Throwing Pots

By a show of hands, how many of you have ever used a potter's wheel and "thrown" a pot?

Maintaining Standards
Even if you haven't, just picture Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in "Ghost"

Using a potter's wheel to make pottery provides some valuable life lessons, and you'll know what I mean if you've ever actually done it.

The basic premise of creating a circular piece of pottery on a wheel (and this goes for anyone who's ever used a lathe as well), is that you try to keep your hand steady in relationship to the clay on the wheel as it spins. Not enough pressure, and the clay moves your hand and shapes itself. Too much pressure and you topple the clay.

After a couple of times working on a potter's wheel, the balance between enough pressure and too much starts to become obvious.

For the beginning potter, it sometimes feels as if the clay is guiding the process instead of the other way around.

So it is with maintaining standards on a web log.

I've put in some pretty forceful "Newcomer Rules" section (which threatened to topple this blog early on).

Plus, I have a handful of loyal (fiercely loyal) blog readers, who insist on a certain level of sophistication in the comments section of this site.

So far, I have never resorted to modifying or deleting anyone's comments or banning anyone. Eventually, the constant, steady adherence to principles, allows poseurs to reveal themselves for what they really are.

Funny Picture
The Onion published this sweater-related picture and caption.



I thought y'all might enjoy it.

Looming Future
As likely as it is that I will succumb to the alluring call of weaving, it won't be in my immediate future.

I truly believe that the principles of color and pattern design are completely different with weaving, and I'm not sure I'm up for becoming a complete newbie at something right now.

The Funniest Polack I Know
I've been loving the comments lately, but the biggest belly laughs I've had are from Carol S.'s comments (wish her a happy birthday...today she reached the level of "very old")

I leave you with Carol's tribute to Kathy and Selma's idol: