Gallery-style art show booth by Kathy Engholm Last spring I visited the Oregon Glass Guild's big art show and saw some wonderful glass. I also saw my friend Kathy's innovative, low-cost art show booth design, which looks simple but is chock-full of great ideas. Kathy's an author, blogger, artist, engineer and inventor, used to solving nasty technical problems [...]
Timmy's skinnier than death, grimy with that in-ground dirt that permanently tints the flesh. A worn out army cap slicks down tight to his head, covering a buzzcut barely short of bald. He's swaying a bit, with a little tremor. Guys like that usually don't set foot in a nice diner unless they've lucked into a $20, probably gifted by [...]
Fruitsicles--fresh fruit puree popsicles in push-up tube bags-were a delicious accident on my road to sorbet...and a great way to use summer fruit. They're also relatively good for you; you get the vitamin C, fiber, and all the calcium, iron, magnesium, etc., found in fresh fruit for a measly 47 calories per fruitsicle (52 cal for wineberry, probably 60 cal [...]
Apologies for the overlong ramble, but since this blog is intended to document my creative meanderings, it also details the times I'm bogged down in design and engineering. Apparently stuffing my musings into a blogpost for review is the best way to get me thinking, so sorry about that. And please: ANY suggestions, ideas, criticisms, etc., for this [...]
"No, no!" he corrected, "We are not chocolatiers. We are chocolate MAKERS. We MAKE the chocolate here." Ahhh. Apparently there's a big difference: Chocolatiers make stuff out of someone else's chocolate, like Hershey's or Varlhona or Guittard or Ghiradelli. A chocolate MAKER, such as Coleman & Davis, is where those people get the chocolate from. "Yes, that's right," he nodded, [...]
Ever wake up on Sunday morning, post-whatever frenetic activity kept you up until 2AM the night before and...go back to bed? That was me this morning. Lola and Nikki, my hypercats, politely allowed me an extra hour and a half before reminding me that sleepytime NEVER trumps breakfast. I stumbled into my what-if-you-were-in-a-car-accident-oh-gawd grubbies--it's studio day* today--and served [...]
Honest-to-Pete, DEQ's search engine cursor is an image of Bigfoot walking. (I, er, did editorialize a bit on the text) I promised you an eye-witness report of the now-infamous Oregon DEQ art glass financial impact hearing. It was intended to discover what it's costing manufacturers to meet DEQ's ever-changing pollution control directives by October 1. This [...]
"Excuse me, but where can I find the 'Ulta Ultimate Shine Luminous Clear Glaze?' White and grey tube, about so tall? It was here last time, but it seems to have moved. Again." The sales clerk gave me a blank look. "I've never heard of that. I don't think we carry it." I sighed, because this happened the last time, [...]
Rollicking last couple of months. If I were into astrology, I'd probably be talking about cusps and whether Aries was rising or something, which always sounds faintly pornographic. My potentially dirty mind and the vagaries of the universe aside though, yep, it's been a rollicking couple of months. Most of the rollicks (is that really a word?) have centered [...]
"Can I have your number please? You're a nice American, and sometimes I just need to talk to a nice American, you know?" I looked at her, big black eyes brimmed with tears and staring into my soul, and thought, "Boy, she doesn't know me very well, does she?" And I hoped sincerely that she couldn't see into my mind [...]
