Has Angle, Will Grind
I got myself a Milwaukee 4½" Super Magnum® angle grinder for my birthday.

When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
When you've got an angle grinder, you've also got an axe to grind.

I got a corded version so I won't be tempted to cut through deadbolts or denver boots.

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Rain
Rain Rain. I love rain.
Drips through my hat and into my brain.

Rolls off my back, just like a duck.
Gushes down the gutters to wash away the muck.

Heres to the rain that passes overhead
and up to the foothills to fill the watershed.

Heres to the rain that falls in the pass
that turns the big windmills and greens up the grass.

Heres to the rain that falls in here in town
that picks up all the crap and washes it Down...

Down Down to the bay.
Have a cigarette butt with your fish fillet.

News paper. Candy Wrapper. Big Pile of Crap.
Gonna make some fine marine habitat.

Sad you dropped your ice cream then think again
Rain takes it down the pipes to the dead China men.

Rain. Rain. I love rain.
Swirls all my thoughts down into the drain.

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Spring Classes
I just signed up for Spring classes:
June 4 - July 2, Thursdays, 7-10pm, Metal Fabrication Tools: Round at The Crucible
June 8 - July 6, Mondays, 7-10pm, Design for the 3rd Dimension at The Crucible

Full schedule here.

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Dracul
Tonight is the premier of The Crucible's 10th Anniversary fire ballet Dracul: Prince of Fire. I saw the dress rehearsal Monday night. While there are some spectacular scenes, there is also an icky pointless ballet scene that seems to drag on forever while doing nothing to advance the plot. I may feel differently after seeing a polished up version, but I think not. I loved The Crucible's production of Firebird from the first time, and every time, I saw it.

I'll be volunteering as a fire safety tonight, Friday Jan 10 and Wednesday Jan 14. Bill and I are going as regular audience folk tomorrow night.

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Dremel Love
A month or so ago, I was cutting a thick slab of acrylic with my Dremel for a class project. The process was making plenty of "plastic dust." Some of the dust must have gotten into the housing of the Dremel and ignited in the electric motor. A poof of thick smoke later I was left with a useless Dremel that had melted bits inside I couldn't repair.

I sent it to their repair facility with a note describing what happened, that I couldn't find the original receipt, but had registered online. I told them I would be willing to pay for the repairs.

Yesterday I received a refurbished replacement in the mail. No charge. No questions asked. (with a few more bits on it that I sent it in with)

This is the second time Dremel has done this for me--they also replaced the unit I burned up when polishing Mondragon's art meme project. Damn, they run a good shop. I highly recommend.

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We Love the Moon
For champdaddy and you other nighttime critters.
NASA: Biggest Full Moon of the Year.

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Gayless

Rather than call in "gay," I think it will have much more impact that I'm "out" about why I'll be gone tomorrow.
Day Without A Gay

Click on the photo for a tour of my office.

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Winter Classes
I just signed up for Winter classes. I was hoping to take Motorcycle Maintenance, but I waited too long to sign up and the class is already full. Maybe next semester.

I got into:
Furniture Fabrication in MIG Welding, Jan 26 - Mar 30, Monday s, 7-10pm.
Fearless Fire Eating, Feb 28 - Mar 1, Saturday/Sunday, 3:30 - 5:30pm.
Sheet metal forming with Evan Wilcox, March 7 - 15, Saturday/Sunday , 11am - 4pm.

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Taste of Fire
All those folks that have told me they would love to try out some of the nifty classes I take over at The Crucible might be interested in the Holiday Taster workshops this weekend. There will be two half day (three hour) classes on both Saturday and Sunday in Blacksmithing, Glass Flameworking, Glass Fusing, Jewelry, MIG Welding, Resin Casting and Sand Casting for $80 a class.

I'll be on site both days. Saturday 11-3:30pm for my last Art of Fire Dance/Poi class, and both days 3:30-5:30 for a Fearless Fire Eating class.

Update: They changed the time of the Fire Eating class to 12-2pm, so my two classes overlap. I've canceled Fire Eating and will sign up for the next one.

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"Bait" Photo Project
1) Bake two dozen colorful, aromatic cupcakes*.
2) Set them under furniture displays at IKEA**.
3) Make pictures.



* If you are unable to bake, try using cans of cheap beer.
** Or on top of furniture > 7' high for belly shots.

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Good Eatin'
I ate fancy Gouda Uniekaas Reserve from Whole Foods last night. In the shower this morning I couldn't help but to notice my armpits smell incredible. Gourmet eatin' good. Even after a fierce scrubbing, I fear I may not make it through the day with my arms still intact once the masses get a whiff of me. I can only hope they take the time to fire roast me with vegetables and pair me with fine whiskey.

I also voted for a woman named Marigrace and some Irish guy.

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DwrfD
Gettin' my Dwarf on.

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Dear Diary,
I've been too busy to bother with you lately. In addition to my Autumn classes, Electronics for Artists and Art of Fire Dancing/Poi, I got a brand new Mac Book Pro and a previously used boyfriend. It is a wonder I bother to leave bed anymore.

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Flickr Most Viewed Photo Meme
( Because writing real content is too hard. )

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Nowhere
I'm camping in the coastal Pacific North-West rain forest for the California Blacksmith Association Oktoberfest/Fall Conference. I chose to bring the smaller older apparently leakier tent, and the powers that be are putting plenty of "rain" in the rain forest right about now. Luckily the are plenty of very hot coal fires around to warm up next to if you don't mind dodging red hot metal pokers.

No bars on the mobile phone, but someone is sharing their wireless Internets. Yay! for teh Internets!

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Making Stuff
I started a ten session Electronics for Artists class on Saturday at The Crucible. I suspect some of the class will be material I already know from self study, but I can always use the review and proper instruction. I'm also taking the class with a dear Maker friend, and had a blast doing labs with her. I've already read ahead in our workbook and built the first labs for the coming class. Yay! I feel smart. I'm still debating if I want to make "Dad Safari" pictures of two bear classmates, `cause heaven forbid I actually befriend them and they find out later that I objectified them. (It has happened before...)

Sunday I wandered up the hill for Xavier Caylor's "No on Prop 8" fundraiser/Poi-Flag Tie Dye workshop. I dyed two sets of silk poi flags. I didn't do very well, but I enjoyed it all the same. I still haven't assembled the flag-poi because I can't decide if I want to embed persistence of vision (POV) light emitting diode (LED) arrays in the corners of the flags that will make light patterns as they spin. I have the technology. Why be just a gay hippie when I can be a gay hippie geek?

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Yogi Tales
Buddy walks up to the front of my mat. "Drew, turn your left foot in," he explains, "so your hips will line up and you'll get a better stretch." "Good correction," he says as he starts to walk down the row then stops. "Where is your friend (kevin_v5) at tonight?" Buddy makes the flight attendant emergency lighting along the isles gesture toward the floor next to me. "He should be right here." He stops and faces me before turning away and tells me, "Be sure to tell him I said so." About two steps away with out breaking stride, Buddy comments loudly enough for everyone to hear, "I bet he's at home waiting for the premier of 90210."

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New Shoe
Yay! My new/replacement Birkenstock shoes arrived in the mail today. I forgot how amazingly comfortable these thing are.

My old ones are shot, have no tread and are within millimeters of wearing completely through the sole. I went out last weekend to get replacements, but who would think that a guy couldn't find a pair of Birkenstocks in San Francisco? Even from stores the Birkenstock website says has them? Crazy.

Maybe I'll go lookin' for my first pedicure this weekend to undo the damage walking on a thin piece of plastic for several weeks has done to my feet.

I feel so metro-gay.

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Overdue Update
I did a big shake up of my schedule a few months back. It seems I was spending too many evenings a week in classes/work nights/volunteering and not enough time on me, so I dropped pretty much my whole schedule and started from scratch. I'm trying to have fewer "have to be there" activities so I can enjoy more "because I want to, when I want to" activities. I pretty much dumped KSW work nights from my schedule from the get go, and then took a sabbatical from Machine Shop intern nights about a month ago. Keeping up with the blog (both writing mine and reading others') also seemed to get dumped in the purge.

I finished up my Continuing Techniques in TIG class. We got into the copper/brass welding I was hoping for along with Aluminum, Titanium and mixed metal welding. I don't have anything to show for the class other than random pieces of metal welded together. I'm looking forward to getting do more copper and brass welding.

I took a weekend Flame Effects class in July (same weekend as Dore Alley). I went into the class knowing nothing. I love being on the leading edge of the learning curve when I can absorb plenty of new information quickly. We built our own propane burner project and then disassembled and rebuilt a propane accumulator flame effect. I'd like to build my own accumulator from scratch, but solenoid valves are damn expensive, and I need to do more research before I throw down the cash for one. I've been collecting other plumbing parts so I'll have plenty to experiment with in the mean time.

I've been messing around with some solar energy educational/experiment kits trying to figure out how to recharge gadget batteries with sunlight. The combination of poor documentation and possibly faulty parts has been frustrating me. I think I just need to break down and shell out the cash for better kits. Trouble is, I can't really determine the quality `till I've tried them out. I'd appreciate any suggestions from folks that have had good experiences with solar kits.

I tried out yoga a few months ago and have been going to classes a few times a week since. I've been impressed by the changes in my body. I thought the I was going to loose weight and get flexible. While I've lost more than ten pounds and am a tiny bit more flexible, I was surprised to find that the big up-front benefits were/are increased lung capacity and better posture. I'm curious to see what it has done for my cholesterol and triglycerides. I can't even touch my toes yet and clapping handstand push-ups are more a holy grail than a possibility, but I'm enjoying doing the yoga so the results don't seem to matter so much.

I'm not sure what the Winter will bring. I'm planning on keeping up with the yoga and taking a couple of (easy) electronics classes and maybe some fire spinning/eating/breathing as my schedule allows.

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Crumple
I thought I was having a really bad day yesterday.
I screwed something up that is important to me.
That the rest of the day was Tedious, Bureaucratic and Draining didn't help.

On my way home late in the evening, I saw a young woman with a young man friend get a mobile call outside the not-Cala on 18th & Collingwood. She obviously got some very distressing news, crumpled up in a ball leaning against the wall and cried into her phone, "This can be happening. This can't be real." The sight was very gut wrenching and raw.

My hurts don't feel any better, but the smack in the face of seeing the girl in peril certainly helped put them in perspective. Nobody died on me. My home didn't burn down. I'm still mostly hale and healthy. It hurts, but it will pass. [deep breath] ...but not just yet it seems.

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