your hands ...

... what are they going to do today?

Tell me about your laborious achievements!
May it be in a pizza parlor, an office typing away, doing gardening, walking the dogs, painting a picture or just trading stocks. No matter what you do, it must be valuable.
Explain why.

Nonsense you never wanted to know

My Love Element Is Fire

In love, I am a true listener and totally present. For me love is all about feeling more alive than I've ever felt. I attract others with my joy and passions and my flirting style is defined by a strong ability to communicate. Fun and play are the cornerstones of my love life. And while my flame may burn too brightly, it's part of that very appeal. I connect best with: Wood (what about that... LOL) Avoid: Water (but I love swimming, go figure) You and another Fire element: will likely burn out quickly (dahh!)

What Element Is Your Love?

Changing the Eagle?

Official Announcement:
The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance.
A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed.

Got this from Granny's
blog

What's this?

OK I get it. Memorial day is all about remembering the brave woman and man who fight overseas so I have the luxury to gulp down barbecued chicken tonight. No, that is wrong - start again. Memorial day is all about sacrifice of defending freedom. Nah, that doesn't cut it either. Memorial day is about the dead, the sacrifice of soldiers who fought for freedom and now lay slain deep under the ground.
I guess it's an other great opportunity to party and come together with your neighbors, why not.
As long as it is for the right cause, we should continue dancing with the dead.

So here is a pic that shows you my beginnings for the construction of the recycling bin I'm building. Thought you might like to "follow the process".

Cheers, and remember - most stores are closed tomorrow (Monday) because people will be flooding churches, synagogues and mosques to honor Memorial day and pray for the slain who defended our cooperate freedom of capitalistic growth.
Blessed be all, as the pope will say, standing there and giving a sermon in Auschwitz tomorrow.

We live indeed in a bizarre world I would say, don't know if I entirely can get used to it.

P.S. Oh yeah - and thanks so much for your abundance of comments about Memorial day. It truly helped me to define my own vision of this event.

mormor, memorial. memo, minima - what are we celebrating?

The US is celebrating a long weekend. There are a few of those in the course of the year. What do we memorize this time, what are the images that should resound and appear amidst the the fumes of barbecued meats and charcoal induced blisters on your fingers while flapping around the stuff on the grill.
What are we celebrating? Heck, you have to help me out, tell me the whole story!
In the mean time I will celebrate "memorial" day(s) and remember all the things I plan to do before this summer is over.
(Huhhh, in the background of my grey brain cells I memorialize that this holiday has something to do with the end or beginning of violence - am I on the right track?)

Bush reflections ...

Just tilt your head a bit to your right and look at the image again. Then you will be able to read what I'm thinking about him ...

I am an ant!

I checked out where I had previously stepped my foot onto this earth. And now I feel very little, like an insect building its own pile of reality after looking at this graph. What about Central and South America - Africa and it's many countries, the Middle East, Asia, Russia ...
Ok, I'll find my tunnel now and creep into my chambers, well prepared with geometrically correct alignment of pine needles and debris - and fall asleep.




here is a link where you can
create your own visited countries map

sweet home, "out of many - one"

Loafing

I looked into the room a moment ago,
and this is what I saw—
my chair in its place by the window,
the book turned facedown on the table.
And on the sill, the cigarette
left burning in its ashtray.
Malingerer! my uncle yelled at me
so long ago. He was right.
I've set aside time today,
same as every day,
for doing nothing at all.

by Raymond Carver


Inspiration

I glanced around the studio today
and saw relics from the past
collecting dust -
so I must
rise
up and liberate
before the next dawn
the phoenix inside, not yet born
from layers of ashes and dust of yesterday.

by me

progression of a handmade spoon

Don't want to bore you to death with my sculpture/craft/teaching issues, but I thought this series of pictures somewhat show what is happening when you do things all by hand with the use of simple hand tools.

Recycle

So my teaching gig is done for now. On to the next project. The town of Great Barrington in MA wishes to have "artistic recycling bins" and I was one of the lucky 15 chosen to do so. I plan to use driftwood from a nearby creek, some mahogany that will be carved, and structural elements made of metal. I think this project might raise awareness about the use of our recources. But the bad side of the coin is, that more and more towns and cities in the US dump the recyclables into a landfill again because the cost of recycling is larger than that of reconstitution. I bet you that once the oil runs low - there will be a change of mind. Until then, we will struggle with the antiquated system of our "free marked society".
Have a Coke and a smile... and cheers to cooperate profits while our lands are being poisoned, our future dumped!

Bridges

Today the world was how it needs to be
calm with intensity
standing on the bridge
watching the flow of traffic
running restlessly below my feet
whilest composing pictures with cameras and also dwell on thoughts of my own.

quote of my day

The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined. (source here)

grass clippings

Not much to say, except that I have a sore throat that is killing me and that I am home for the weekend to mow the lawn. Left stripes of the little white flowers as you can see. Can't make myself to eradicate all growth. Once they have bloomed I might cut them; but for now I left stripes because they are so pretty.

Billy Joels birthday (yesterday)

Yeah so alright - he is a pop musician, not my most favorite genre, but he had lyrical jewels. Below is one of them. Other than that, I will post a whole bunch of pictures of our carving sessions and two cute pictures of kindergardeners taking a pause by the creek just beside the woodwork shop.

Enjoy your day, and say something nice to someone around you - create a small miracle that way...

BILLY JOEL - "And So It Goes"

In every heart there is a room
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
My silence is my self defense


And every time I've held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you soon I suppose

But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed
It's just as well for all I've seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you
That's if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows

My dear students

Besides carving and sculpting, we also enjoy the spring, the flowers and the trees.
It is funny, there are plenty posts out there on blogs and else-wise describing the insanity of present political nuisance. But for some miraculous reason I don't feel affected these days. May the Iranians split atoms and enrich Uranium to their hearts desire, I don't really care anymore, nor should idiot Bush.
Creating perpetual fear amongst people is more vicious to humanity than letting loose an other "Chernobyl".
Destruction with nukes is one thing, eliminations of free spirited minds - quite an other...

_________________________________

Again and Again

Again and again, however we know the landscape of love
and the little churchyard there, with its sorrowing names,
and the frighteningly silent abyss into which the others
fall: again and again the two of us walk out together
under the ancient trees, lie down again and again
among the flowers, face to face with the sky.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Birth

After the long tunnel that took ages to pass, the world was filled with light and and bright yellow flowers.

Who is responsible?

My sons birthday was last Monday and he turned twenty. My birthday is next Monday and I will turn 49.
The little bike he used to roam with has been replaced with a "death machine", his own choice. How can I convince him to ride a 250cc or a 500cc to gain experience first, before embarking on a vehicle that thunders down the road with over 100 miles (200 km) if you wish it to do so?
I am afraid he is going to be a bushel of bones if I am not able to make him contemplate. The only pause I have is that the bike is not road-worthy yet. It needs some work before it can launch it's vigor. It might become a "project" or a "mission" for a while.
How do you tame tweens?

Sorry - it's a candle holder... but all your suggestions were doable (feasible).
I have no internet in the evenings or night right now, only during the day when I'm busy - so my presence "here or there" is very sparse. Anyhow, greetings to you all!

Qizz

What's it gonna be? Look at the three stages and determine the outcome:
a) a bowl
b) a candle holder
c) saucer for a flowerpot
d) a vessel for jewelry
e) a soap dish
All winners will receive something free, jet to be determent ...

(for a closer view you can left-click on the picture for an enlargement, as is true also for a whole bunch of my other images posted here)