Goodbye Good Street

Etsy forums are devolving. End of January that bit of ether will end. Etsy forums to me are like the street of the internet, real but interactive and fun and interesting. Corporate interests are not the same as the interests of life as this devolution so eloquently demonstrates. Open forum structure supports the individual within the wider construct. Segregation stinks... Remember, the Dow Jones is not Grandma's cookbook. A good cookbook has recipes added and written on, a vitality of interaction and history and always includes apple pie.

One thing this brings home, is how the internet is a corporate owned and controled space. I'm not sure where to go with that.

This video, posted by Barney in the small ghost that still clings of the metalsmith's thread, makes me think "Calm Blue Ocean."



Goodbye Good Street.

Forks and Roads

*I can't think of "forks in the road" without an image of Miss Piggy and Kermit and a Fork in the Road. Thank you Muppets.*

I've done this before. Bailing before the end of a game. And I listen, as I walk home. I live in Providence, RI. Most folks in the area are Patriots and Celtics and Red Sox fans. All I have to do is listen, and I know who won. Tonight was silence. *That wonderful silence you get with the snow. The silence that brings back memories of childhood, and sliding down the snowplow piled embankments holding the glee in your stomach, or singing carols under snow covered umbrellas.* I haven't checked the score, really I don't need to. What I feel like doing is reminding folks how this team exceeded our expectations. And that the Zets will loose to the Packers in the Super Bowl, and play like doormats next year. :)

What amazed me is how well the Pats have done. they have 21-23 (lost count) folks on the roster that are rookies or 2nd year guys. Out of a roster of 53. At one point in the season, there were only 3 guys starting on defense that started the season. When folks all picked the Patriots I was like, don't you know they have only Wilfork as a defensive line? They would move Wilfork around to where the team they played liked to run. In other words, that's the defensive equivalent of "finger in the dike."

"Finger in the dike" defense only takes you so far. So to does the wonderful play of rookies. Neither will win a Super Bowl. Big applause to to the players that took us away from crappy lives for a while and and gave the escapist illusion of success on a shoe string.

This time, there will be a "next year."

GO PATRIOTS!

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*Regarding the title. Well. I'm thinking job troubles and jewelry screw-ups. But. "It is what it is." *lol.**

The Making of a Locket

First comes the design, I suppose. Actually, first might come the financing, the commission, and the many competing ideas on what to do. I'll start with the design that hasn't made the cut. And that's the rose lid. I made this out of silver sheet, and was thinking on making the final piece out of gold wire and gold sheet for the roses. Though, I could do silver sheet for the stems with gold roses. I dunno. Still mulling this over.

The reason i went ahead and made the mock up out of metal was, if I wanted to finish it off I'd sell it. (Try to at least!) Or I could stop with the lid and do what I think I'm going to do and mount it on the top of this black onyx.

*Yikes! Still needs to get cleaned up! Antiquing will soften some of those iffy lines, but shouldn't rely on it that much!*

My father wanted me to make my mother a locket, for Christmas. Uh, this past Christmas that is. I warned him it might take me a while, but would love to do it. Hence the rather conservative rose design. I'm also doing one with a tulip that I might post on flickr, or maybe not. I'm doing that mock up in paper mache. *lol.* Silver is expensive, and the tulip design is a bit less straight forward. *My mother likes flowers.*

A Fun Run!

Sunday's game between the Packers and the Patriots was a nail biter! The Patriots are minus a lot of defensive players, particularly defensive linemen, and Sunday it showed. So it was up to the offensive linemen to step up! Or, uh, run... 71 yards!

Hah! and here is Tedy Bruschi's narration, which I thought perfect, reposted from ESPN's Boston blog:

"OK, here we go, I've got the L5 to block, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Got it. Get ready, here comes the kick. It's a squib! It's coming right at me! I've got this. Wait for the bounce … time the bounce … there it is, it's up in the air. I've just got to get under it. Got it! Now don't fumble!

Get both arms around this bad boy and just run straight ahead. They'll tackle me soon. I see a lot of Packers in front of me, why don't I try to go left. Yeah, good idea. I should be tackled soon anyway.

Wait, where is everybody? I'm still running? They're gonna tackle me soon, right? I'm in the clear! Run faster! I can't believe they haven't tackled me yet! I'm still running! Why am I carrying the ball like a little girl carries her teddy bear? Just keep running! Oh man, so this is what it feels like. I'm pretty good at this!

Here comes somebody. Let me try this stiff-arm. I've seen Benny [BenJarvus Green-Ellis] do this a lot. It worked! I'm still running! I can score! Oooh blockers, sweet! Block the kicker! Good job! Cutback time, baby! I've never run this far in my life! I see it! I can score!

How will I celebrate? Should I dance? Why am I falling? I can't believe they tackled me. Is it over? How close was I? Four-yard line? I should've scored!"

And THAT is a dream come true for any offensive lineman or linebacker who has ever played the infamous "back row."

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lol. GOOOOOOOOO PATS!

When Bad Luck Isn't the Worst, Sometimes

My place is old, and one of the things about old places is plumbing gets tired. Mine "pooped" out this past week. In this photo you see where the plumbers are inching up the building with new pipes. In the effort to save money, I'm doing the demolition/ construction end of the deal. You see the top of the wall to the left is cut away for more access to pipes. and the wall that's minus plaster, but still has some lath has plumbing here and there.

Why this is not a total omg is, the bathroom on top has not been used in 7 years, so there is no damage. I found out about the split in the stack from a plumbing problem below the split. Another positive is, I had to seal off this room to cut away all the plaster gobbledy gook, so I just shelled the adjoining outside wall to re-do with insulation. Might as well. And also, it gave inspiration for the name of my new pendant, the "Plumber's Special." ;)

Hat Trick

*Sigh. There is something about a neglected blog... it is painful and sad somehow. It's like a connection that you want, but there's been a parting... and to reconnect you need to explain or give some accounting to life's drift. But life's drift is an ocean. And, I'm at sea without a compass or map and catching rainwater to maintain.* **Loved the story about those kids from New Zealand surviving after 50 days.**

But getting on to hat tricks.

This New England Patriots season has been most entertaining. And I am not referring to the stuffed toy snake a fellow near me had with him during the Colts game...(yikes.) But the variety of ways the Pats have won, whether the special teams of the Miami game or the defense stepping up against Pittsburgh. Though when all is said and done and Brady starts clicking, the Pats then shed methodical decentness of play and turbo charge into greatness. But it is the Hat Tricks that provide yet another level. Something I missed in the Pittsburgh game (If Brady had been playing Brady, the Pats would have lost that game. Thankfully, there is only one Brady.). What I missed was the fedora Belichick wore ***before the game!*** What a cheeky boy. lol. If the Pats won, Belichick would then tie the NFL win record of Coach Paul Brown, whom BB wore the hat in honor of. In other words, Bellichick did the same thing the Giants did when they showed up for that totally forcefully forgotten Super Bowl, when the Giants wore black. They said, you will loose. Bellichick was saying that to Pittsburgh. What a cheeky cheeky fellow. lol.


Honestly. I wouldn't have thought it of him. Great coaching or game plan? great use of personell? yes yes and yes. But I would think Belichick would have left attitude apparal or appearance to either Jerod Mayo or, in an awesome display of glee, Brady.

Art

*I will entry more on this later. just haven't had great success on saving videos! this one I thought beautiful. "The Silent Evolution by Jason deCaires Taylor." animals are so victimized by humans. this juxtaposition neutralized that antagonism. I've heard reefs are built by sunk battleships. And reefs are killed by human pollution. we all have our living limits. it's nice to see a shared aquarium.*