back in Denver

Well, aside from a little bit, ok a lot, of turbulence, my flight got back to Denver ok. It is nice to be back in Denver, where I have a bed and bathroom of my own (but thanks Alisha and Chris, and Scott for use of yours!!) and there is a nice comfortable familiarity to ones own bed.

My trip was in a word, wonderful. I got to see friends that I didn't realized I had missed as much as I had. I got to see family, including Kim's new house! and hear Mike's proposal story. And I had WAY too many dinners out. :) Not that they weren't appreciated!!!

The art show was amazing, and I am so proud of all the work that the BFA grads had done. It was amazing to see all the work in the gallery and get a little glimpse into the art I've missed being made.

I also got a shot in the arm and a great pep talk and critique from Anna, and there is no doubt in my mind as to the direction I need to keep going in... back to gradschool. Hopefully it will be sooner than later, but one day at a time is all I can do.

all my bags are packed

I'm ready to go!

I'll be spending the remainder of this week in Grand Rapids.
I have lots of plans to visit friends, visit family, see some art, trade some art, and a lot more.
This is my first break from working since I started last June and I am ready!!!

I plan on taking lots of pictures, and will post the fun-ness when I return.

I am so excited!!

more work

Just a few more pieces that have come out of the kiln in the last month.

Two mugs... made 5 total, but 2 photograph better

'Roots'

Shino and Black glazed tumbler

Not sure what to call this one... and not sure what I feel about it.
I think I like it, but I'm not sure.

Faceted vase

Small Bowl with very colorful glaze... not sure I care for the glaze...
it's pretty, but not me I think

'Cells'

'Flagella'

Bowl with carved circles
looks like a chocolate chip cookie to me in this photo...

Some functional, some sculptural, some in between.... let me know what you think.

haiku

on my feet all day
now very tired and sore
glad to be back home

new work

here they are... let me know what you think... I need feedback. They are in the order that I made them...

'Barnacles' H:10 in

'Bracket Fungi' H:10 in


'Limpets' H:5.5 in


'Divide' H:10 in

'Barnacles II' H:5 in

an odd day

Talk about an odd day. Driving to work early this morning, it was raining; not a lot, but a definite drizzle. By my lunch break it was snowing just a little between the sunbeams. When I left for the day, it was sunny and warm. When I pulled into the gas station to fill up, it was snowing again, this time hard... I mean lots of big flakes, and blowing all over the place.

When I got home, this was the view from the front porch.

And taken two seconds later, the view from the back stoop.

Can you guess which way I'm hoping the weather system moves?!

[LATER] And tonight, driving home from the pet store (I was running low on fish food) there was fog. Heavy fog. And lots of it... reminded me of MI days...

Some days

Some days, I'm just really tired.

And next week, with two 4am's and a couple of 6am's will probably be just as tiring.

But that's the way it is, and I better just get used to it for a while!

Oh, and good news, in a week, after our crazy shipments are over, I'm meeting with my manager to discuss 'the next step' in his words, which means possible promotion and/or pay increase! Woo!

Enjoy what's left of your weekend... I know I will, because 4am Monday morning will come around too soon!

a list

things that made me laugh in the past few days:
- the 'ladies' at Potter's Guild on Tuesday night telling me not many men last working with them in the evenings. this after a 30 minute discussion of menopause and the temperature of the room.
- the dog last night, upon receiving new toys and a new kennel pillow. hopefully she will not destroy the pillow in a day or two.
- finding Mighty Morphing Power Ranger valentines to give to my coworkers for only $1.99. at least they were better than 'Bratz' valentines.
- the way in which the weather can be sunny and 60 degrees in the afternoon, and cool down and snow later that evening.
- Hal the cat chasing shadows.
- emailing my friends and catching up on how things are.
- attempting to explain what I'm doing with my ceramics to other people at the art center. 'But that's a lot of work for a vase' or 'How many hours did you spend on that?'

images from a walk

took the dog for a walk, but the wind was so bitter it didn't last long. It was sunny and kind of warm, but I think a front went through... it was not pleasant.

