Brad Sondahl's blog

Jan. 21
    I feel bad not to comment on such major tragedies as the Haitian earthquake, but I do feel that story speaks for itself, where as this blog speaks to the particular, i.e. me. I do feel intensely sorry for the survivors, and we have, like many others, given aid to relief agencies. But I didn't know any Haitians, so it feels distant to me.
    I do know the writing of Robert B. Parker, who died yesterday at 77. I've probably read 30 or more of his novels. The obituary I read said that he revived the tough detective genre, particularly revering the work of Raymond Chandler. I would say he worked in a lineage starting with Dashiell Hammett, then to Chandler, carried on through Ross MacDonald, then on to Parker. His own success spurred many other fine imitators, including women writers Sara Paretsky, Linda Barnes, and Nevada Barr. Like Parker, they set their tough semi-loner characters in a specific city, and gave them life with supporting characters, and storylines that continue from book to book. I will miss his stories.
    My own story remains about the same--still can't hear much from my left ear, am dabbling in pottery and carpentry. The ground is frozen hard in the mornings, and mush in the afternoons.

Jan. 23
The electrician came today, which kept me busy with last minute walls and things needed for the wiring to get done. He expects to be done in a few days, so hopefully we can move ahead with insulating and closing up the walls soon. There are lots of choices to make in remodeling, as well as lots of building requirements to be aware of.
    I got an email from someone interested in interviewing me for an article on Spirit Lake she was planning to submit to Idaho Magazine. She asked if I had heard of the magazine. I had to reply that I was the cover story last month, so she might do better interviewing someone else... I found the coincidence to be pretty humorous.

Jan. 25
    I'm generally at a point in pottery where I prefer consistent results over spectacular. Consistency is hard to achieve, as well as "spectacular." Two of my glazes have been acting up, probably from changes in the raw materials they're made from. So I made some tests today of my black glaze, to see if I could get it to melt at a slightly lower temperature. I looked around at glazes posted on the web, took a midrange (cone 6) one, modified a similar glaze to be theoretically a higher temperature glaze, and took my reliable white glaze as a base, removing the opacifier and adding the same mix of colorants that produced black with the problem glaze. Besides the three tests, I tried all the combinations, making 7 tests in all. All this took up most of my pottery work time, so I'll have to glaze a kiln load tomorrow so as to fire the tests.
    We've had snow showers the last couple days, but they tend to melt off in the afternoon. This would be typical March weather for us.

Jan. 26.
    We're holding off on work on the cabin till the inspection is done and the power is hooked up again. So after glazing a couple kiln loads of pots, I watched the Marx Brothers' Room Service this afternoon. Although it has more plot than the average Marx Brothers film, I was amazed at the poor acting surrounding the brothers (well, I guess that was pretty standard also, come to think of it), and I even missed the inserted Vaudeville routines and harp and piano solos. Usually I complain about Zeppo being in the movie--this time he would have been a step up... The Socialist Realism of the play within the movie, "Hail and Farewell," was a fun part of the conclusion. Oh, and, I missed Margaret Dumont as a foil for Groucho. Golly (to choose a period appropriate exclamation), this might be the first review of this movie in 50 years....

Jan. 27
    I did unload a kiln today, but I forgot to put the test tiles in it, so the results should be out tomorrow. I also started filling in a few blanks in the pottery display shelves--with the 80 or so different pots I make, in about 8 different decorations, I always have pots I could make, even if I'd hardly have room for them all if I stocked them all.
    We're still waiting for the wiring inspection, so we went for a walk in the bright sunshine today on the lake. In one place the ice had been depressed by being see-sawed up on a rock, and a tiny hole became a burbling fountain about the size of a drinking fountain, allowing the water below to fill the depression. By the time we were done with the walk, it had reached equillibrium again. Still, it was fun to see a mini fountain.

Jan. 29
    Most of the black glaze tests turned out well. I may use the test based on my white glaze base, (without the opacifier), as it's cheap and dependable. I'm thinking of adding some bone ash, since it helps make the glaze cloudy instead of clear, which improves a black glaze.
    The electrical inspector was through yesterday, so we're going ahead with insulating at the cabin. The weather is above freezing in the days, making for reasonable working conditions. The electricity should be hooked up today, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to get in the new electrical box, which I'll have to do to turn on the breakers...

Jan. 30
    I'm tired and sore after we put up most of the insulation on our project cabin today. It was about 1000 sq. feet--which I know from ordering it, and from ordering the knotty pine tongue and groove which should arrive Monday. I also know I stuck in 1125 staples, because I bought and emptied a box of them in the last couple days. It's great to see the pace pick up on the project.
    I'm finally noticing some improvement in my hearing in my left ear. My tool to assess it has been to rub my fingertips together near my ears to make a little rustling noise. I can hear it now, and the ringing (tinnitis), although continuous, is also getting a bit quieter as well.