Hello all!

So how about that election, huh? Where were you when it happened? How completely amazing is it that we have elected a non-white person to the White House?!? M and I had gone to a restaurant where the local Democrats were throwing an Obama party. It was really fun to be around like minded people. We ate, drank, and celebrated when the results were called in.

You know, for the most part I never really disliked McCain. I was never going to vote for him, but I respected him and liked him until he picked Sarah Palin to be his VP. I felt that this was a very sexist move, which offended me personally as a woman, and it was obvious to me that he picked her for strategic purposes, not necessarily because she would have made a good vice president. That was not a good choice at all. But when he gave his concession speech on Tuesday night, I remembered what I liked about him. He is straightforward, intelligent, and a respectable man. I hope he means it when he pledged his support to Obama and that he will be willing to work with him and Democrats to try to make America a better nation.

Things have been going slightly downhill since I last posted. Two Saturdays ago I threw out my back doing minor chores around the house. I was really bad pain, enough pain to make me immobile for two days. Since then I've been hobbling around the house and going to school when I can manage it. I have missed a lot of school; I've only been able to go to 3 days of it in the past 2 weeks. Besides my thrown out back, I also have come down with an upper respiratory infection. I have been pretty miserable for a while and I am starting to go stir crazy just sitting around in the house. I can't do anything, even if I do minor chores it makes my back ache badly. I feel worthless because M has been doing everything for me. When I was a little kid I used to like it when I got sick because then I wouldn't have to go to school and I could sit around and watch TV and sleep in, but now... ugh. I can't wait to get back to school and to be busy again.

Onto- pictures!

Here are some pictures of the ceramics studio at school. Here are some of our electric and kick wheels.


The other end of the studio.


This was all my greenware at one point. I have made much more since then. Some of these pieces made it to the kiln, and some didn't. I recycled about half of them for various different reasons.


Outside, we have two electric kilns.


Here is a close up of one of them.


We have a wood fire kiln-


A raku kiln-


And two bisque kilns.


This is our glaze room.


The College of the Redwoods Campus is really pretty to walk around. We are also the home of some of the Humboldt Botanical Gardens; here is one of their greenhouses.


You can see redwoods wherever you are when you are outside on campus. Walking in between the Arts and Math buildings, you pass by a large pond.


They have closed off the dock, but you can crawl down in the bushes and sit next to the pond. It is very calming, and provides an excellent place to get away from everything, if even for just a few moments.


This is our spider friend. He lives on our front porch and catches a lot of bugs. We caught this one for him and threw it in his web. He darted to the bug so fast we didn't even see where he came from. He bit it and paralyzed it then proceeded to wrap it up and carry it away where he could enjoy his meal.


This is my Venus Fly Trap. I have always wanted one and now I have one! I like to have things around that catch bugs.


She's about to have a yummy meal-


M was moving a woodpile and he found a family of salamanders under a log!



And the baby!!!


Here is the first round of my finished pieces. This one is my favorite-


This one I made for M. :-)


This piece was fired on the beach, in a pit fire. With a pit fire, you really can't control the coloration you will get, but one thing I did was wrap copper wire around the pot. It burned in a really interesting way where the ash was and where it wasn't-


My first mug with a handle. Not the best, but I like it.


I really like how this one turned out.