my new mosaics

my new coffee table, and some frames that I made this week.

some recent ceramics

summary

Finished tia Julie's 3rd chair, and working on the 4th! Finished invitations, just waiting for Adam's guest list approval. Had an excellent morning with the fiance, my cousin wrote me a poem, had a great conversation with gretchen, marina is visiting on friday, lightbulb mouth is tonight, and all in all, I'm feeling good.

Googling Lorenzo

My cousin Alex and I are doing this napowrimo thing, where we write one poem a day for the month of april. He wrote this one about me today, and it's ridiculously sweet and full of inside info and awww my cousin.

Googling Lorenzo


Roya Sorooshian Tafti
with your saturn's ring mind
and predilections for onions and sumac
spinner of plates
knitter of mittens
washer of park ranger socks
giver of autistic smiles
and down syndrome claps of joy

listen:
oh tormentor of the scalp
those are not freckles on your face
but your persian soul oozing out
seeking desert
or at the very least
a thermostat reset

you found love
on the back of a motorcycle
and it wasn't lorenzo lamas
(yes I realize you are far too young to get that reference
I'll wait
while you
google him
...
...
...
...
...
yes
he is quite handsome)
but thats ok
lamas couldn't make you happy anyway
and you found your own renegade
sans wise indian side kick
(for now)

oh keeper of fancy nancy
the light bulb never shined so bright
until you
and
alaska is empty without you
and
the point is
i'm glad
you are
who you are
(what a reckless way to say I love you)

quotations for the chair

Imagination is more important than knowledge...
Albert Einstein

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle

Find out who you are and do it on purpose.
Dolly Parton

Whoever is happy will make others happy, too.
Anne Frank

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it destination full of hope.
Maya Angelou

Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.
Pablo Picasso

project to dos

Yesterday I glazed some cups that I'd kept since I threw them - in 2005. Holy cow. (hahaha I just typed "holy cowl" which actually makes more sense than a spiritual bovine. Ahahaha I'm so tired I'm delirious).

I had about 26 cups, some of which I'd drawn or written on first in high fire glaze pencil, and so I have nooo idea how they will turn out. I'm looking forward to seeing it tho. I threw a few small flower pots - I'd like to throw a bunch more and line my wedding with them. Maybe even give them to folks as favors. We shall see.

I have Sat/Sun/Mon off work - debating starting some clay projects at home since I'd have time to work on them and let them dry, and work some more. I'd like to make some platters for food for the wedding also.

I'm so tired today that I am having trouble going far in one direction of thought.

My garden is doing well - except for the same damn corner of onions that Juno keeps ripping up. I finally left it - that's her garden now, I guess.

I need to make a list of projects and materials I need to purchase for these projects, and prioritize. I've got Julie's chairs, Tulip's dog sweater, my wedding, my garden - as the biggies. Tulips dog sweater I just need to do a little research, sit down, and knit the damn thing. I don't think it'll take THAT long. Julie's chair - I need to print fish, and then finish this one. Then I'll tackle the next one. The garden - I want more plants, I need to string up beans, finish painting the fence, and buy a hose for the backyard. The wedding - finish invites, (buy envelopes, stamps), favors (buy catalyst, resin, magnets), collect glass jars, make ceramics. And also - I want to buy a cheap coffee table and mosaic it in the next month. We're doing a mosaic workshop at work and I want to use it as an example. Also, I hate our current coffee table.

So that's all from me, for now.

bucket list

I stole this from my facebook from a while ago - I thought maybe I'll elaborate and put some stories under some of them. We'll see.



The Bucket List. Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not.

Things you have done during your lifetime:
( ) Seen the Taj Mahal
( ) been inside the Pyramids in Egypt
( ) been around the world by Boat
nope, but that was something my very first boyfriend and I wanted to do together.
( ) been to Jumbo the floating restaurant in Hong Kong
( ) seen the Alamo
( ) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
homeschooled. beat that.
( ) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
Adam and I drove to and from Alaska, so we spent some time in Canada. We loved BC, beautiful, amazingly nice people. I liked the Yukon. We stayed at this one campground that served breakfast in the morning - hands down the best bacon I have ever had. I've had dreams about that bacon. On the way home we stopped in Vancouver to say hi to my old friend Tenay.
(X ) Been to Mexico
On a cruise with my Grandma when I was in 4th grade. I'm going back on a cruise there in May with my clients.
(X) Been to Florida
spent a week there at Walt Disney World resort before going to the Bahamas with work.
(X ) Jumped off a cliff (I'm counting the dock on Santa Barbara Island)
I'm still counting it. It was very very very high up. I did it once, I was so scared I couldn't get up to stand on the piling and Kurt (our lifeguard/photographer) had to help me. I remember how much it hurt my arms to slap the water going down. I remember being so adrenaline buzzed from it that I ran up the ladder and jumped off again before I even knew what I was doing. Kurt got a great picture of me doing that.
( ) Bungee jump
( ) para sailed
I was supposed to go Parasailing in the Bahamas but it was too windy. boo.
( ) Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
( ) Flown a plane
(X ) Been on a helicopter (I was airlifted for an earthquake prep thing once)
(X) Been lost (hah. and hah. and hah some more).
( ) Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
() Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only (Marina, remember McDonalds and Mary Poppins?)
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch (been under it)
( ) been to New York City at Xmas time
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
( X) Made prank phone calls
My favorite was when I was at Zac and Alex's (my cousins) house in Signal Hill, and I called one of their friends, and said nothing but the address. About an hour later, he showed up at the front door with a case of beer. It was hysterical.
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
( X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose & elsewhere
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
This was the first year I've ever done that. Adam asked me to, so I did.
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
( X) Been deep sea fishing (halibut in Alaska)
(X) Driven across the United States (driven up the west coast, and trained across to the midwest so I am counting it also)
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
( ) Gone snowmobiling
( ) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(X ) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
( X) Traveled by motorcycle
Adam has a Harley Sportster that we took up to Santa Cruz and back. 12 hours on the back of a motorcycle sure does a number on you. It was beautiful, though. I rode with the camera strap around my neck and the camera down my shirt so that it was easy to stop the bike and take a photo.
(X) Been horse back riding
(X ) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
(X) Been to Disney World
( ) Truly believed in the power of prayer
( ) Been in a rain forest
(X) Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
(X) Ridden on an elephant.
(X ) Swam with dolphins
( X) Been to the Olympics (I was sort of in my mother's stomach at the time)
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier crack (ok, not exactly, but I went inside a glacier that had a sign that said "death eminent" on it. does that count?)
( ) Been spinnaker flying (lived on Spinnaker bay...can I count that? ;))
( ) Been water-skiing
( ) Been snow-skiing
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
(X ) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game
( ) Been to a National Hockey League game
( X) Ever been skinny-dipping
(X ) Laugh so hard you cry
(X) Follow a map for treasure
( ) Drive a dune buggy
( X) Get lost in East L.A. after dark
( ) Got a Tattoo