Snow melt on the dirt road

Pigeons trying to fly against the wind. They were hovering because it was so windy

Pretty cool looking decaying hay bales

Studio in progress

So I've been spending a decent amount of time at the ceramics studio, and have been having some fun.

Since my works from my BFA show were mainly large scale sculptures, I needed a new direction to go in, mainly because of the feasibility of producing these large things (or rather numerous small things) but also because of the use and functionality of these works. Instead, I've chosen to focus on the component aspect of the works in a different way, going to the organic natural world for inspiration, and using the vessel forms I can throw on the wheel as a surface upon which I can play. I sill am fascinated by the multiplicity aspect that can turn a single, slightly boring and innocuous object, into a part of a whole that really only makes sense with in the context of the group.

So I've looked at all sorts of natural things, like mushrooms, limpets, barnacles, nests, hive structures, prairie dog mounds, rocky beaches, fields of grain, roots... all things that are most often seen in concert with others of its kind. And when they are seen together, the impact is much more interesting and exciting.

So here are a couple first experiments, which are not necessarily finished ideas yet, but definitely going somewhere.

Barnacles... or something

And Bracket fungi... like the kind that grow on trees

Needless to say, still works in progress, and I have a lot more work to do with them, but they are a lot of fun to work on. Hours of tiny handbuilding can be not only calming for me but very relaxing... I know, sounds odd, but its true. And attempting to duplicate nature is also challenging...

experiments

some fun with Graphite, watercolor, and ink... not necessarily great, but...

Super Tuesday

Today will be a first for me. Later I will participate in a caucus. I have no idea what to expect, and really am more interested in the process... though I do care about who gets nominated. Should be interesting at least!

Hal is in a very cuddly mood today. Beth said he was like that when she got home this morning, and indeed he's been on my lap, attempting to interfere with my typing and surfing for the last 20 minutes. But it's an alright interference; the purring is relaxing and like a mini-massage. And it's better than the playful biting that sometimes comes out (not often, but man he has sharp nippers!)

Work was just that, busy (not with customers, but with shipment) and difficult. The downer was dropping a heavy (read VERY HEAVY) MDF shelf on my left foot. The corner hit my second toe right at the cuticle, and it's still hurting. I guess the nail bed is uber sensitive or something, but man it smarts....
I'm in for a later shift tomorrow, so I'll be able to sleep in, but that means I need to do my laundry and empty the dishwasher this afternoon. Perhaps I'll even sneak in a nap.

It snowed again today, or maybe it was just leftovers from yesterday, but needless to say, it was pretty. And pretty horrendous driving again at 3:45 this morning before the plows got going. But the sun's out now, and it's starting to melt away even as I speak.I love the blue sky, and open space behind our house... hard to believe on the other side of the house is a metropolis of over 3 million people...

And this angle is just to show the crazy trails the dog makes running around playing. She likes to eat the snow in addition to just going insane in it.

studio time

I have to say that I love being back in the studio. And a flexible schedule (of course by that I mean a schedule where my managers schedule me whenever they want) that allows me some hours in the day to go to the studio is wonderful. Things are in process, and maybe soon I'll take a photo or two of works in progress...

but now, bed- for tomorrow is another very early morning.

Oh, it snowed again today, and while I hate other drivers in the snow, I do like it when it's coming down. Makes me feel like a little kid again for some reason.

and just because i miss firing the kiln...

No excuses

Ok, so no excuses for not posting. We're all busy, we all work, and I'm just not great with the whole communication thing. Apologies...

So driving home on Friday night after closing at work was THE WORST driving I have ever done.
Normally my commute takes me about 20 minutes. On Friday night, at 10 pm it usually takes about 15-18 minutes. This past Friday, with blowing snow, intense blizzard conditions, and lightning an thunder, it took me 45 minutes to get home safely. I don't think I went above 25 the whole way home... Needless to say it started snowing at around 8:30 or 9:00pm, and when I got home at 10:45 there were 3 inches on the ground. Thankfully it didn't last all night, but it was an experience.

