First Bike Ride of 2008

Yay! Abe and I rode up to Astoria Park and back - about 9 miles. It was a good first ride - not too long and not too short. Astoria Park is funny - we knew we were in Queens because all the 21 year old boys were out showing off their fancy cars with their Brooklyn Tape Up haircuts. I say modified because these days the Tape Up seems to be flattened a little more against the head.

Astoria Park has one of the largest and most popular swimming facilities in the country, with a main pool and diving pool that meet Olympic standards, as well as a wading pool. The pool has a view of the Triborough Bridge and the LIRR bridge crosses right through the park.

NEW T-Shirt : Respect Knucks

Attention all men! Are you tired of greeting your fellow co-workers with a slap on the back or a formal handshake? Are you sick of handing out cheek kisses and partial hugs to perfect strangers?

Let the world know your preferred method of communicating a job well done, goodbye to a close friend, a nod that you are on the same page. Your Respect Knucks t-shirt will communicate your preference to people of all languages so you never again have to suffer through an unwanted chest bump.

T-shirts are made by American Apparel from 100% pre-shrunk cotton.

If any girls are interested in this let me know - I'll be happy to print some up!

Click here to view this t-shirt on my website.

Hot Plate

I took a little break from the land of hobbits and made a a functional piece in ceramics - a trivet. A trivet is used to guard the kitchen counters from a hot pot or pan.

I made this one rather large because we have this giant sauce pan (not pictured) that is so heavy it is difficult to transfer food from the pan to plate when it is being held in my hand.

I am already perfecting my technique and plan on making 2 different sizes and offering them for sale on Etsy.

The trivet is woven from individual pieces of clay and glazed in CV Green.

Snack Attack

I love going home to Shrewsbury for a lot of reasons: spend time with my family, play with the dogs, see my friends and their funny little kids, watch hours of MTV shows and not shower for 2 days, and because I get to sleep in my old bed that is equivalent to sleeping on a firm marshmallow.

All of that aside, I really love going home because there is always lots and lots of food in the fridge and cabinets. Back here in Brooklyn I never seem to have anything in my kitchen not matter how often Abe and I hit C-Town and The Garden. Sure, I might have some frozen ravioli, olives, bread and weird soup mixes, but I don't have the items that I'm really craving when I'm sitting around watching tv. I just don't know how to shop for snacks - or rather, I do, but I eat them all in like 2 days and then the cabinets are empty for 2 or 3 weeks. Anyway, because of my lack of expertise in grocery shopping, I missed this amazing food invention:

Ceramics: Precious Baby II

I made a new hobbit in ceramics. This one is a little creepier than the last one, but I like the ring around its eye and the little button.