prisons, community centers and home school environments. I'm thrilled to know how people will be using these lessons and to know that the material is out there helping people. I almost universally approve the use of the lessons for teaching purposes and have only ever denied someone who wanted to combine them with other materials for sale on a CD-rom.

That article from Pottery Making Illustrated, on the other hand, has been reprinted by the American Ceramic Society in the book Pottery Making Techniques: A Pottery Making Illustrated Handbook and again on their website as part of their Ceramics Daily Feature. These reprints have come as surprises to me and as such I have mixed feelings. I found out about the book because I saw it at NCECA the spring following its publication. I found out about the Ceramics Daily reprint because it popped up in a google alert. (As an artist, I have several search notifiers set up so that I'm notified when new information about me is archived in Google's search database.) Sure, the reprints are good and keeping that information in front of people can only help my name recognition, etc. On the other hand, it would be nice if a publisher were kind enough to contact the authors whose work they were reprinting and let them know what's going on. Afterall, I feel like a complete idiot when someone says, "Congratulations, I saw your ______ on the web." and my response is "Huh?!?! Where? When? Are you sure?"

One of those conversations

We've all had them... At least I hope we have. You know, those mental exchanges with our creations when they've begun to take on a life of their own?

Me: We need to find you a name.

Creation: (silence)

Me: What do you think of "Ember"?

Creation scoffs almost audibly.

Me: Ok, you don't like Ember... What about "Singe"?

Creation rolls eyes but still refuses to comment.

Me: Hmmm... "Scorch"?

This prompts Creation to finally break the silence. "Do you see a Ty, Inc. tag on my fuzzy green butt?"

Not liking the direction this is going, I decline to point out to Creation that he does not, in fact, have a butt. Instead I just start throwing out a list of possible names pulled from my mental thesaurus... Charcoal, Simmer, Braise, Broil, Brûlée... (Starting to get just a little frustrated, I take a deep breath to begin rattling off more words/potential names.) Immolate, Flare, Ign--

Creature interrupts: Go back! There was one back there I liked.

Me: Please tell me that it wasn't "Immolate" I was really only being sarcastic about that one.

Creature: No. (Eyes roll as if to suggest that **I'm** the idiot here.) Brûlée! I like that. It's perfect. I've always wanted to be a "Green Brûlée!"

I groan in pain and then look sternly at the creature in front of me. "Do you really want to go to your intended home?"

Creature/Brûlée: Um, Yes!!!?!

Me: You might want to rethink that joke.

Brûlée: Why?

Me: They have a different language there. I'm not sure how well your horrid pun will translate.

Brûlée: Oh, come on. You've got to be kidding. I've haven't been around for even 12 hours yet and I know about the Green Berets. It can't be that obscure.

Me: I'm so glad that you won't be sticking around, Brûlée. I really don't think that we're destined to get along.

I'm thinking that including the creature in discussions about its naming may have given him a slightly too high opinion of his own self-worth. What I should probably be thinking instead is that I'm losing my mind and should really seek professional help.

Personality Tests

One of the side-effects of my depression is that I have this constant need to better understand myself. I'm always trying to gauge whether my thoughts and reactions are "normal" or whether I'm in some sort of unhealthy space. I'm also very uncertain of how others see me. One result of this is that I have become completely addicted to online personality tests. I could sit and take them for hours. Blogthings has a lot of these kinds of tests and there are links to more tests at the top left and bottom right of every test and results page. At least one of the additional tests usually grabs my attention and I end up clicking through to one after another and before I know it, hours have been eaten up by my quest to have a better understanding of my place in the world.

When I was in college, a friend who was in the education department gave me the Myers-Briggs test as part of a testing methodology class that he was taking. I've since taken several abbreviated versions of the test and the results tend to vary only slightly. Sometimes I test as INFP and others I test as ENFP. I have to assume that I'm right on the I/E border and the natural variations in my answers based on whether it's a good day or a bad day end up being the deciding factor.

I was wondering, earlier today, where I'm at right now. I started a new medication today in hopes of dealing with the lethargy, cloudy-headedness, and low energy levels caused by my depression. So far, today has been encouraging. I'm not feeling hyped up or stimulated but I'm not struggling to stay awake while I try to coax Sprout into a nap so that I can go back to bed. Which isn't to say that I wouldn't love it if she'd take a nap. I might even snuggle up next to her to try to get her to doze off. Once she's asleep, though, I'm thinking that it would be nice to spend some time reading something that she didn't choose.