In other news, I joined the Aurora Potter's Guild! While they hold two sale shows a year, one in November and one in May, the biggest draw for me is that they have a city run studio that if you pay dues (only $28 a month, which is paltry for the great facilities they have!) you get to use the studio during any open studio hours. They also give classes, all levels and types from throwing to handbuilding to glazing, so there are a lot of options for more learning too. And they have a dedicated night of open studio for the Guild members! You do have to buy clay from them, as they've had ruined shelves in the past because people don't know that low fire clay doesn't go in the high fire kiln, but they sell it at cost, and clay is pretty inexpensive anyway. They also have firings of the big kiln fairly often, and all you do is pay for your work by the square inch, and again it's relatively cheap, at least cheaper than me buying my own kiln! So I've already spent a couple chucks of time there and I'm looking forward to going in during any of my free time!

Lets see, I've also decided to make a trip to Grand Rapids during the end of April, as I have a bunch of PTO saved up already, and that is the weekend of the BFA show. I know all the juniors who are in it, and feel like that would be a great time to go back for a couple days and see all my friends. It should be a nice trip and a good time off with friends.

Ok, so a couple quick pictures. Hal, sleeping on my bed, where he usually is, whether it's day or night. I have to say, he is an exceptionally good foot warmer!



And the giant flocks of Canadian Geese that graced the fields behind our house with their presence seemed to have finally made it past Colorado. They were pretty impressive while they were here though...

Again, sorry I'm not good about posting... I'll try to keep up. Maybe new pictures of new work will help me keep in touch.

Long Overdue...

Well, the title says enough. I have no real excuse for the fact that I haven't posted lately.
But, in my defense, somedays the only things that change are the clothing I wear. And that's a good thing.

At times, retail can become very routine. You get new clothes in boxes, you unpack the boxes, you hang the clothes on fixtures, customers come and mess up those fixtures sometimes even choosing to purchase the clothing, and you ring the customer up, and wish them a good day, and then clean up the mess that the customers made. All in all, that's the retail routine.

However, due to the impending holiday season (i.e. Black Friday) things have been a little more exciting at work. I've learned to 'cash handle' and that lets me count in and out drawers in addition to being able to do more with the registers. It's more responsibility, and actually a lot of fun. I was trained for this because I'm full time, and next Friday, my job will be to stay up at the front by the registers and help the sales associates who are ringing on the registers. I will get quarters for them if they run out, I will get them more register tape when they run out, and I will be able to take over for them when they need breaks. I will also be auditing their cash drawers after they clock out, so another person can come in and take over at the same register. (we audit so that at the end of the day, the last person to ring doesn't get stuck with a mistake someone else made... usually its only a penny or two, but sometimes it can be more...)

And aside from the crowds and inevitable insanity that should be accompanying retail work this next weekend, it should actually be kinda exciting. At least there will be lots to do!

Aside from that not too much else happening. I did spend my last day off sitting at the DMV to get my Colorado plates, and now have to figure out how to attach the green and whites to the front of my car where no plate had gone before!

Oh, and here are a couple of pictures from the first snow of the season a couple weeks ago... and hopefully we'll soon have more... this endless summer/fall is kinda confusing on what to wear, compounded with the fact that I get up in the frigid early morning hours and sometimes by the time I 'm home in the afternoon it's very warm... so needless to say, layers are a good thing, but not always easy.

Updates...

So things here have been busy.
The past few weeks I have been working 40 hour weeks, and keeping on my toes with all the fun things that that entails.
Today I found out that I'm officially full time starting tomorrow!
- While I was working 'full time' before, the difference includes benefits, assured hours (they can't hire someone and drop me to 20 hrs a week) and an increase in pay! I also get more responsibilities and tasks to do including some supervision of others and such...

Announcements aside, I'll catch you up to date on the few eventful things of the past weeks.

