poetry. thoughts and more than make-believe.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

They are blanket sitting
under the willow tree
eyes closed
practicing 1 o'clock yoga

attempting peace in the afternoon
Three bricks lay by my front sidewalk. On the diagonal. The same bricks I trekked from the delapidated paint-furniture-factory, down the street a few hundred feet. The building was torn down permit-less. There had to have been thousands of bricks, free for the taking.

At first I was just pulling the bricks in the girls little red wagon, but being "artistically" inclined I had images of a brick-lined sidewalk streaming thru my wanna-be-english-garden backyard. I quickly learned I needed a lot more bricks than what it would appear, if I wanted to do what my brain was picturing for me. Soon my wagon was replaced by my car.

Other people caught onto the bricks too. Plus doors. Plus cabinets. I was a small operation compared to most. I'd take the girls down and we'd scavange through the concrete playground. "Watch out for nails, glass, rusty metal, " I'd tell the baby girls as I found other pieces of contraband which had fallen to the ground. I wondered if this was how real city kids played in rubble. My other "purchases" were usually wood pieces that I would eventually create from.

The bricks I kept going back for. Everytime I'd drive how many feet, I'd attempt to stack up even more in my trunk. It was hard work. That dusty, heavy smell. I'm sure I was breathing in old mortar, but I had images of a mixture of asbesto's and lead-paint lining my lungs with every breath. I figured I'd live thru it. So far, so good. Eventually I thought, how much brick does one person need?

Now I realize, more.

I have attempted various designs with the multi-colored clay. I lined my flower beds in the backyard. I made a short pathway to the recycle-part of the garden. I've stacked them around flowers. I took the bulk of them and created a "porch" from my back porch area. It was my outside haven, I suppose. But, I didn't lay them correctly. I knew that. I was supposed to dig, level, pack sand, to keep my bricks looking nice and even. Now, they are shifting and weeds are telling me hello everyday. But the girls tree-swing hangs above. And I pick the bricks up here and there to shift the shifting. I just moved a pile by the garage last week, in attempt to add-on to the lost haven area. I think I'm probably fooling myself into thinking I'm making it look any better.

So, when my youngest asked the other day if she could have some bricks to prop up her "have a happy summer" sign to put by the front sidewalk, I of course didn't care. Doubt I would have, even if my bricks were perfectly perfect.

Two white concrete bricks, which were the end of the take-home pile, and one red brick lay right there. I see them sitting here on my front porch. Now, if I could find another rundown building or a lonely pile of bricks, I would bring'em home and make something more...maybe that yellow-brick road.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

They asked if they could make a mud pool.
Little tikes
Bluesky on-ground

And I said yeh.
Makes so much fun

They rolled and played, slathered and caked on the mess.

And I thought, they haven't changed since toddlers.

The most fun a girl can have in the summer is playing in the mud--
Big ideas
grow grow grow
sunshine flower high

What reason?

walking down rows of
cucumber sandwiches
brightly colored apples,
this is the reason
circles aren't circling
rushed inward
crazy swirls of
colored cottoncandy
spinning green chakra
breathing down tomatoes
watering easy-listening tunes,
this is the reason
songs are written for clear-cutting
wrapped in salsa
walking under troll-bridges
this is the reason,
age-shadows push t.v. trays
freezing in a circus of
high-rise condo's and their hello's.

Friday, June 22, 2007

2nd chance
playing mountain momma
dread-lock girl
doesn't care to order Pottery Barn anymore

makes her morning tea
and pancakes for three
thinkin life ain't so bad
when I get to be me

1st time around
too many locks on the door
didn't know what to sweep out
keep hidden beneath the stairwell floor

this time around
vinyl songs play
little flowers sleep
all along you thinkin
this time
i get to be me.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

My beading program went well. I had 10 women attend. They brought their sack lunches and ate while I demo'd away. They asked some great questions. I was concerned about filling an hours time, but with making a bookmark to take home the time went quick!

Saturday, June 16, 2007


I was researching moretti glass and came across this from www.harmoniccyle.com...

glass info:

what does the word *lampwork* mean?

Lampwork is a name for a antique style of glasswork. The flame of a oil lamp is stoked with a air bellows to focus heat and melt glass. The glass is held in the open flame and shaped into small objects such as beads, marbles, and sculptures. Many ancient shapes and designs are honored and crafted by today's artists.
Gas torches with specialized burner heads have replaced the oil lamps of days gone by but the fascination that accompanies the melting of glass remains and the name *Lampworking* is a reminder that this highly refined craft has a very old and basic origin.

where does the glass come from?

The glass I use at Mother Earth is a popular and widely distributed glass known as *Moretti* glass. This glass is manufactured in Venice, Italy on the island of Murano by Effettre Moretti Industrial. Moretti Glass is provided to lampwork artists in the shape of glass rods. The rods are easily spun in the flame which helps evenly distribute the heat.
The Effettre company and the island of Murano share a long traditon of Venitian glass manufacturing. The island has been officially designated as an industrial center for glass work since AD 1291. A close relationship between Artists, Glass Manufacturers, and Merchants has enabled Venice to serve as a world leader in the glass arts since the 1500's.
Many of the reciepes, processes, and raw materials used to create Moretti glass rods are closely guarded secrets handed down over generations. The color in beads made from Murano glass of the 16th century is as bright today as when the beads were made. It is nice to know the beads you see today will be bright and clear in the future as well. A benifit to todays artists is the freedom that years of testing and refinement provide as more combinations of color and style are possible than than ever before.
Lampwork artists throughout the world continue a great Venitian glass working tradition when they choose Moretti glass.

do beads really last for centuries?

