thinking of new year's resolutions is hard when you're perfect....

These beauties all just came outta the kiln and I luvs them so. Suresuresure, you have seen items like them here before. I am thinking the greens would make a nice business card too (different cards for different customers and different moods: a card with teddy bear pottery on it is good for some...serious bowls good for others....) I gave us a set of similar bowls for Christmas....
Anyways, new years, hmm?
We were sure as hell fortunate in 2011 (remember my motto "if you're not dead, you have more options!".) 2012 will mark 6 years (SIX!) of daily blogging. I have a lot of BS to share don't I?
The wife was amazed yesterday when I said, after 2 days of scrubbing
"you're BORED? I would never get bored cleaning...." and its like
"Good lord, gimme a beer, will ya?".
Cleaning is dead dull, but a trunk load went to Salvation Army yesterday and I felt elated and lightened. Thinking, "I have done so much, maybe Saturday I will tackle the final frontier: those 30 mystery boxes in the corner staring at me..."
My other task for today: resolutions. Thinking of new year resolutions is hard when you're perfect ..... ;)

(new pottery by Gary Rith)

I am not a neatnik....

We were out with Amy and Dave last night having the awesome dinner at the cozy restaurant with fire and decorations. Nobody was near us, and I should have gotten photos early when I had the chance (tres romantique!) but surprise! Then the place filled up.
Anyway, year's end means cleanup for me. I go through my in box once a year, clean my desk and everything else I can think of around the house. (Penny points out the BEFORE below) There will be a car load of junk headed to Salvation Army later, and another car load of junk to the dump.
I am not a tidy person, but I like things tidy, you know? It feels good, and hoarders are just such a horrifying spectacle, I am the anti-hoarder!

couldn't get to sleep last night....because....

NOT the fault of these awesome bears, Winnie and Rumpole. When you scroll down you will see why we couldn't get to sleep last night ;)
OK, like I have been saying: Rumpole and Winnie the orphan teddy bears, now on teapots and cups! In stories and soon on cards! I like this photo, and I have been trying to turn it into a new business card.....


Last night the wife made this exotic Mexican rice dish with pomegranites. Unbelieveably tasty!
--saute an onion and lotsa garlic several minutes, add 2 cups brown rice and stir around, then cover with 4 cups broth and 1.5 cups chopped tomato: turn to high and stir! Cook until moisture is gone and it is, well, rice...
--slice a banana and coat with 3 tbs lime juice...seperate out 1/3-1/2 cup pomegranite seeds, add to banana and lime, then dump over the top of the rice, serve and EAT!

Introducing Rumpole and Winnie, or what were you doing at 3:10 Christmas morning????

Suzanne is like "you weren't really working at 3:10 Christmas morning, were you?" and the answer to that, as anybody from Santa's workshop knows, or toy designers or potters with a new idea is
"Of course I was working. A new product line for Christmas NEXT year".

Not literally. But I was messing around with painting my teddy bears onto pots. This was the thinking:
Last week I was thinking "my bear Rumpole in the pink sweater, that would be fun to draw...." and I drew him over and over and over, and wanted him on a child's teaset...and then I begin thinking
"Tell the Rumpole story...and Winnie....sell cards....calendars....!!!!!" then I realize, why stop there? Why not do the same with Penny and Spike?
Anyway, Rumpole was truly an orphan that I found in a snow bank outside a dormitory in 1996....and Winnie, in the green, was filthy and lying in the street last year, as you will recall, in Cooperstown. They make an awesome pair, and I need to write and illustrate their story, don't I?* And then do the same with my pets.....

(new pottery by Gary Rith)
*it would be like, "sure, buy a card for a dollar.....and maybe a teaset for 70....."

hot stuff going on here......

Here is a teaser. Full story Wednesday......

(Winnie and Rumpole, new pottery by Gary Rith)

par-TAY!

I was over at Stevo and Judy's last night, with many of their cats and dogs and kids.....you see Rudy the cat here with me, Tank the enthusiastic puppy and kari and Derek etcetcetc.....
Judy hand knit us these awesome tuques, OHMYGOSH! And they match our Spike the cat so nicely! I was telling the wife, her hat is like the one that gal wears in that Smith's video from 1986 or whenever .....

its like Christmas day...on Christmas day!

Potters always say opening up the kiln after a good firing is like Christmas day. For the first time ever, I opened the kiln on Christmas day...and it was like Christmas day!
You can see the before and after below, plus view how Spike and Penny treat a guest bed...predictable....