Here's the result of the MB knock-off test that I took this afternoon... It seems pretty accurate. I'm not agitating to get out of the house, but I'm reasonably happy to be out of bed.

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards. You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's Your Personality Type?

Reclaimed Checked Scarf

scarfandswatch
Originally uploaded by MysticSpiral

I've written before about my interest in reclaiming yarn. The socks that I've knit so far (a pair for me, 2 pairs for Sprout, and a pair for my niece) have all been knit from reclaimed yarn. My current project is the one that's getting the most attention of any of my projects so far, at least locally. I had a moment at the knitting guild meeting on Monday where I wondered if it might get lost on its way around the room. Knitters with a whole lot more knitting experience than me were quite taken with it and had numerous questions about what I was doing.

One advantage of using recycled yarn for a project like this is, by choosing a striped sweater to reclaim, you can get multiple colors/shades of the same yarn without buying whole skeins. There's no question about whether or not the care will be the same, and the odds are pretty good that the yarns won't bleed into one another.

There are 2 other pictures of the scarf in my flickr stream and I wrote practically a whole blog post worth of description between the 3 images. I'd love to hear what you think.

Pay It Forward Exchange

I love the whole concept of Random acts of kindness and Pay it forward. I like the idea that good will and positive spirits can be passed from one person to another. It is a reminder that our actions can have a direct impact on people who we don't know and may never meet. This is what led me to join the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry. It is also the reason that I continue to participate in Freecycle type groups in spite of the more disturbing aspects of the official entity and some of the internal problems of the groups.

I know that there are a great many things in my possession that really don't need to belong to me. Things that are still useful in spite of the fact that I no longer have a use for them. I've spent way more time than I'd like to admit holding on to these things intending to put them in a garage/yard sale. While they might actually be worth some money, or I might get a tax credit for donating them to a charitable thrift organization, instead, they remain in the house cluttering up my life and preventing me from enjoying the space where I live. It is really wonderful when I can find, through one of these resources, someone who genuinely needs or wants something that is merely occupying space in my life.

While browsing the May wish lists on the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry this morning, I found a post that caught my attention. I'm not sure what about it grabbed me but I looked at the person's profile and then clicked over to her blog. Once there, I saw a post about a Pay It Forward Exchange. I've cut and pasted (and then re-formatted and adapted) the rules for the exchange from MochaMom's blog, "life as I know".

It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based of the concept of the movie Pay it Forward where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.

So here’s how it works:

I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange.

I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise!

What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Now for my variations on the rules... Nothing major, just a couple little things to take into account the things that I know about (at least some of) the readers of this blog...

1.) In your comment, tell me a little bit about yourself. There are so many types of crafts that I do that I'd like to have some idea of what you'll like before I make your gift. (i.e. if you're highly sensitive to fragrance, a scent bottle with an extra BPAL imp might be a really bad gift... On the other hand, I've spent quite a bit of time in forums where it would be the perfect gift...)

2.) As much as I like the idea of recipients paying it forward through their blogs, I know that not everyone has or wants a blog. If you're one of those people who has no blog and no desire to create one, you can still participate if you post the promise in an online forum where you participate. Include the link in a follow-up comment so that I can check out the forum. (Hopefully, one or more of your PIF recipients will be bloggers who can continue the blog part of the exchange... maybe the rest will continue it in other forums that they frequent.)

That's it. Two little changes/additions but basically the same concept as the one posted on MochaMom's blog. I look forward to learning more about you.

The cable is found! I am saved!

I'll be writing descriptions and updating the Etsy shop tonight. If you see something you like, drop me an email at etsyshop at mysticspiral dot com and let me know which pin you want and I can mark it "reserved". I'll give you a week to finalize the transaction before taking it off reserved status and returning it to general stock. If you need longer (I understand, we only get paid every 2 1/2 weeks) just let me know and I can extend that. I just need to know what's going on.

