Thursday, January 19, 2006

Jan 19 - How can I forget Humuhumunukunukuapua'a?

My partner in mayhem, Bumbum, (writing from her island the middle of the Pacific) is right -- I forgot the longest common name for a fish humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

I can vouch for the existence of the humuhumunukunukuapua'a myself because I saw one, right in the water in front of me. I said "humuhumunukunukuapua'a how do you pronounce your name?" And he replied "humuhumunukunukuapua'A, with an emphasis on the "A". So, lesson learned.

In other news I've been passing my days in semi-rural Minnesota, at home with Mom. My big "getting out" activity has been walking to Afton, then on through the trees to the shore of the St. Croix River. For about a month weather was unusually warm here (thwarting, once again, my effort to convince Marco that it does get really, REALLY cold here). It's been so warm that the river, normally frozen solid from shore to shore this time of year, is open, blue and naked of ice. Last week there was a bright sun and sweeping wind, and the wind was pushing big iceberg-like chunks of ice up the river. The drifting ice made a fantastic splashy noise and the geese bobbed nearby on windy waves, looking pleased at all the open water (a big bonus for them in winter). Then a couple days later the ice was entirely gone. Normally, in January, it's frozen so thick that you can drive cars across it. Then we got another mild cold snap, and yesterday a thin, smooth glaze of ice began to spread across the river once again, causing the geese to congregate in an open hole in the middle, looking petulant.

Other than that I've been very productive at home. Since I've got little in the way of any outside activity, social or otherwise, I've channeled all my energies into planning my studio and making glass mosaics. I'm evaluating competing studios, finding suppliers, investigating financing, tweaking my website (soon to be up I think), crafting my image and planning what kind of works I want to create. My secret recipe, so to speak, will be the combination of traditional craftsmanship with modern design. I want to make stuff in glass that nobody else is doing, stuff that's really current, like creating glass mosaics and stained glass panels based on Japanese fabrics, 1940s product packaging, or contemporary graphic design, to name a few. My first line of panels, all made on salvaged windows from old homes, are glass mosaics based on botanical fabric prints.

Sometimes in the morning I chat on MSN messenger with Marco. His job search is progressing in a nice fashion so perhaps he will make it to the California by March!

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