Friday, November 14, 2008

I have been crafty

I have been working a lot with copper lately, since I can get it for free. Mostly I have been making bracelets, but soon I will be working on earrings :)


Here are several shots of copper and steel chainmail bracelets I've made.

This one is thicker copper links, note my happy little hand made toggle on the left.


This one is made of the same copper paired with galvanized steel. I love the contrast of the shiny orange copper and the matte blue steel. And this picture was well placed too!


Here is a shot of these two side by side.


These next two are very similar to the previous two, except I used thinner copper and steel. The steel in this bracelet is stainless, so it is much shinier.


These next shots are of some braided copper bracelets I made.

As you can see one is a very loose braid and the other is pretty tight.


I bound the ends with smaller wire to give it character and to cover any sharp ends.


The loose braid reminds me of vines growing on a tree.


The tight braid is very round and happy.




In addition to the metal work, I have also been making some hats. I made a frog hat--which I forgot to get pictures of--and I've been developing an Ushanka type hat.

Here is my lovely assistant Bunny, showing off the prototype with the ear and neck flaps up and down.


Here I am, doing about the same thing, with my kettlebell for some added Rusky flair.



Finally, here is the kettlebell with its protective Ushanka

Wednesday, November 5, 2008


I hear a lot of people use the cliche, "Theres no reason to live if all you are doing is surviving." They're wrong. They would be a little less wrong if they said there's no reason to live if all you do is exist, but even that's not right. Surviving is living. Surviving is living life more than existing or even thriving. Nothing makes me realize this like the winter months. Durring the warm season I see or hear about people having fun in the sun, playing, laughing, thriving. Deep down I hate seeing that crap. Most would call me a mopey emo for spurning the sunny days and wishing for the gloom, but screw them. When you're happy and doing well may be when all your feel good chemicals are flowing and you feel content, but being content or even striving for new heights is a novelty, just a novelty. You don't care that you're alive, or even if you do you're probably just "glad to be alive", you're thankful for the pleasant feelings. Winter awakes the primal knowledge that just outside your comfy little house...you...could...die. Everything green is dying or dead, the cold can kill you sure as anything else, and if you happen to be on an icy road trying to bring your food and supplies home you know death could be just one tap of the breaks away. The cold months, make you struggle, make you try. They make you grateful, grateful to whatever, to be alive. Winter is the mother of gods. So you can keep your happy, sunshiny days, sitting in green fields and looking at clouds and crap. Give me the cold, give me the white frosty breath, the frozen branches, the chill in my bones. Give me something to remind me why I'm even trying, why I'm striving, why I'm surviving.