Bug

Does anyone know what this interesting-looking, but somewhat scary bug is? You can see him by the edge of a 2" x 4" to get a sense of scale. I've never seen anything like it.

De-cluttering

I find I'm always more excited to get to work if I have a clean workspace waiting for me. Unfortunately, I'm much better at generating clutter than I am at consistent cleaning. Today was a day to put all the tools back where they belong and scrub all the surface down. I keep the table to the left of my bench covered in paper (old pages from my Stendig calendar work well). The is the area where I do all my polishing and use the flexshaft. When I have made a gigantic, dusty, grimy mess polishing, I simply replace the paper for easy clean up.

I cleaned off my soldering area as well. Somehow, everything manages to get covered in dried flux after a while. Periodically, I like to scrub down the kiln shelf and get rid of all the grime.
Now it's time to actually finish a piece of jewelry . . .

Really?

I'm a videogame neophyte and idiot. I have a rarely used Wii and that is the extent of my video game exposure. Sunday, I opened a new game that had been sitting here for a month or two and started playing along. Unsurprisingly, I was just horrible at most of it.

But somehow, I got the highest global score ever submitted on the Soul Bassa Nova portion of the Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party. I don't remember the number of points, but it was over 20K. Everyone has to be good at something, and apparently I'm good at playing fake DDR with a bunch of animated rabbits. How very odd.

Alexander McQueen = kryptonite

Alexander McQueen is my personal kryptonite. I have been known to refer to him as the devil -- existing solely to separate me from my hard earned money, or making me pine after gorgeous clothing I could never squeeze into (not to mention, never afford).

Have you seen the Black Label collection bearing his name from Samsonite? (Yes, I said Samsonite). Stunning pieces with equally stunning price tags. They make me foam at the mouth a bit.

Neiman Marcus is the only retailer to carry the line in Georgia, but I lucked into finding one of his beauty cases at a fantastic price online. It arrived today, and while larger than I thought it would be (14" x 11" x 6"), it is a gorgeous piece. It is a bit more luggage than day-to-day purse, but I don't think that is going to stop me from carrying it as an everyday bag. Yummy!

iPhone upgrade

Upgraded iPhone software today -- some great new apps and functionality available. I'm holding out for a bit before upgrading my first generation phone, but I look forward to the improved camera on the new phones.

That said, I've been really happy with this camera. Once you embrace the low res quality and use the software available on the phone to manipulate your images, it's fun to see what you can come up with using only that limited tool set.

Perhaps I do have a green thumb after all

"I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June."

- L. M. Montgomery

Most years, spring in Atlanta seems to last just a day. The cold of winter often seems to move straight to oppressive heat and humidity without the more temperate springs I remember from growing up in the Northeast.

I don't know if it is just perception, but this year has felt like a lovely exception. The absence thus far of temperatures found on the surface of the sun has allowed my plants to establish themselves and grow beyond belief. These photos are of two stems of miniature roses -- some of the first flowers cut from the garden.

There should be other roses soon. I ordered a rose bush from Dutch Gardens and it has been the fastest growing plant I have ever seen. It arrived as two bare sticks with some roots a couple weeks ago, and now has a myriad of 15" shoots, as well as buds forming. I guess i should learn something about pruning before it overtakes my car.

Dinosaurs Making Toast!

Dinosaurs Making Toast! I feel the need to speak that with an exclamation point.

I went to the Indie Craft Experience a couple weekends ago in Centennial Park, and enjoyed seeing all the talented folks and their impressive wares. It was one of the best shows I have been to in quite some time.

Among all the nice (and did I mention really talented?) people we met that day was Jon Wye. Jon is an artist from D.C. who makes stunning belts, wrist cuffs and dog collars from silkscreened leather. Please check out his site -- his work is amazing.

From his site, I ordered a belt that has Dinosaurs making toast (!) on it -- and a gorgeous wrist cuff made it into my order as well. They arrived this week, and the craftsmanship is remarkable. I can't wait to add more to my collection.