Round Two

I'm off to my new pottery class for the first time tonight. I ended up finding another studio, however it is out in Troy which is a 20 min drive north of Albany, and about twice as expensive as my last class. The teacher sounds really nice though, and in addition to our eight classes we can come on Monday nights to do an "open lab" where we can practice throwing on the wheel without supervision. I am just excited to start working with clay again!

Jason is off to his first helicopter flight with his new instructor tonight as well. I will try to put that thought out of my mind until I see him tonight ...

Puppy Paws

So we have been taking Riley to "socialization classes" (otherwise called doggie daycare). This is for two very important reasons. Riley is a very skittish dog, as all border collies seem to be. This used to mean he was very scared of certain people all of the time and all people some of the time. He is much better now, but has transferred that behavior onto dogs. He is sort of like that awkward kid we all knew in gradeschool, the one that wants to play but doesn't have the social skills so ends up picking fights with kids, or standing off in the corner. So daycare allows him to meet lots of different dogs in a very supervised setting. The second reason to take him is that it is nasty outside, raining and windy. This way he can play all day indoors and comes home and actually flops on the floor and naps all night. I am off the hook for a walk, it is wonderful!! The problem is that the floor they play on is rubber and Riley has really sweaty paws (seems to happen when he gets nervous which is often). For the last few weeks he has come home limping. The first time i didn't know why and thought maybe he had lymes disease or something. Then I discovered that his paw pads had developed big blisters which he then rips open and chews off. After the second time we decided it was from that rubber floor. So the solution we came up with today was the doggie booties. Jason's mom had sent them from AK, Iditerod style. I protested at first since I thought the other dogs would make fun of him, but today we brought him in with the booties and he seemed to do really well. He doesn't like them at home since he slides around all over the hardwood floors, but at daycare they said he was very good.

I'm hoping we will only have to take him in for the next few weeks and then it will be nice enough outside to start bringing him to the park again. It does seem kind of yuppie to go to doggie daycare but I feel so bad leaving him in his crate all day! Border collies ain't no golden retriever that will sit quietly until you come home. Not surprisingly most of the other daycare dogs are also BC's. Yeah, I need a hobby or something so I quit obsessing about this pup...

NorthEast Helicopters

You may be wondering why I would be blogging about helicopters, because after all didn't I quit my helicopter job last year? Well yes I did. But it looks like I'm not the only one who thinks these birds are pretty cool. So after accepting a job promotion making obsene amounts of money and moving all the way across the country with his *accomodating* girlfriend in tow, Jason has confessed that his lifelong dream is really to fly. And so fly he will. We spent last weekend driving down to Connecticut in order to check out the school he is interested in. They are one of the oldest helicopter flight schools in the country, operating for over 30 years. They train in Robinson R22's which for anyone who doesn't know, is about the smallest helicopter I've ever seen. It is also supposed to be one of the most challenging to fly, the theory being that if you can fly one of these then you can fly anything! I'm not sure I like those odds...

Don't get me wrong. I would really enjoy being able to tell people that my boy is a pilot. I would also like any flight perks that might come along with this. But flight school is an expensive and time consuming decision. Add to this that many of the jobs available to pilots are in remote places working crazy hours and moving around wherever there is work. I guess we could quite possibly end back up in Alaska!! Of course that wouldn't be until after flight school, maybe three years from now. But yeah, what a cool job. When we first got to Albany I did a "discovery" flight in a Cessna 152 airplane and it was such a rush to take the controls and pull back off the runway! I am trying to be supportive which is hard since Jason spends his time looking at the FAA site online and reading to me all the different ways people have found to crash in helicopters. Working on a base the last two years I know how many things can go wrong with them.

Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised with this wild streak, coming from a guy whose dad has climbed the tallest mountain in the country. Twice. The Cammisa's are crazy...

*I apologize for not blogging all week but I had an equipment malfunction and could not get my camera to upload any photos. And what good is a blog with out pictures? Also I have been busy adapting into the new job. More on that later.

Pottery Classes

Last week I wrapped up my first pottery session since arriving in Albany. It has been my only creative outlet here, and I sense some big possibilities. I am pretty satisfied with some of the pieces I have done, considering I am not a creative/artistic type by nature, and the only other art I was ever proud of was a portrait done from an old ElfQuest comic back in highschool (I don't tell many people that I was a comic geek). I first discovered my love of clay last year in Anchorage when i took a class looking for something to do during the winter that didn't involve freezing outside temperatures or sitting in front of the TV. My first instructor Barry was really into his art, digging his own clay and hand making glazes. He had a very strong philosophy of clay and how it should be handled, "the essence of clay’ and clay memory. The pot creates itself through you. All very zen. My new instructor has been much different in her technique & style, showing you exactly what to do to make whatever you are going for. She has a step-by-step pottery sheet: how to make a pot. Barry would find that very offensive I think.

The pottery process is so fragile. You learn early on not to get attached to your work. Between centering and pulling, trimming, drying, glazing, and the two firings it must go through, anything can happen. There are so many possibilities as far as what can be created and the variety of glazing techniques. I am surprised however that every vase, plate, cup, and container I have attempted so far has turned out to be a bowl!! Trust me, this is not as easy as it looks.

Last week was sad because my instructor informed our class that the building she has been in for 25 years has been sold and her studio is closing down i.e. no more classes. Apparently this is happening all over the Capital Region as two of the other potters I have contacted have confirmed, telling me they are being moved out of their studios as well. Aside from buying my own wheel and kiln I am hoping to figure out some way to continue this new passion. My artistic essence is suffering! I need my clay fix! I am looking into my options now and beginning to realize that this new hobby of mine is going to be expensive…