Farewell to the New Street Glass Studio

I posted earlier that the glass studio where I take classes was "temporarily" closed. The reality is, there is no reason to expect that they will reopen. They mismanaged their money for years and now the creditors are demanding what is owed.

So, today, I will call and ask for a refund on my class fees that I paid last month and accept the fact that I will never return to the New Street Glass Studio.


I stopped in last night to pick up an unfinished fusing project of mine. I was lucky enough to have a chance to chat with one of my instructors and the director of the studio. And to take one last look around at a place I had grown to love.


Based on my conversations with the studio folks, it's very unlikely that the glass studio will reopen soon, if at all. On the other hand, I'm very glad I had a chance to speak with the bead making instructor. She has her own studio nearby and is getting set up to teach classes there. So, come February, I should be able to return to the torch and get back to honing my bead making skills. As for the glass fusing, well, a friend of mine has a kiln, plus there's a local glass shop that has a kiln and a sandblaster. So, I can continue that work on my own.


But it's not the same experience as going to the glass studio. There was something special about the classes....about being with a group of people who truely loved working with glass. Something uplifting about being surrounded by creative people, some working on stained glass, some working at the torch, and of course, the magical glass blowers. To walk into the studio and smell the molten glass, to feel the heat of the furnaces, to just BE with the people who work with glass, was a very special feeling. There was a sense of community that you just don't find that often.


Here's what I will remember most fondly:

• That first night when I went to the studio. It was raining, it was dark, I got lost and was very late to my first class. The studio was in the middle of nowhere!
• Getting over my fear of the torch and becoming comfortable working with molten glass. It took me a long time, but now it's easy.
• Walking up those horrible, flimsy, wooden stairs, lugging 30 pounds or more of glass supplies to my fusing classes. I was always waiting for those stairs to collapse and made sure I walked up the middle where there was the most support.
• Opening the studio door and smelling the distinct odor of the glass furnaces and feeling that blast of heat.
• Watching the glass blowers do their magic when I took a break during glass.
• Gathering around the table in the flat shop as we discussed the latest results from the kiln in the fusing glass.
• Getting set up in the warm glass shop, turning on the torch, gathering the tools, and finding my work from the previous week (our instructor would take our beads out of the annealer and bundle them up for us).
• The bead making instructor yelling at us when we did something wrong (she did it with love, we knew that :-)).
• Cutting my hands on the sharp edges of the glass that we cut for our fusing projects. My instructor would roll her eyes as I headed out to the first aid cabinet for yet one more bandage.
• Arriving at class and being pleased at the results of some project. With glass, you often don't know what the results will be, especially in fusing. I had several very happy surprises.
• The people in the classes and the instructors. Feeling that we were all united in a common cause...creating something that would bring a little bit of joy to the world. Being surrounded by creative people, learning and sharing.

Farewell New Street Glass Studio. It was here that I learned about loving to work with glass. I will continue at other places, with other instructors. But I will always remember the joy of my visits at my very first glass studio.

Returning to the kitchen

One of my recent goals is to get back to cooking. No, I don't eat "box" food all the time. And I used to cook all the time. Then I got out of the habit of cooking full meals. For awhile, I did the "eat a big lunch" and small dinner thing. But lately, the food at the office cafeteria bores me and I'm way too lazy to go out to eat all the time (plus, restaurant portions are too big and it gets expensive!).

But, I like cooking. I like fussing with herbs and trying new recipes. Or revisiting old recipes.
A few things that I cooked in the last month or so:

Carmelized clementine and chocolate tart: I don't bake often, but this recipe in the Sunday paper caught my eye. I actually made the crust (most unusual for me, I'm not a pastry chef!) and overall the tart came out well. Crust could have been rolled a bit thinner, I ended up using rice instead of beans as pie weights (didn't have beans in the house), and the clementine preparation took a lot longer and more effort than I anticipated. But overall, not bad. I also baked a lemon pound cake. It was slightly underdone, but was received well when I brought it to a friend's house for dinner.

I also did a very nice roast chicken with my new pottery vertical chicken roaster. I need to get a better meat thermometer, though. The one I had didn't register the temperature properly and the chicken was slightly underdone. Nothing a visit to the microwave couldn't fix.

Last night, I made tomato sauce. I had tomatoes from the summer harvest in the freezer. I managed to put together a very nice sauce based on my recollection of my favorite tomato sauce recipe. I didn't bother to look for the recipe, just dredged up the basics from the shadowy corners of my mind. Let's see...saute onions in a stock pot until slightly brown. You could also add some carrots for sweetness (or sugar). I didn't have any, so I skipped this (actually, I forgot about it). But the tomotoes were sweet enough. I didn't need to add anything on the sweet side.

Next, add several cloves of chopped garlic. Saute for another minute. Then add plenty of herbs: oregano, basil, thyme, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Add about a cup of red wine and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Then add the tomatoes, a can of tomato paste, some broth (I used vegetable broth). I also added some parmesan/romano cheese. Simmer for at least an hour. More is OK.

The end result looks and smells quite yummy. Now I need to cook something that needs tomato sauce. Or, I'll freeze the sauce for future use.

