A nanosecond between me and death, but I never paused: I leapt from that window like a deranged chimpanezee, smartcard clenched between my teeth, reaching reaching reaching for the strut of the helicopter and climbing inside. "Arrrrgh!" yelled Mr. Big's frustrated henchman, hurling manhole covers after me. One struck my knee as I shoved the dead pilot aside and took [...]
Ever find yourself on a mountaintop, musing, "Now how the hell did I get up HERE?" That would be me. I'm having a small surgical procedure in the morning, which apparently caused me to sit back, notice the mountain, and decide it's not a bad place to be. Since it's Morganica Mountain, of course, it's a bit ...odd. Thank you, [...]
The first time I packed frit into a mold I learned the difference between the volume of frit and the FIRED volume of frit. Even so, when you're casting or fusing with frit, the level of shrinkage can be disconcerting. Here is an example. Fill up a test mold to the brim with powder, tamp it down tightly so that [...]
"Dang it," said my sister* crossly, "I HATE flabby earlobes." I looked up in mild surprise. "Flabby what?" "Earlobes. You know how your earlobes get all flabby when you get older? Like empty, saggy bags that you could roll up and pin out of the way?" "Nope," I said, a tad indignantly, "I haven't noticed anything like that!" "May I [...]
If you added up all my blogposts since 2003, you’d have something like 7,200 separate articles. Only about 650 are actually searchable on morganica.com right now. Tried to import the rest, but so far can’t figure out a way to do that without spamming the heck out of the 1,500 or so subscribers who asked to be notified when I [...]
Would everyone whose genomes do not contain exactly 46 chromosomes please vacate the premises immediately? This means YOU, antmind. Feathered friends. Cute li'l gophers and raccoons. Eight-legged buddies. Numerous insectivorous pests munching in the garden, chewing on my books and masticating in my closet. Mother Nature and I haven't always seen eye to eye, but this is getting ridiculous. A [...]
There is undoubtedly a period in my life where I was not owned by a cat. I just don't remember it. With Rajah's death, however, I'm presently catless, and likely to remain that way for quite some time, for reasons I won't go into. Well-meaning and much-appreciated friends ring up with news of kitties needing a home, and I patiently [...]
Hypothesis: A glass framework stabilizes a tack-fused stringer construction, requiring fewer stringers (and likely fewer firings). Background: I'm having a fair amount of success with tack-fused stringer projects that build on a glass support structure. Since the support framework is tedious to construct, I'm wondering if it's really contributing enough to be worth doing. Test: Make a stringer vessel without [...]
Thickness isn't the only consideration when engineering a project in kilnformed (fused) glass. The shape of the object can be important, too. If you're making a long, thin panel that's rather thick, such as the transom window I recently made for my parents' bathroom, you'll need to understand how the glass moves and responds throughout the firing cycle. I don't [...]
Life is something to do when you can't get to sleep. --Fran Lebowitz Oh, c'maaaaaaaaaan! So today, I get this call from Kaiser, can't answer right away because my boss' boss is teaching a class and I'm in the front row. I figure they want to talk about Elmo and my leg, and what's going on with the proposed surgery(ies) [...]
