RETURNS FROM THE DEAD!!! ... or at least hibernation
Wednesday, October 29
Still adapted 'letters' to Hollen:
Hey, jeeze... its been like two months since I've wrote! I would make a terrible pen pal :P So anywho, I feel like my weeks have been crazy busy lately, though weekends are usually a bit more sane. I am actually almost done with the SafePlace training, it was basically Tue and Thur nights all October, plus a couple Saturdays, and I've only got two sessions let. 40 hrs doesnt sound like that much when spread out over a little over a month, but when you add in about 2hrs total travel time, thats two weeknights ever week where from 5-10 I'm not doing anything particularly useful (for school that is). :/ Also I'm doing this result rating work for Google (I dont think I mentioned it before) which is fairly simple but I have to do a minimum of 10 hrs a week, so thats another 1-2 hrs per day that is claimed. I know I dont have it that bad, especially considering that my being 'really busy' is in part because I refuse to get less than 8 hrs of sleep a night :P But I'm not used to having those two extra time commitments outside of school. But next week I will be done with SafePlace training, which should help a lot. I'm not sure exactly what type of volunteering I will be doing, but they only ask you to do 8 hrs a month, which is hardly anything at all, so it wont be much of a time commitment. I will probably end up doing general gopher/secretary work at the shelter because thats the position that is most flexible with hours, but I may help out in the afterschool care with the kids or if I am brave enough do hospital advocacy, which is where we go into the hospital when survivors are geting their SANE exam. But that would be pretty intense, and I'm not positive I am emotionally ready for that.
Gosh... long paragraph. Anywho, the art is going pretty well, I am really starting to figure out my technique, which is carving on the surface (and as soon as I get some fired-I have a ton that are almost done-I will post some pics), and I have been sort of leaning towards current issues with animals, like endangered animals and hunting and such. Its freaking tiring and takes forever to carve them, but it is a lot of fun and I am really liking how they are turning out, so its pretty exciting. This week I started throwing some plates, because that is something I never really got very good at and have kind of been avoiding :P but surprisingly enough, now going back they are not nearly as hard as I remembered :D probably partly because I have been throwing much bigger pots and so its easier to handle the smaller ones. I am also starting to try throwing in porcelain, which is hard, but also pretty awesome. Porcelain is a lot softer than other clays, so it can be harder to manipulate without it coming off in your hands or falling over, but it also feels so awesomely smooth and soft when you are throwing. I also think its going to be easier to carve since its so smooth, because a lot of the stoneware that I have been throwing with has a lot of particles in it, and my little tool doesnt actually catch on them but its just rougher to carve. If that makes any sense.
Anywho, on a slightly related note, Abby is at SU this semester, and I've been hanging out a lot with her because she is in the ceramics class the day I proctor (which means I sit and work in the studio and make people sign in when they come in after hours) so I see her then, and also shes living with Harry in Austin and has been having occasional parties at their place which is fun.
Bah.. its already 9:40 and I made myself promise to get some more stuff done before I leave, so I'm off to throw more pots, but I swear I will write again BEFORE December.
Hey, jeeze... its been like two months since I've wrote! I would make a terrible pen pal :P So anywho, I feel like my weeks have been crazy busy lately, though weekends are usually a bit more sane. I am actually almost done with the SafePlace training, it was basically Tue and Thur nights all October, plus a couple Saturdays, and I've only got two sessions let. 40 hrs doesnt sound like that much when spread out over a little over a month, but when you add in about 2hrs total travel time, thats two weeknights ever week where from 5-10 I'm not doing anything particularly useful (for school that is). :/ Also I'm doing this result rating work for Google (I dont think I mentioned it before) which is fairly simple but I have to do a minimum of 10 hrs a week, so thats another 1-2 hrs per day that is claimed. I know I dont have it that bad, especially considering that my being 'really busy' is in part because I refuse to get less than 8 hrs of sleep a night :P But I'm not used to having those two extra time commitments outside of school. But next week I will be done with SafePlace training, which should help a lot. I'm not sure exactly what type of volunteering I will be doing, but they only ask you to do 8 hrs a month, which is hardly anything at all, so it wont be much of a time commitment. I will probably end up doing general gopher/secretary work at the shelter because thats the position that is most flexible with hours, but I may help out in the afterschool care with the kids or if I am brave enough do hospital advocacy, which is where we go into the hospital when survivors are geting their SANE exam. But that would be pretty intense, and I'm not positive I am emotionally ready for that.
Gosh... long paragraph. Anywho, the art is going pretty well, I am really starting to figure out my technique, which is carving on the surface (and as soon as I get some fired-I have a ton that are almost done-I will post some pics), and I have been sort of leaning towards current issues with animals, like endangered animals and hunting and such. Its freaking tiring and takes forever to carve them, but it is a lot of fun and I am really liking how they are turning out, so its pretty exciting. This week I started throwing some plates, because that is something I never really got very good at and have kind of been avoiding :P but surprisingly enough, now going back they are not nearly as hard as I remembered :D probably partly because I have been throwing much bigger pots and so its easier to handle the smaller ones. I am also starting to try throwing in porcelain, which is hard, but also pretty awesome. Porcelain is a lot softer than other clays, so it can be harder to manipulate without it coming off in your hands or falling over, but it also feels so awesomely smooth and soft when you are throwing. I also think its going to be easier to carve since its so smooth, because a lot of the stoneware that I have been throwing with has a lot of particles in it, and my little tool doesnt actually catch on them but its just rougher to carve. If that makes any sense.
Anywho, on a slightly related note, Abby is at SU this semester, and I've been hanging out a lot with her because she is in the ceramics class the day I proctor (which means I sit and work in the studio and make people sign in when they come in after hours) so I see her then, and also shes living with Harry in Austin and has been having occasional parties at their place which is fun.
Bah.. its already 9:40 and I made myself promise to get some more stuff done before I leave, so I'm off to throw more pots, but I swear I will write again BEFORE December.