Now that the cable is found and I've put it into the camera case with my camera, I shouldn't have to worry about so many delays. I may even take a picture of my "photo setup" to post here in case anyone is interested. The biggest obstacle to photography right now is that I've been using Sprout's bed to set everything up on. I can clip the lights onto the wooden parts of her bed, and the light cube fits perfectly, etc... You take your vacant flat spaces where you can find them. I'd like, in the near future, to set everything up in the studio so that I can leave everything set up and ready to go.

This batch is, as you can see, is all $15 shawl pins. I've got some scribble pins ready to list. I'll be listing them in pairs and in sets of 3... $10 for 2 and $12 for 3. I have a couple of spindle whorl pins and 2 or 3 wrist distaffs that will probably be listed in a week or 2. I've gotten a couple of messages from other spindlers on Ravelry and via conversations on Etsy asking about the wrist distaffs so I've also got beads in the works for more distaffs but I need to get some firing done before I can make many more.

Car update: it looks like we're replacing a water pump. I'm not sure where the money is going to come from but we don't really have much choice. We're hoping to get another car sometime this summer, but if we try to go car shopping now rather than fixing the Radio Flyer, we're not going to be in a position to buy the kind of car that we want and we'll have no hope of becoming a 2 car family any time this decade.

So, That's all the news that's fit to print. Remember, drop me a note if anything here catches your eye... $15 for the pin, $5 for priority shipping. Given the car problems, I'm only shipping in the US for right now. For that, I can print postage online and give the package to the same guy who delivers my mail. For right now, I just don't see a practical way to get to the post office for international packages. So, I'll leave you with these last 3 images... enjoy.

Piffle!!

Well, I got some pictures taken... Not many, my camera has a 16mb card. This wouldn't be a problem, IF I could find the cable for the camera, or any other way of removing the pictures so that I could take more. I wonder where the Mr. put that cable.

My Little Red Wagon

The Radio Flyer* died Monday on the way home from the Knitting Guild Meeting. The mechanic says that the water pump failed (rather dramatically if you want my opinion) and that he can't pressurize the cooling system to determine what else may need attention. This repair is going to cost a lot of money that we don't have. Alternately, not making the repair (how much is a 93 Escort wagon worth anyway?) means acquiring a car. If we don't have the money for the repair, where's the money for a car going to come from? So much for my dreams of ever becoming a 2 car family.

I had hoped that I might have a summer job which would allow Sprout to spend the summer in 1/2 day pre-school day camp and give me a bit of extra money. Unfortunately, the employer is currently confronted with a spending/hiring freeze so it looks unlikely. I may do some volunteer work for the summer, just to start re-building my resume to maybe get some small teaching gigs. (Classes at the Boonshoft might be fun. Maybe some classes at an art center or something. Who knows?) The money from paid gigs would certainly help but volunteering and teaching would both be easier if we had a 2nd car...

The long and the short of this post is, Watch This Space for a preview of items to be uploaded to Etsy. I don't expect to finance a car payment or the repair bill out of my Etsy shop but I'm very hopeful that, with a little help from my friends, I can make enough money to buy milk and maybe pay the internet bill.

Other than the car, life is gradually moving toward "normal." Everyone in the household is having some difficulty adjusting to our new 3 cat status. Sprout goes for most of a day without any mention of Shado and then will comment on how much she misses him and how sad it is that he's dead. The cats seemed, at first, to take the loss in stride. Shado had long since retired from the pecking order and passed the throne to Hephaestus. Alpheus, our youngest male, has never really seemed to have much interest in a hierarchical order except as applies to who gets to sleep on my body pillow and get affection from me when I can't sleep. Unfortunately, both Alfie and Fuzzy have felt the need to show Mintaka (our only female) that, as far as they're concerned, she's at the bottom of the pecking order.

'Taka would so love to be an only cat. Shado was 6 months old when we brought her home and the two of them always got along beautifully. It would now appear that even after his retirement, Shado was an important ally for her and his calming influence made a real difference. I think that she may be acting out to show her disapproval of the situation by peeing in the laundry. As much as I think that this habit will prove to be a powerful motivator in the direction of sorting clothes (the ones that no longer fit can be donated) and getting them washed and put away, I'd really rather she didn't embrace this habit... If she doesn't have laundry to pee in, I'm afraid she might choose the bed.

Well, I'm putting off photography, for no good reason, so I'd better get that done so I can upload pictures and then begin working on text for the Etsy listings. If you see something in the pictures that you want, drop me a note. I'll be happy to mark it "Reserved" when I update the shop.


