'Happy Indian' New Year, Other Thoughts, and a clip

Mary and I watched a British television program with Netflix last night - MI-5 - while in bed. This particular program ended on a positive note: two lovers were reunited after one was sent away forever with a new identity because of some nasty political and legal issues. So, after the movie we looked at the clock and it was just after midnight. When my daughter was very young she used to call a movie ending that ended happily a "happy indian."

So, Mary and I wished each other a "Happy indian New Year."

Happy indian New Year, Chelsea Rose.

I got up this morning and cooked pancakes for Mary. It's a vegan recipe I made up consisting of cooking a half cup of oats in rice milk, adding some coconut oil to it; mixing some oat flour with some baking powder and cornstarch, a few pecan pieces and a pinch of salt; mixing the cooked oats with the flour mixture and cooking on a slightly oiled iron skillet. You can think of the cornstarch as the egg replacer, I suppose.

Today, I'm working on the 40-mile awards for the Uwharrie Mountain Run. Below, I've included a clip of me throwing one of the pieces and figured I'd narrate as I threw. I tend to be a better writer than speaker, so please excuse my sloppy speech: "not, not porcelain slip...." "...leave a little area on the bottom that I could lift it off the piece.. off the.. the wheel with...."

When I started throwing this morning, I listened to Last.FM.Com where you can type in an artist's name and listen to him and others that fall into that genre of music. I typed in Jackson Browne and the song was "The Road." I believe it's a song about Jackson Browne's life on the road as a musician early in his career. I related to it this morning in a more general context, as being on the "road" in life. Just prior to tapping into Jackson Browne's world, I was listening to Martha Stewart on TV, and she was talking to people who were successful bloggers.

Sometimes I'm drawn toward plugging into this cyber world of communication in a big way, keeping up with the goings on around Seagrove and North Carolina, writing pieces about other potters.... Sometimes, I'm drawn toward using it to share my own experiences as a potter. Sometimes, I think it's a great resource to share things in an artistic way.

And then there are times when I think I'd like to remain "unplugged" because when I plug in, I get sucked in, and why did I become a potter in the first place?

At any rate, here's a clip of me working this morning: