Arrr Bilge Rat, Hand Me My Grog and Pen

We finally made it back to Foci last Thursday after more than three weeks away. We did alright on the bench but we could tell that some rust had begun to settle on our limited skills. The studio has their furnace issues behind them and is open for full use again so we should be able to get back to our weekly time-slots. We're both as eager as ever to continue to push ourselves and develop as glassblowers!

Tammy's mother spent two days with us this week and was able to watch us blow glass. Our concern with her in the studio with us was that she's so quick to move about so we had to be careful to keep her from getting hurt. It's typically not the 2200 degree glass that burns you but the tools that come in contact with it. An object doesn't begin to show that it's hot until it's over 1000 degrees.

Pat Robertson was in the news this week for a remark he made about one spouse leaving another when Alzheimer's descends upon a marriage. I'm not much of a fan of Robertson and most everyone was quick to pounce on him for his remark but there's a part of me that agrees with the point of view he was trying to convey.

Here are the story and the video.

I was talking with Tammy about us and what we would do if we ever found ourselves in a similar situation. She assured me that she would want me to move on with my life but at the same time not leave her behind. I totally get that. But she also said that she could never imagine finding somebody else. How sweet of her but I would absolutely want more for her. Me...what would I do? Hmmm—I'm not so sure. I'm only being honest. I'm not saying that either of us would be out there actively seeking somebody else, but sometimes those things have a way of happening. If I took up with anyone else they would have to know that I'm not fully theirs. I'm guessing I'm on the wrong side of this argument.

It's been a hot period that we just came out of and our pups have seen a lot fewer walks than they'd like but now that cooler temps have returned we're back to our daily routine of either a trip to the park or 45 minutes walking the neighborhood streets. They're happy little guys—see for yourself!

I stumbled onto a fun color-hue test online last night. Check this out. I scored a 4; much better than I thought I would. Maybe it's the graphics of my MacBook Pro. Give it a try. The colors at the end of each row are stationary and can't be moved. Work inward from each of them while trying to align the tiles in the correct color sequence as they fade from one color to the next.

My years seem to be measured by different happenings that Tammy and I routinely do. Fall brings the Renaissance Fair in Shakopee. We don't always make it to this event each year but when we do we never fail to enjoy ourselves. There's really nothing about the period of time depicted here that I embrace or would want to have lived in but still, I find it an interesting few hours.

I don't think the somewhat-slightly-metro-sexual-me would fit in very well in this period but then I probably shouldn't sell myself short. I'm sure I'd have adopted some gruff exterior—possibly a beard and I'd learn to cuss a lot but when I got home to my wife I'd abandon all of that and sip my wine while writing in my diary...er, journal (as we guys called them in the days before blogs).

Photos from the day.