Because it really is personal…

I was perusing Ebay, looking for a green truck, when I saw

Then I remembered having seen them once before, dangling from the trailer hitch of someone’s Dodge Ram 6400 4×4 Extended Bed Crew Cab With Dualies.
Apparently he (it musty have been a he, no self respecting woman would put testes on her truck)thought it made him and his vehicle Manly. Personally, I thought it looked silly, as the balls were not proportioned well. If I had a bull with balls the relative size of those to that truck, I would have just gone on and castrated it, because on that truck they were just silly little dangly things, like a tiny pair of earrings hanging from the trailer hitch.

It’s Friday, the laundry is done, the house is clean, and we don’t need any groceries. I think today, I’ll drive 2 miles to the local Doughnut Shoppe and purchase one of their stellar bagels and some cream cheese. I deserve it. My bathrooms are spotless and I even figured out how to get that weird hardwater limescale off the shower door.

Then, after I eat the bagel and watch Brian Kilmeade skewer someone on FoxNews, I’ll go to my studio (a grande name for the desk in the corner of the guest bedroom)and do some sculpting. It’s been a while, so I’m going to start small, with a Christmas ornament that, if it turns out well, I’ll let #4 give to his teacher for Christmas. Many years ago, when the older boys were in Elementary school, I started making these little angels, that would look like their particular teacher with skin tone and hair style, and have them holding an apple- you know, a teacher angel. Kitchy, but they seemed to like them , and more personal than a coffee mug with a package of hot cocoa mix. Then the older boys entered Middle School and the thought of giving their teachers (6 of them per kid) all atener fragmentos de “Knight Rider” y “Baywatch”, éstas imágenes están acompañadas por un auténtico himno de canción que practicamente acabo de descubrir gracias a este documento. El himno, la canción, es de un grupo llamado Spanish Bandoleiros que consigue un verdero temazo, un más que merecido homenaje al gran y televisivo personaje Michael Knight.

Disfrútenlo ustedes mismos pulsando aquí.grupo llamado Spanish Bandoleiros que consigue un verdero temazo, un más que merecido homenaje al gran y televisivo personaje Michael Knight.

Disfrútenlo ustedes mismos pulsando aquí.

…The most recent post is the result of a hiccup in the space-time continuum…
…It is not the result of the consumption of illegal substances, I don’t do that…
…I’t all blogger’s fault…it’s all blogger’s fault…it’s all blogger’s fault…

but it’s too weird to delete.

It’s Friday, the laundry is done, the house is clean, and we don’t need any groceries. I think today, I’ll drive 2 miles to the local Doughnut Shoppe and purchase one of their stellar bagels and some cream cheese. I deserve it. My bathrooms are spotless and I even figured out how to get that weird hardwater limescale off the shower door.

Then, after I eat the bagel and watch Brian Kilmeade skewer someone on FoxNews, I’ll go to my studio (a grande name for the desk in the corner of the guest bedroom)and do some sculpting. It’s been a while, so I’m going to start small, with a Christmas ornament that, if it turns out well, I’ll let #4 give to his teacher for Christmas. Many years ago, when the older boys were in Elementary school, I started making these little angels, that would look like their particular teacher with skin tone and hair style, and have them holding an apple- you know, a teacher angel. Kitchy, but they seemed to like them , and more personal than a coffee mug with a package of hot cocoa mix. Then the older boys entered Middle School and the thought of giving their teachers (6 of them per kid) all angels became burdensome, as it takes something like 4 hours to make each one and I can only do it when I’m in the mood. So we made the cookies.

Anyway, I have this wonderful desk that was Sweet Daddio’s wedding gift to me. It’s big and solid and made of oak. It has a formica top that is perfect for doing artwork or sewing. I am going to sit at my desk with all the blocks of clay scattered before me for inspiration. I use polymer clay, which is malleable and mixable until it is baked. If a wire armeture is used, sizable items can be created. It comes in a rainbow of colors, plus a pale flesh tone and opaque white. I mix the flesh tone with varying amounts of chocolate brown to develop different skin shades, ranging from “I’m from Nigeria” black to “I might have a Hispanic grandmother” tan to “I’m pure Irish”.

Several years ago I tackled the very ambitious project of making my mother a Nativity scene. I went the whole 9 yards, Mary (looking weary), Joseph (looking worriedly at Mary) and Baby Jesus (wrapped in swaddling clothes and sucking his thumb). 3 Wise Men (one Scandinavian, one Near Eastern/Indian, and one shorty Asian with a long braid). There are donkeys, sheep, 2 shepherds (one looking like an Italian Opera singer, singing to the sky and one looking 17 with zits and his mouth hanging open), and angel dangling stars over the roof of the stable, and 2 nekkid cherubs giving each other high-fives. The idea was to make every character look as human as possible. I tried to figure out how a person would react to such a find, and represent that. They still tend to be cartoon-ish, as I am not THAT good at it, but I am figuring out how to do facial expressions, and that’s fun.

If I get my proverbial feet back under me, sculpturally speaking, I want to make a similar set for myself. Since I made that last one, technology has advanced and I can actually buy clay that remains flexible after baking. It would be perfect for the clothes, and would make packing stuff up much easier. THe problem right now is that the clay is somewhat brittle after baking, and the nativity I made for myself 10 years ago is crumbling. The clothes are, anyway. I make the clothes by rolling the clay out very thing and actually cutting out pattern pieces and *making* clothing that drapes and fits. Looks great, but not terribly durable.

So here we go. I’m a little nervous, tho I don’t know why. My only audience is 8 inches tall and loves me as long as I have biscuits in my pocket. I’ll take pictures of the process, so you can see what happens going along.

Oh, another thing…Mary, Joseph and the shepherds are all decidely Sephardic: dark, hairy, big noses…I don’t go for the whole Euro-Jesus thing where everyone is pale and sharp featured. No. Jesus was Middle Eastern. He should look that way.

Bagel calleth.