Post 297

Nearly the end of another week of getting nothing done. Well, almost nothing. My first art project looks pretty good so far. I have made a 18 inch tall pylon shape, and now I have to decide if I should leave it the way it is or cover it with leaves and vines and maybe flowers and a few lizards and frogs. I still can't make up my mind about the second project. I would like to think of something to do with the red stoneware leftover from last year, so that I don't have to buy anymore clay for a while. But I'm afraid that I'd get halfway done with something and then have to go buy more red clay, which would then just leave me with another half bag of red clay and wondering if I shouldn't do something with that. I also have most of a bag of white stoneware, which might be better, but I was thinking that I'd make some raku stuff with it later.

I hate being broke and having to give this much thought to buying a ten dollar bag of clay.

I took home a bunch of dried out clay last semester, and I was supposed to recycle it over the break. But of course I'm only just now getting to it. There's a bucket of white modeling clay, or at least what will be clay after it dries out a bit and is kneaded. And I had twenty-five pounds of what I thought was white stoneware, but now that I have it out it feels too smooth for that. I'm about halfway through that, and when I'm done with it I'll ask the professor what it might be. I also have a small bit of porcelain to recycle. I've never worked with that before. Then I have another twenty pounds or so of white modeling clay, which is what I'm probably going to need the most of, and there's still tons of red clay to recycle, which right now I'm not even sure if I have a use for.

And then there's the stuff that I got out of the backyard, which is terra cotta, but there's something wrong with it and it tends to crack a bit.

My back and legs hurt from lifting heavy clay. It isn't fair that I have all these little aches and pains. It's a lot like I used to feel after having a lot of sex, only without the sex.

Anyway, except for washing dishes and recycling clay, very little work is getting done around here. It's strange that the little errands I used to enjoy now seem like so much work and wasted time. I had to go to Irving today. That usually means I also have an excuse for going to several stores and perhaps a dollar movie. But going to the stores knowing that I can only buy what is absolutely necessary just isn't that much fun, and after that took most of the afternoon I didn't really feel like seeing a movie.

I brought home a clay relief of Anubis. I don't like it as much as I thought I did, and I don't know what to do with it. Also, the house is overrun with plaster castings of dragons, and I don't know what I'll do with them either.

My husband is going to be stuck in the same place again for a third week. Normally, staying in one place like that is relaxing, but they aren't making any money at this place. Three weeks in a row, out of town, with the extra expenses of being out of town, and no money coming in. It sucks. There's going to be ice on the roads here tomorrow morning, which won't matter that much to me since I don't have to go anywhere. The bad weather is moving east, towards where my husband is. I wonder if there will be ice on the roads Saturday night. He should probably stay over for the weekend, but then there's that whole bit about not having any money. Staying over would cost just over a hundred dollars, if he didn't eat much. We tend to like eating.

Sunday I have to go to this meeting for people who live here. We don't do much. We have to elect a dozen people for a nomination committee so that we can have the election for board members in June or July. Anyway, I really don't know any of these people, but we need a dozen or so for this committee. About fifteen people usually volunteer for the thing, so picking the twelve isn't too hard, even if you don't know anybody. Someone usually practices saying "I make a motion to close the nominations and accept the nominee by acclimation," and that makes things go a lot faster.

Anyway, to convince people to attend this boring bit of business, we have turned the meeting into a potluck lunch. BBQ is provided, and we all have to supply the veggies and desserts. I forgot about it being this weekend and haven't even decided what to bring. Again, it sucks being broke. I usually buy something instead of make something. This year I might have to make something.

I am ready for this week to be over.