Last Sunday evening, I drove up to Silverthorn, CO to assist with the transition of the Old Navy Outlet there into a regular Old Navy store.
Aside from a meeting with the Arapahoe County Police mere minutes after leaving the house and getting pulled over, the ride was uneventful. (needless to say, the ticket was minimal, and I think he pulled me over because of th FL plates that are still on my car. The SUV ahead of me was pulling away from me, and the car behind me was catching up, yet I got the ticket... hmm) In my defense, it was the first ticket I have ever received, and I was mortified. Come to think of it, that was the first time I had ever even been pulled over. So is that a 1/1 a good thing? :)

Anyway, my little car made it over the mountains well, and I'm glad I had gotten an oil change and tire rotation on my day off the week before. The aspens in the mountains were just starting to turn gold, and as the sun was setting, I made it safely to the hotel that I was staying in for the next two nights. I had a room to myself both nights as they had extra rooms, and my manager Justin, who I was to share with got one of those! So I had a whole extra bed to lay my things out on and spread out.

Monday morning I was up early, 4:30am to grab some coffee on the way to the store. We had our first truck arriving at 6:00am and so we needed to be there a little earlier to set up and such. Silverton and Dillion, are really not much more than ski lodges and the rather large outlet mall that Old Navy was in. Supposedly the cities become more busy during ski season, but to me it looked absolutely dead while I was there. I met some nice people from other Old Navy's as far away as Grand Junction and Pueblo, along with the majority of workers coming from the Denver area stores. The nice thing was that the people who were there were all extremely hard workers and we got the mountain of boxes unpacked relatively quickly. The second semi truck of the day was only half full (the first was jam packed) and so I was out and back to the hotel by 4:30pm. I was sore, tired and ready for dinner. I went out to Ruby Tuesday's with a couple of the managers from other stores and two others from an Old Navy to the North of mine. It was a nice dinner and relaxing, which was needed after running (literally) for 9.5 hours of work.

Tuesday was basically a repeat of Monday, with the main difference being that I had to scrape my windshield before being able to drive to the store. After the single (full) semi truck was emptied, signs were put up, manikins clothed, and extra clothing backstocked, I was on the road home, enjoying the rather relaxing drive home through the mountains.

All in all, it was a really fun, but extremely busy trip. One of the side benefits to the trip was that I got to spend time with my store's DM (or District Manager) who is an extremely nice woman who I got to know and who even had me doing a few tasks for her, like moving things and setting displays. It's always good when an upper level person sees your Calvinist Dutch work ethic and realizes that you don't things by halves and then asks you do some more complicated tasks. Never hurts to show one's best to Management!

So now things are settling back to normal at my own store, and I'm getting back to the routine of the weekly schedule. It was fun to be away but coming back makes you grateful for the things that go better in your store. And it's always nice to have people say they are glad you are back. Even if I was only gone for a few days!

Notes From Retail...

I've learned a few things the past few weeks working retail. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Bad customer service, usually is caused by bad customers. (Seriously! though not necessarily the one being served at the moment, it could have been the crazy lady ahead of you.)
I know, people say no one is polite in stores anymore, but did you ever stop to think that maybe it's because the customers themselves are so rude that helping them is off putting? I am an intelligent person. I have a college degree. I'm a human being with feelings and emotions. There is no reason to get so upset and call me names when the computer has a problem, or the policies of a corporation which has to look out for itself (especially from people who want something for nothing) go against what you want, or when your card doesn't swipe or even enter manually and you blame me. I'm sorry, but if you are rude, mean, or grumpy and you lash out at me, you can bet I'm gonna ask you for 4 forms of ID and a blood sample, just to make you more ticked off.
Bottom line: Be nice and friendly to me and understand that while most things can be gotten instantly, it still takes a few minutes to ring up your purchases, and if there's a problem with your credit card, maybe it's because you didn't pay your bill (and don't get all mad at me telling me it's my fault you can't purchase your skanky tank top).

2. Read the signs!
Big one here. Just because the sign says 50% off or Two for $20, doesn't mean that it applies to everything in the store. Often, you have to buy two of the same style, and even if there is another promotion going on with a similar shirt, it doesn't mean you can mix and match. All the signs are (or should be) clearly labeled and reference the style numbers to which the sale applies, but do people read? No! In addition, sometimes people put things away in the wrong place, or even more common, other shoppers leave things in different areas of the store than where they are really from. Don't assume something is a certain price... because when you do, and then argue with me at the register and you're wrong because you can't read a sign, you make an ass out of u in front of me (and other customers... and then we roll our eyes at you when you leave).
Bottom Line: READ PEOPLE!! Admittedly sometimes things are mismarked, and you do need additional money off, but before you act all defensive and accuse me of cheating you and not giving you your money off, READ THE SIGNS!! It makes all our days a little better.

