Target.

Daily photo: 8/29/08

On the street where I live.

Daily photo: 8/29/08

8/27/08

Backyard.

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8/26/08

Playing with my camera.

Daily Photo: 8/25/08

So, here's the thing.

I learned to enamel in undergrad with the amazing Sarah Perkins. She's probably one of the best enamelists in the country and I was truly lucky to work with her.

In undergrad, I enameled a lot. A lot. And while finishing my senior show, half of the pieces for which were enamelled, I realized that I don't like to enamel. I love other people's enamels, and I have great respect for the medium, but I'm not very good at it.

Enamelling takes patience, cleanliness, and a willingness to accept problems that you may not understand. I can sometimes have the patience, but the clean working is not my strength, and not knowing why something isn't working will take me from calm to crazy in 2 seconds.

However, I keep having opportunities in the enameling world--and I'm grateful for them. Currently I'm serving as the Exhibition Coordinator for the 2009 Enamelist Society's National Conference and at Kent State, I'm teaching beginning and advanced enameling and working to promote Kent's spectacular large-scale enamel kiln.

And that's why my Kent studio space looks like this right now:
I am determined to get better at enameling and learn to enjoy it as much as I can. And today, look what I did! (it's not done) I have to teach painting enamel to my advanced students, so I've been practicing, and while I certainly don't think it's great, I also don't think it's horrible--baby steps. And so far nothing has inexplicably popped off, or cracked, or sunk, or discolored, or peeled, or...
Daily photo: 8/24/08

Saturday farmer's market

at Heritage Farm in Peninsula, Ohio in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Lovely.

Daily photo: 8/23/08

New year, New apron.

made from scraps, and an old linen skirt. Gots ta have me a apron. It's like my thinking cap.

Daily photo: 8/22/08

A Good Year

Let's hope so.

Daily photo: 8/21/08

A delicious and healthy breakfast.

Daily photo: 8/20/08

8/19/08

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The old stompin' ground.

Back at Kent State.

Daily photo: 8/18/08

I feel like such a quitter.

For years, I've been a big supporter of french press coffee as my home brewing method; espresso machines are too expensive and bulky, so it seemed like the next best thing. And I still think it is.
But lately, I've gotten tired of the rigmarole involved, especially cleaning the pot afterward. So I broke down and bought a drip machine. It sure is fast, and, I have to admit, pretty easy, though the coffee isn't the same, I think it's likely that I'll use it more often, and I guess that's important.

Daily photo: 8/17/08

I love me some corduroy.

So, in my washer/dryer zeal, I washed our old couch pillows, and one of them didn't do very well--in fact it sort of exploded. But that just means I got to make a trip to the JoAnn's Fabric headquarters in Hudson, OH. I bought this blue corduroy, and was excited to find they had bamboo pillow inserts, as well as a selection of bamboo fiber fill, and bamboo and organic cotton batting, as well as other non-polyester options made from corn.

The slip covers were super easy with this pattern from curbly.com

Daily photo: 8/16/08

Like a French Market of old,

except smaller, and in Cleveland, not Paris.

N. and I visited the Westside Market in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood yesterday.

We lived in northeast Ohio for 2 years together during graduate school, and 4 years between the two of us, and somehow we never managed to visit this place before now. That's the nice thing about coming back, I guess. It feels like a second chance to do all the things we didn't do the first time around.

Daily photo: 8/15/08

Wild strawberries.

From our backyard. That's right, we now live in a place with a backyard.

Daily photo: 8/14/08

They aren't much, but they're ours...sort of.

Finally, N. and I no longer have to go to the laundromat! We inherited my mom's approx. 25 year old dryer, and are renting a washer for the year. And we couldn't be happier, or cleaner.

Daily photo: 8/13/08

New/old

Now that we're back in the land of industry (at least, formerly) N. and I made our first trip to HGR Industrial Surplus (a truly amazing experience for people interested in tools and general junk) last week where I got this cool, old tool box. It needed some T.L.C. because someone had gone crazy on it with some scotch tape, but I got most of it off. I plan to stock it with my frequently used hand-tools so I can take it to school when I teach.

Daily photo: 8/12/08

8/11/08

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Coming along

Slowly getting the stuff out, and arranged. Nothing on the walls, yet, but that is soon to change.

Daily photo: 8/10/08

He Grills, at long last.

N. can sometimes obsess about things he wants (yes, Pot knows she's black, too.) but in the four years that I've known him, there are few things he has wanted more than his own grill and a place to use it. Well, finally this is a dream realized. Last night we enjoyed the first fruits of our new grilling efforts, (which were delicious!) after spending about 2 hours trying to figure out how to make the grill hot enough.

There's much to be learned.

But N. is equal to the task.

Daily photo: 8/9/08

The New Couch!

Not only did we finally get cable and internet on Friday, we also got our new couch. Needless to say, Friday afternoon was spent sitting on our asses, watching TV.

Daily photo: 8/8/08

And here it is!

N.'s DVD shelf. I think he did an excellent job!

Daily photo: 8/7/08

8/6/08

N. spent last Wednesday building his first piece of furniture--a DVD shelf for the living room.

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8/5/08

Since I haven't been able to do many creative things lately, unless unpacking is creative--which it can be, I guess--I entertained myself with the piece of left-over plastic from my new library card last week, and made a ring. I was quite stupidly proud of the result 'cause it made my hand feel like an airplane!

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Shines like the top of the Chrysler Building.

We rented an older home in Akron and it was vacant for a few months prior to our move-in. Needless to say, it needed a little TLC.

We spent 3 hours cleaning the refrigerator on Sunday, and it is now a thing of beauty.

Daily photo: 8/03/08

I love Pittsburgh!

Spent Saturday in Pittsburgh, mostly at the Ikea, where we spent 4 1/2 hours trying to choose a couch. We eventually choose this one with the Korndall green cover. While it was more than we wanted to spend, the entire cover is removable and washable, it's small, and we think it will last us for a while.

Pittsburgh is really a beautiful city. I recommend visiting if you ever have the chance. I suspect it will surprise you!

Daily photo: 8/2/08

Ugh.

Daily photo: 8/1/08

7/30/08

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Finding the beauty in moving.

This can only be done abstractly and in detail. This is the green, plastic wrap we used to hold things together without tape.

Daily photo: 7/29/08