3:10 am--who is that on our roof??? Squirrels invading again????

NO! Not this time. Santa! With tuna for Spike and a squeaky toy for Penny...I made coffee and started the kiln......(why yes, the happily self-employed potter IS working on Christmas....)
OK, so yesterday? The wife comes downstairs in grey sweater and dark blue jeans. I am wearing grey sweater and dark blue jeans, and we are like
"WHOA! 19 years married today and we have a psychic connection indeed!"
Had to grab the camera for the family photo....me, Spike cat, Penny beagle, the wife, Buster the big black lab...
Joyeaux Noel everybody!

19 years married today and the most romantic gift a guy can give

Well sure, you can give jewelry, but hell, what does she really want? What does she really desire in her heart of hearts???? A NEW TOILET BAGEL! The conversation goes like this, after:
"I thought you would love getting a new toilet...what are they called, you know, the round thing, the toilet bagel!" and she is eating her breakfast, which is, coincidentally, a bagel, and sorta spits out her mouthful
"GOD! Don't call it that! Its a toilet seat!"

Oh, right, makes sense, toilet seat. Anyway, you have been married umpteen years, you give the less romantic* more utilitarian and useful gifts. The smart man gives the wife the new blender, the new vacuum cleaner, if the budget is low, a new toilet plunger, maybe some windex and paper towels*. I went for it: drove down to home despots and was amazed at the selection! 5 dollars and up! I got the WHISPER QUIET!!!!! Did you know you can get a toilet seat with spring loaded hinges, YOU CANNOT SLAM THE LID DOWN. Which is useful when guests are coming...guests who might, you know, have the midnight tinkle and slam the toilet lid down....

OK, YES, she was totally surprised to come home to a new toilet seat...a fancy one no less! But I have to say, although installation is not hard, it is horrible. I scrubbed and scrubbed, everywhere, of course, but the whole process makes you wash your hands about 15 times......

MERRY CHRISTMAS MY WONDERFUL FRIENDS!!!!




(me and the wife recently: we met December 1989 and were friendly for 2-3 years, had our first outing or almost date December 1991--Beauty and the Beast was one of the first outings---and January 1992 we looked at each other and CLICK, became an item....and got married Christmas eve 1992 :)
*btw, in addition to the new toilet bagel, I gave her a gold ring and pin with amethyst and opals, pink and red roses too....not as dumb as you think I am, am I?

giving it up for Bella: blood and Jingle Bells!

If a sexy hawt vampire came into your bedroom at night, what would you do????? Don't answer that.

I have type O negative blood, the universal donor. Anybody can use it. The Red Cross does not let me forget that. They are my true other lover: I get the calls, I get the emails, I get the letters, I get the sweet nothings in my ear...every few weeks--slightly less often if I give 2 pints of red blood cells like yesterday.

I don't like giving blood, I don't like anything about it. But, I am O-, I am a straight man who is not underweight or low iron and I have not been to Africa or eaten a mad cow, I have not had secks with a prostitute NOR have I ever taken money for secks. Therefore...they love me. And I try to reciprocate their love....at least a little...and imagine my DNA floating through untold grateful veins.....

zombie squirrels on crack.....

You may recall a discussion earlier this fall, about our neighbor Paul and Julie's house, and how there was a flattened squirrel in the road in front of their place for a few days. Our adorable beagle sure did want to taste that! By my count, since then, there have been SEVEN flattened squirrels in front of their place this fall. As of yesterday. This is perhaps because a) the river bank on that stretch of road has a zillion walnut trees and other squirrel delights and b) rednecks in large and loud pickups like to race down that 100 yards perhaps because c) it is, like, an old fashioned redneck video game: how many squirrels can you drive over!
Anyway, another neighbor over there, Rich and Hillary, are down at Viva having the burrito Tuesday and we meet them. They are like
"we have squirrels in the attic" and I am like "I know what its like, tap dancing over your head at 3 am....".
I make a cute squirrel mug, yes?

(new mugs by Gary Rith)

of cats and creamers...

SO, like I was saying last week, the wife wanted a creamer like her grandmother had but broke: has a cat on the handle! I have tried making sculpted cats for years, and I like this attempt...looking good....

(new pottery by Gary Rith and featuring SPIKE the cat)

"if you're not dead, you have more options"

I was reading a book recently and it was boring and I did not finish it, but there was that quote in there, which I have used as a post title. Hilarious! I heard comedian and actor Billy Connolly say, in reference to any little gripe a person might have, such as, say, a head cold "there are a lot of people in the cemetery who wish they had a head cold". Also hilarious! But gives you pause. If you are alive, you can be grateful.
People ask why I wear the skull ring, seen below, and that is why "if you are not dead, you have more options". Keith Richards of the Stones wears his because, as he says, something to do with we are all the same underneath. Not that I am trying to be cool like Keith Richards or anything ;)

The whole point of this post, actually, aside from the dancing dog, is to share, like, my 5th or 75th, hard to keep track, peanut noodle recipe. Got this one the other day from somewhere, but it is the most simple of any I have seen, and the least fat and salt, and yummo! Recipe follows *



*
More peanut noodles!
--cook 8 oz noodles per usual, reserve a half cup of the water when done and pour into small bowl
--add to that 5 tbsp peanut butter, 3tbsp vinegar (I used red wine), one tbsp soy sauce, whisk together, stir into pasta, yummo! Serve your noodles with stir fry or whatever! I am wondering what it would be like to use lime juice rather than vinegar, or a combination....stay tuned :)

zebras YES, horses, maybe not.....

I was asked to make a horse on a vase, but frankly? My zebras kick azz :) Why settle for a boring plain horse when you can add stripes!
Ever overslept one and a half hours on a Monday? We just did. the wife, bless her, shoveled down the oatmeal and coffee and was out to catch the bus, lickety split. She scores the winning touchdown! Her husband is still yawning, scratching his belly, writing a brilliant blog post and belatedly going down to the studio to glaze a LAST MINUTE order for squirrel cups...I can change outta my jammies later.....

(new pottery by Gary Rith)

gettin' Chrismassy :)

You will recall that our mail is only delivered at our little PO in this town, and that it is so utterly small that, well, my beagle gets mail there too. Dog treats in the box. There are days I HAVE no mail, but my beagle always does...and here she is, showing off our personal Stonehenge again, with some of the snow we got Saturday which puts you in that holiday mood annnnnd
below is the wee corgi across the street, Soupy. We were at their Christmas party last night and Soupy is a star. My beagle would have cleaned the food right off that table, but little Soupy never misbehaves. I gave her all the sausage I wouldn't eat....

my own PERSONAL STONEHENGE and hawt date with the wife

You will remember that I have a lot of rocks around, and that they are my personal legos. Some of them pretty big. Like the huge slab of rock that was Trevor and Allison's across the street. They are rehabbing and a) the slab was buried in front of their place, it had been the old front step...nearly 4 feet wide! by 4 inches thick, its pretty brittle and b) they did some foundation stuff last year and I got a lot more of their rocks out of the ground then.
I built a fire pit a couple of years ago. Used it once. Weeds have been growing. I moved some of the choicest rocks INTO Penny's yard yesterday, you can see its popular. I imagine in warm weather laying out a couple of cocktails with the wife and...keeping the dog from drinking them.
In other news, Cornell here sometimes secretly announces a free movie at their cineama. Last year we were so excited, Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th St! We got the announcement early this week, ELF! I had never seen it, and cheap dude that I am, I constructed a hawt date with the wife around the free movie. It was definately hilarious and entertaining, Zoey is tres awesome as singer and performer.
But first, we went to Ithaca's favorite restaurant, Just a Taste....the wife was like "what, you want to get there when they open, exactly at 5:30?" because she knows I am super nervous about time, but in this case, I am thinking "Ithaca's most popular restaurant on a Friday? 5:31 may be too late!" and it nearly was. We got there, just a couple of seats left, and after we took off our coats NO seats were left. The last spot was taken by Mary with her husband next to us, she is the sweet dental assistant who cleaned the wife's teeth yesterday, and I was like "you saw her last week, and I will be in your chair this week!". Small world, to be sitting elbow to elbow with your dental assistant, the very week you both see her. Super awesome restaurant. Their idea of a small taste though is NOT mine, it was all pretty huge, and we got the doggy bag....then off to the free flick.
You see, because next week is our 19th wedding anniversary :) We have a boatload of visitors expected, so this was probably our celebration indeed....

Spike goes with Le Chapeau...

(new pottery by Gary Rith)
OK, you saw Penny in her little holiday winter outfit yesterday, it got me thinking.....but dressing a cat is, well, a challenge, NO?

In pottery cat news, I have tried so hard to sculpt cats for years with little success. I draw them very well, but sculpting was hard...until this week. The wife wants a creamer with a cat on the handle---her grandmother had one that broke, except for the cat, and Claudia wants a cat on the handle mug....I'm working on it guys.....