*You mean everyone doesn't nickname their cars... ok, red escort station wagon = little red wagon = Radio Flyer -- Clear as mud, I'm sure

Farewell, Space Monkey

If I know you offline, chances are pretty good that I've mentioned my cats and told you silly stories about one or more of them. Yesterday morning, Shado (our eldest cat and the one that I sometimes referred to as our "Radically Altered" male) passed from this world. It was not an unexpected event and we'd spent quite a bit of time over the last couple of months trying to prepare Sprout for the inevitable.

Shado was 14 years old, which is not particularly ancient in the world of domestic cats, but which was a miracle considering that he had complete renal failure 3 times when he was 4 years old. In the course of a 6 month period, Shado had to be taken to the emergency vet and placed in feline ICU twice. The third time that his urinary tract became blocked and his kidneys shut down was actually the day that we were supposed to pick him up from his 2nd ICU stay. We walked in and the vet told us that he felt Shado needed surgery. The procedure, called Perineal Urethrostomy, was done that same day and his recovery was amazingly fast.

His medical misadventures left him with some loss of kidney function (he recovered to about 80%) and a heart murmur. These are health problems which we have managed for the last 10 years with minimal problem. I will never forget bringing him home, after the surgery, with his abdomen shaved from just below his ribs to the base of his tail and down the backs of his legs. Shado was an amazingly agile cat and to prevent him from disturbing his incision, the vet extended the standard white plastic funnel collar with a 3 inch band of silver duct tape, to add to the effect, we were instructed to apply a zinc-oxide cream to the area around the incision to prevent irritation. As a result, he looked less like a cat and more like... Well, that's probably obvious from the title.

Sprout is handling the loss well, mostly. She's having some trouble wrapping her head around it and is alternately sad that he's gone and curious about when he'll be back. When I told her that he had died, she wanted me to take him to the vet so that they could make him better. When we talked about how much we were going to miss him, she suggested that we get another cat who looked just like him so that we wouldn't.

Mr. Andi is ready to bury the cat. I'm not quite there yet. I feel like putting him in a box in the ground is not the closure that I need. I'm still trying to figure it out. This isn't the first time that I've lost a pet, but it's the first time that I've guided my daughter through the loss of one and I want to do right by both her and Shado.

IMAGE: Original caption: "Fig. 75. '''Schädel der Wildkatze,''' ''Felis catus'; in halber natürlicher Größe" Translation (partly): "Skull of ''Felis silvestris'', 1/2 of natural size" Size: 2.2 x 1.4 in² (5.5 x 3.5 cm²) Originator: Hubert Ludwig Source

Spring is springing

The weather is beginning to warm which means that I'm able to return to my studio. I'm really excited about some wheel thrown spindle whorls that I've been working on. They're time consuming, but I have fallen head over heels with each and every one of them even though I'm sure that they're not saleable. (Of course this means that I'll be making a lot more of them...)

It's more than a month since I had hoped to have the Etsy shop back up and running. I mentioned in my last post some interpersonal drama. No sooner had it passed than our house was hit with some form of awful plague. The coughing has lasted more than a month and we ended up taking Sprout to urgent care where she was diagnosed with bronchitis. It's hard to believe that at 3 1/2 years old, we had never been required to give her any kind of medicine. We'd given her some infant tylenol when she was first teething, but she quickly decided that she didn't want or need it. Unfortunately, this meant that the antibiotics they prescribed for her illness were grounds for quite a few contentious battles.

I really do intend to re-open the shop. I have realized that I'm really not a business woman. That said, I have said before that I'm afraid of being buried alive by my own work. In the interest of seeing that work into the hands of those who will love and care for it, I will post pictures of the items I'm planning to list here on the blog at least a day or two before I update the shop. If you see something that you are particularly interested in, leave a comment, or drop me a note and let me know. When I list the item, I'll list it as reserved for you and give you 3 weeks to finish the transaction before removing the "reserved" label.

Well, I'm only awake and typing because of hellish leg cramps. In spite of my desire to stay up and watch the end of the PBS Masterpiece Theater presentation of Sense and Sensibility that I taped on Sunday, I must get some sleep. Tonight is "Night at the Museum" where I will be playing the role of a frontier woman spinning the night away as her babes sleep. More on that later...