Greendragon goes a-snowshoeing, Chapter 2

What a snowy winter we're having! As I write here now, the plows are out in the parking lot, cleaning up after yet another winter deposit.

This week's snowshoeing adventure turned out much better than my last outing because:

• I went with people who knew the trail very well.
• It was a shorter hike

I went with some members of the local kayaking group. Yes, in the winter, instead of heading out to the water, we play in the snow. Originally, the hike was supposed to be a full moon hike but the park rangers didn't give us permission to be there at night (not sure why). So, a small group of us set out in the late afternoon.

I came quite close to bailing out; when I arrived at the park, the conditions looked very icy -- the parking lot was treacherous. Not very conducive for a nice snowshoe hike. But, the leader of the hike assured me that the walk up to the summit of the hill would be worth it. So off we went.

The snow was completely covered by a thick layer of ice. This had to be one of the noisiest hikes I've ever been on. We had the constant "crunch, crunch" from the snowshoes gripping into the ice. But, in the end, it was a lovely hike. This park was new to me; before the hike, I didn't even know it existed. And it's quite close to home. The view of the Blackstone river was quite nice once we got to the summit. Although we didn't see any wildlife (we were way too noisy!), we did see some deer tracks. Wonder what they though of us, as we crunched through their territory.

The hike took longer than expected so we ended up returning as the sun set. What a relief to be with someone who knew the trail...if I was on my own I'm sure I would have ended up wandering around in the dark, whimpering (as I do, when I'm tired and lost). But, we returned safely to the parking lot. But, our leader knew her way, and we happily crunched, crunched behind her. One of our group had a headlight that also helped (got to get one of those, there's bound to be another night hike this winter, if we continue to get snow).

By the time I got home, it was full dark and within an hour, our next snow storm had begun. So far, I'm liking this winter a lot. Although, this week is supposed to be bitter cold, which I will NOT like. Winter...it has its good parts and bad parts.

The glass studio is closed temporarily due to financial difficulties.

Although I've been a bit horrified at how my 401K and IRAs are losing money like water flowing down a drain, and have been disturbed at seeing news of layoffs and business closing, today's event has left me feeling very sad.

The glass studio is closed, temporarily (or so I hope).

I've been taking classes there for over a year now. Just recently, I started to feel truely at home there, that I was making real progress in my work, and in general, just enjoying my time there. I was looking forward to my classes that were supposed to start next week. I had plans for making things to give to my friends as gifts.

But, the glass studio is having financial issues and they sent out email today saying that they were "pausing operations". I don't know how long the pause will last. The Craft Center has been in existance for 152 years, so there's hope that they'll make it through this last problem. But maybe not. Other long-lived establishments are closing their doors. Little by little, this econonmic downturn is making itself felt in many, many different ways.

I knew the studio was having some financial issues. The director of the studio told me that revenue from tuition was down (and yet, all my classes were full). But, I never expected them to delay (or cancel?) the start of classes.

I feel lost. The only other studio with a flameshop is in Boston. It's far to go to for a weeknight class and it's in a neighborhood that I don't like. And there's a person I know who spends a lot of time there who I'd like to avoid seeing at all cost.

The interesting thing is that until this moment, I considered the glass work a hobby, something I really liked doing but not necessarily a passion. Maybe it really IS a passion. The thought of not having classes, not being at the glass studio every week is just heartbreaking for me.

So, instead of going to classes next week, I'll be looking for some substitute for classes. Sigh.

Greendragon goes a hiking, gets lost, and is rescued.

When you go hiking, there are rules. Especially, if you're hiking solo. And it's winter. Rules such as: dress in layers, bring extra water, know the area or bring a map. Know your limits -- how far can you walk and how fast. Bring your cell phone. Let someone know where you are and when.

I managed to ignore most of them the other day, much to my chagrin.

It was a lovely winter day with just enough snow for a good snowshoe hike. I decided to hike around the lake where I kayak in the warm weather. I knew there were trails there, but had never walked them.

I had plans to meet a friend at 4:00 that day. I started out at 12:30, figuring I had plenty of time to get some good exercise in and be back in time to meet up with my friend. I set out walking with the idea that at a specific time, I would turn back to make sure I wouldn't be late. But, the weather was so perfect and I was enjoying the walk, that I decided I had time to got a bit farther than orginally planned. I decided to walk the full circumference of the lake. It was early, I thought I was at least half-way done (here's where the lack of a map comes into play), so I made the fateful decision to keep going.

That was a really, bad judgement call! I walked and walked, and suddenly lost the trail. I appeared to be in a residential neighborhood and there were no trail markers to be found. And, it was later than I expected (stopping often to take pictures didn't help the timing issue). I backtracked, and then decided to bushwack through the trees, following the shoreline of the lake.

Then I found the trail....and lost it again...and found it again. And I'm walking and walking. I'm getting tired. I kept thinking that the parking lot was just around the next bend. But it wasn't. Never. And now, I'm late. I call my friend and tell here I'll be late. Then I call her again and tell her I'll be very late.

