OPEC slashes production of oil, has little effect

"This slowdown in demand is serving to exacerbate the situation in a market which has been oversupplied with crude for some time." (OPEC statement)
the news was not well-greeted by the white house, as one might imagine."It has always been our view that the value of commodities, including oil, should be determined in open, competitive markets, and not by these kinds of anti-market production decisions," -don't get me started, you panderers to the monopolies
so OPEC shows its stripes, if we had not noticed before. but slowing production will only postpone awareness of peak oil. the lifeblood of easy global consumerism (and commuter culture) is cheap plentiful oil. .I wonder how long and in how many ways we will resist the inevitable. we must scale down, buy local. it is not difficult but it is far outside of our paradigm. thank holy god for Obama- oh, I know, he isn't a magician, reality still applies, but I tell you right now, I will be dancing in the fucking streets on election night! I may even invest my hard-won dollars in alternate energy and engineering geniuses- genii- genies-- we got to get some clay minerals back into the roots of the system.

In other news, I'm a little dizzy. Immediately after the firing, some potter friends and i drove up to Seattle to the Seward Park Art center to meet and hear the tales of Mister Al Tennant, who lives on Bainbridge Island and used to teach at the university of Alaska. man, did he have some doozies. I mean, I've heard some good stories in my day... -- get this visual- those of you who work in school clay studios know that there always seems to be a plethora of (unfinished student pots) bisq-ware at the end of each term. One evening Al and his TA had a mite too much whiskey and played baseball with the bisqware, havign taken precautionary measures beforehand. namely, duck-taping a bowl over their heads in order to protect themselves from the projectiles. Al managed to remove his helmet before passing out in his office. the TA snoozed on the table. in the morning, the janitor nearly called the police until she saw the TA's feet. I tell ya- they just don't make schools like they used to. - sigh -

Then I unloaded the kiln, and you know all about how that went. I must apologize for any horrified gasps you may have emitted upon reading that I lost most of the load. A large proportion died. however, I was able to re-fire the serviceware in a kiln at Mt Hoodie (!thank you again, Stephen Mickmaster!), in a soda kiln, so they are pretty close to the look I'm going for. I have decided to abandon the reduce- cooling for the next firing. The dishes got messed up because I relied on an old standby glaze that I used in Utah- wrong answer. it was fine in reduce-cool there, but not here. odd. I will focus for the moment on a good soda-fire, since my interest is more towards functional work. So inbetween weekends of that studio tour, I re-fired. which involved propping open a back door and dodging security so that I could sleep in the warm classroom and wake up every two hours to baby through the first part of the firing. this is just after I got some great press, so thank god, I was able to salvage a good bit of the load and have more confidence in presenting my work to the public. It was really excellent to welcome people to my studio. Here there is context, people see the intention of the maker and her space. My action is evident all around me, so I can simply gesture in a direction instead of stringing together a mess of shy words.

With the seconds of the firing, I made an installation among the delicate money-plants that volunteer to rattle in the wind under the stately fir trees:
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At the end of the last day, we dismantled the installation and the people who had lingered over it returned to collect larger pots for their garden. I am delighted to have met so many of the people who came to visit- from potters to shrinks to mathematicians, this is truly the stuff of the good life.

And Mama came to town after that. We went out to the ocean, and along the Gorge. We had fresh oysters and sweet dungeness, and shoe shopping. she's a good egg, my mama. my biggest fan, and loving patronesse. what would I do without her--

so next up is a workshop with Lindsay Oesterriter, a fellow grad of Utah State. I have to say, of all the people with whome I went to school, Lindsay is top on my list of those I want to see again. she is high- energy, big love. and talented too. we'll be firing the small anagama at Mt Hood. reduce cooling, of course.

and? Halloween. my favorite ruckus.

hope all are well. I'm going to Japan for a month over xmas. any suggestions?