3. Screaming children, throwing temper tantrums, make me laugh.
I know, mean to the parents, but it just makes me giggle watching the parent struggle with the child and attempt all sorts of ways to stop the embarrassing display!
Oh, and if you want to spend hours in the fitting room, maybe leave the kids home and come another time when someone else can watch them. This mostly applies to the parents who are only buying things for themselves, which the kids see and being bored, usually start whining (leading often to the obligatory tantrum). Lady, if you don't plan on buying Johnny a shirt too, do your shopping when he doesn't see all the things you're not buying him, and definitely don't blame him for getting cranky when he has to spend an hour in the fitting room watching you try on everything, while he gets nothing... I mean $0.25 will get him a bouncy ball from the machine... at least let him be entertained while waiting for you to try on your mountain of clothing that you don't end up buying anyway. You see, to a kid, that was all just a waste of time! They just don't understand!

4. Just because you think you deserve the world handed to you, doesn't mean it will be.
I can't give you a discount just because you tell me too.
I don't need you to tell me that this shirt was on the wrong hanger. (It wasn't)
Don't tell me the girl in the fitting room told you these new shorts were on sale (she would have told you to bring them up front and have the price checked. And do you think I won't ask her what she said to you later anyway?) And when I won't give you the new shorts at clearance price, don't act like a brat and complain to the manager; they're gonna tell you the same thing as I did.
I don't need you to tell me how to do my job. I've had register training and you haven't.
Even though I don't like it, sometimes I have to stop and answer the phone. It's as much part of my job as helping you. Give me a second, and I'll put them on hold. Don't bark at me that I"m supposed to be helping you. (That person is important too!)
Returns are easiest when you keep your receipt, and don't try to exchange things over 90 days later for full price when you know full well that it's now on sale. I just can't do that.
If you tell me you know you're right in a snotty voice, I'll do everything I can to prove you wrong. Ask me nicely, I'll probably give you the benefit of the doubt.


Ok, so there it is. A smattering of things I've learned working retail, a few rants, and some interesting hints. Maybe people will be nicer in the future. Because believe you me, no one wants to help a mean jerk. And smile at your cashier! It just might make their day that much better!

hmm

Tonight during a pause in the ton of rain we have been having lately, I stepped outside to let the dog out, when to my surprise out back I saw not one complete rainbow, but two.
That's right, a full- more than half circle- double back to back rainbow. It was really intense and bright and lasted for about half an hour and then was obscured by more rain.
Cool while it lasted, for sure!

Work

So far work has been really good. I enjoy the people I work with (those I've met so far) and my managers are quite good to work for. No one takes themselves too seriously, and everyone tries to make things fun.

I work with a wide variety of people, from 15 year olds on their first job to some older gentlemen and women who just do this part time. And a whole range of people in between. Oddly enough, I am actually on the older edge of the age spectrum, at least in numbers of people who are younger than me... lots of college kids and high schoolers. But it's lots of fun.

So, I'm learning the store fairly well now, and while I occasionally have things I can't do on the floor, I am not able to direct people where they want to go, look up on the computer if we have merchandise, and price what things are. I also can markdown clearance items, stock shelves and racks correctly and I know the color order that the clothing is supposed to go in.

So lot of fun so far, and it has yet to be boring... which is a great sign, since I've only been working 2 weeks!

Some Nature

Here are some recent photos I took while on walks with the puppy. Hope you like them as much as I do!
































































All in all, a nice collection of wildflowers. And despite its painful appearance, the thistle bud is beautiful!

On a side note, I found out I will be receiving a job offer from The Shirt Folding Store this afternoon. Most likely, I'll be part time now, and then more full time in the fall when the college and high schoolers return to their studies. Should be fun!! I'll update as I know more.