And, I still have NO idea where the end of the trail is or how far I still need to hike. And now, I'm exhausted. The trail wanders up, down, around. I'm tripping over rocks and tree roots. I fall (but am not hurt, thankfully). I'm starting to whimper. I can hear cars on the road and keep thinking, I must be very close to the parking lot. But I'm not.

Finally, I abandon the trail and head up towards the road, thinking I'll be on the road that takes me to the entrance of the park. But no, not true. I'm on some other road, and I'm walking, and walking, and walking. I debate whether to call a cab, knock on the door of one of the houses on the street and beg for help, or call my frirend and ask her to come get me. I am soooo tired. I'm upset that I've ruined my plans with my friend, I'm sweaty and ready to cry.

And then, I see a mail truck. I stand by the side of the road with a pathetic look. He stops, asks if I need help. I tell him where I'm going and he lets me know that I'm very close. I ask if it's possible for him to give me a ride. The postman takes pity on me. I'm sure he's not supposed to have passengers, and he doesn't know that I'm NOT an axe murderer. But, he opens up the back of the truck, lets me get in and off we go. He offers me something to drink, a piece of fruit, and in general, is about as nice as any person can be. In about 5 minutes, he drops me off at the parking lot and I tell him, he's my hero. Because, if I had to walk, it probably would have taken me a good 20 minutes to get to my car, and I was totally done in.

I eventually meet up with my friend and she is so very understanding. Sigh. I'm still feeling a bit traumatized by the event. And my toes hurt from where I tripped over rocks and such. But, I learned my lesson. Next time, Greendragon goes a-hiking, she'll be a lot more careful!

Operation Valkyrie - my opinion

I went to see the movie, Valkyrie. Being a MOT (member of the tribe), I was, of course, curious to see how Hollywood would portray these would-be assassins of the Monster of the 20th century.

I was disturbed.

The prevailing line through the movie was "not all Germans were bad." Well, of course not. Not all people are evil, in general. But, the movie did not convince me much that the protagonists of the movies were good people, either. It seemed to try to desperately push the notion that resistance to Hitler, just the act of trying to assassinate him, made these men and women heroes. And yes, if the July 20 plot did succeed, the war would have ended sooner as the Germans staging the coup were ready to negotiate with the Allies for an end to the war. But, the movie left me feeling that their motivation had nothing to do with saving humanity or stopping atrocities. It was a way to lose the warm in a more graceful (and honorable? is war ever honorable) fashion.

Tom Cruise's performance was wooden and unemotional. I never really liked the character he played (Claus von Stauffenberg), there is little or no discussion regarding why he becomes so determined to be a leading force in the conspiracy. There's some mumbling about how he is disturbed by the atrocities being committed and such. But, it never seems to be a strong motivating factor. In fact, the movie doesn't dwell on motivations, just the actions of the plot.

The movie ends with a quotation from a memorial to the German Resistance. OK, that a German Resistance movement existed was new to me. And while it's important to know that people DID resist and were not just hypnotized by what Hitler offered, still, the movie did not give me any warm and fuzzy feelings about this group of people. Perhaps if the movie had explored how and why the German Resistance started, I might have felt a bit more generous to them.

And the movie left me thinking that these people were bumbling fools. They kept trying and trying to kill Hitler and something always went wrong. In the movie, the conspirators do get a bomb to explode, but they ASSUME that they are successful instead of ensuring that the result was as expected. Reading some of the actual facts does change the perspective a bit. They really weren't akin to the Keystone Cops.

To be fair, knowing that members of my family were destroyed in the camps during the war, does color my point if view. I found it very hard to warm up to movie's vision of the German Resistance. On the other hand, it has raised my curiosity about this subject and I'll be doing a bit more research in the future to gain some understanding of this flawed resistance movement.

The uplifting effect of freshly fallen snow

It snowed all weekend. Wonderful, fluffy, snow. Close to 2 feet of the white stuff.

Awesome.

I don't know what it is about freshly fallen snow, but I find it uplifting. After staying in all Friday afternoon, I went out to clear off my car -- I typically do this a few times during a snow storm because I don't like having to clear all the snow at once, and it was just glorious. I walked around taking pictures -- so much fun! Saturday and Sunday were more of the same.

I spent a lot of time indoors because it just didn't stop snowing...hard. I discovered that staying in all day left me feeling "blah". I read, caught up on some work that was demanding some attention, watched TV, spent way too much time checking Facebook. All in all, I ended up feeling sluggish, sleepy, and a little sad. The minute I went outside, I perked right up. Suddenly, I felt upbeat, energetic, and much, much happier.

Tonight, when the snow finally ended, I went out and was struck by the beauty of the stark contrast between the glistening white of the snow and the dark of the night sky. The frigid air felt fantastic. I wish I had been up earlier in the morning and gone outside instead of sleeping in and then spending the afternoon working. I missed valuable snow time!

Note to self: I need to be outside when it snows. Staying in, even if it's cold or windy, leaves me in a rather miserable state of mind. Being surrounded by nature's magic is so much better than hanging around in the house, cleaning out cabinets. I need to push myself more to get out and be active. Sitting on the couch for too long is NOT good for me!