Yes! Glass beads are known to last for hundreds, even thousands of years. A remarkable characteristic of glass is that it retains color better than almost any other art material. The glass I use has been manufactured in Murano, Italy for centuries and is proven to hold finish, lustre, and color with no special storage requirements. Oil paintings and antique metal work are far more fragile.
The round shape of most beads is inherently strong and I strengthen the beads by annealling them in a kiln. The annealing process involves reheating the bead slowly and keeping it hot in a near molten state long enough for any tension or stress, trapped as the bead was formed, to self-adjust and even out. The beads are cooled very slowly. The annealling process takes about 9 hours but the beads become much stronger.
The beads I offer are hand made and professionally annealled, with the intention of providing years of satifaction.

how is the hole in the bead formed?

Making the hole in a bead is relatively easy. In fact, it is harder to make a marble than a bead and that's because beadmakers can use a long metal rod as both a handle and mandrel. The metal rod is usually coated with a heat proof ceramic slip that will keep the glass from sticking to the rod.
A beadmaker will hold the metal rod in one hand and a glass rod in the other. The tip of the glass rod is held in a flame long enough to melt the end. As the glass softens it is wrapped around the metal rods cylindrical form. The artist continues to hold the molten bead and the glass rod in and near the flame as the material is built up.
The rod makes a very convienient handle and allows the artist to comfortably maintain heat control. By carefully spinning the metal rod the molten bead can be shaped with precise symmetry. The spinning action causes the molten material to spread evenly around the axis of the rod.
When the bead cools the rod that helped as both a handle and mandrel is removed and the bead is left with a very useful hole.
I wonder how people make marbles?

harmonic cycle: home page I contact info I site index

Friday, June 15, 2007

morning dove sounds
rundown buildings
look sharp
the man in the orange suit
is quick
empty lots
for parking people--

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Acceptance interrupted

Acceptance interrupted
concrete babies
peacock shower
and gravel playground--

Who doesn't mow
below-the-poverty-line-kids playground
little toddler toes
clover bushes

Who doesn't care about
barely provided while
moms sip on diet cola
and offer candy bars
instead of banana's?

Sunday, June 10, 2007

my left calf is so pulled...slightly reminds me of twisting my ankle in the fall. puts a hinderance on speed walking. yoga will have to do for the morning...
note to self:
if deciding to run wear the right shoes and stretch.
a pulled calf muscle doesn't feel very good.

what did feel good was being outside in the sunday morning air...

Saturday, June 09, 2007

and when i stepped
out of the shower
there was a peacock
feather by my feet-

barefeet take me around
blue toenails-

and then the pink
towel was wet
with bare blue drops

and my feet
smiled at the feather
for a tip of the hat,
good day

Friday, June 08, 2007

sitting on a folded futon mattress
morning sunlight
shouts hello to my
$20 garage sale carpet
dusty screens
unfinished photo albums
and why is there a wet towel
laying across the baby rocking chair?

Saturday, June 02, 2007


Gonna do a beading demo Tuesday, June 19 12-1 at the library for their Brown Bag Lunch. Most Tuesdays during the summer there is a different program planned. Always a good break in the day...anyhow, just writing out my program plan. I realized this morning that I've never written how I make beads. Took a class years back and continue to enjoy it so so much...

Tools I use: Hot head torch, MAPP gas, mandrels (skinny steel rods), bead release (some funky chemical that should be about the consistency of toothpaste that goes on the mandrel), safety glasses (for the occasional flying glass), glass of water (in case the bead gets out of control and you need SHOCK it), various metal/lead tools and either a crockpot, kiln or ceramic fibre blanket--to anneal the beads once out of the flame.

Materials: Moretti/Effetre Glass rods/stringers, hopefully two hands, time

Set up: I use an old cookie sheet to place all my tools on, so I don't accidently ruin my kitchen table...and to be "organized."

ATTENTION: You'll be using both hands, right and left, at the same time. You're brain and hands may seem a bit slow to begin with. When I started doing beads I thought I was patient...hmmm...took some time to gain more patience. The woman who taught me said this was her zen. Didn't seem very zen-like in the beginning...

Step 1: Before I torch, I prepare my mandrels with a coating of bead release, letting it either air dry in a can or torch it when warming the mandrels. With the mandrels I usually use my non-dominant hand.

Step 2: Preheat glass rod from the top of the flame, or above depending on the color of glass. I use my dominant hand mostly for the glass rod. You've gotta rotate the rod in and out of the heat with your dexterous fingers so it warms the surface.

Step 3: Keep heating glass till the end turns into a pea-size ball. This is the "footprint" of the bead.

Step 4: Touch tip of red-jawbreaker-hot glass to mandrel at a perpendicular angle (straight on if you've been out of the math world for a bit). Turn mandrel with your fingers slowly away from you, along your thumb. Watch that glass just flow like a gushy warm Milky Way.

Step 5: Continue winding hot glass onto mandrel, layering, maybe stopping, then adding more...Continue turning mandrel between fingers and thumb.

Step 6: When done, burn off the glass rod end, winding off and removing from flame to separate the rod from bead.

Step 7: You can either add on more glass, making it bigger or keep it simple and place that bead into the bead rotating like a rotisserie, to make it round and smooth. (If thats what you want of course)

Step 8: Decorate if your heart desires with different colors or stringers. (really skinny glass rods)

Step 9: Continue rotating and slowly take bead out of flame to solidify and anneal.

Step 10: Place either in crockpot, kiln or ceramic blanket.

These directions are really not meant to get you started, just to help me thru a program.

Friday, June 01, 2007

i just wanted to drive off into the spritzing farmers field...green growing...onto 40. Some romantic image of hardworking field life.
"Happiness is only real when shared".....from Into the Wild

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