Opening and Why?

Got home after a day of unloading, cleaning up, catching up with old friends who came for the opening and sale. Unwrapped the pots, fondling and looking at them for another long time. Knowing I haven't stop smiling since the first pot came out of the kiln, all of a sudden feeling deflated because I realize I can not do this alone. They're not really my own works no matter how much I want to claim. A big part of them is team work. 55 hrs of non-stop stoking, not speaking of the effort of mindful loading (what shape/size/glaze/clay go up/down/back/front/which side face forward at what angle) while having a picture of how hot ash fly in mind, and months of wood gathering and preparation. Plus don't forget hundreds of hours to make the works. No, it doesn't make any economic sense. No, it doesn't look bright, smooth or shiny (PERFECT? like most commercial pots). No, it's not for someone who's in a hurry.

So why? have you ever question why Mom want to make you old fire soup? Why some people want to ride their bike slowly anyway/ everywhere? Why home schooling? Why gardening?

Firing night 2

12:00 am : 33 hrs into firing. Stoking almost every 10 minutes.

3:00 am : 36 hrs. Crews playing with iPhone Apps in between stoking in the rain.
4:00 am : One day, there will be iPhone Apps replacing the pyrometer, plus plotting graph in real time, telling you exactly when to stoke with alarm. If there's no response, it will proceed to call the other crew to tell him you fell asleep on your shift. Crews dream talk in 37 hrs.

5000 mile monkey prize

I think it is a great accomplishment to ride 5000 miles in around a year. So, congratulate and keep it up. BTW, the prize including this monkey draw and 4 boxes of Klondike Ice cream. Probably enough calories for another 5000 miles.

Firing night

4:00 am : 13 hrs into firing. This pyrometer is showing the temperatures inside the kiln. Top number for the front and bottom one for the back.

5:00 am : 14 hrs. Our sleepy stoking companion.
6:00 am : 15 hrs. Dreamy scene of fire and snow. Snow of ash.
7:00 am : 16 hrs. Karen has been up whole night.
8:00 am : 17 hrs. What? Which stick you want?

Loading day

9:30am : Wow, can we fit all these pots in? Mary the elephant is in there somewhere!

10:30am : Looking good! Let's have lunch, I'm hungry.
1:30pm : Every piece has to sit on a few little ball of clay, so it wouldn't stuck on the shelf. I just learned how to feed wood from the little windows without hitting the pots. I will have some chances to try it out this weekend.
4:30pm : Time to call it a day, even not every pot get in.
Here's the side view of Justin's new Anagama. He didn't like how the last kiln fired, so he built this one in record time.

Why you're doing what you're doing

Went to a "free lunch and learn session" in Trike shoppe this Sunday. Learned why and how Ian Sims is doing what he is doing. Ian is Greenspeed's founder from Australia. Greenspeed is the leader in the recumbent trike market. From the presentation, you can tell Ian just loves what he's doing. Since he was young, he has been making/ inventing different kind of automobile, side-car, bi/tricycle....... He enjoys technical challenges (it's amazing how much advanced physics is involved in wheels, steering, aerodynamic, structure, even in a little tricycle) and the development of his company.

On the other hand, we also learned about why Trike shoppe owners is doing what they're doing. Do you remembered a story about a blind and a cripple helping each other out? Now, just put them on the tandem trike, of course, the one with good eyes in front, the one with good legs in the back. What a team! They also wish they can help other people with or without disability to have fun, get fit, and more important, find freedom.

After test ride the gt3, Ian recommended a small x3, even they don't have one in stock. So, it will be in my wish list. Someday, I want to cycle around the Island of Ice and Fire down south. It will take weeks if not months, much better to have a real seat than a little saddle.

Killing Mary the Elephant

I made this pot after reading the horror story of why and how Mary got hanged, after she stepped on her keeper's head. Before that, she was a big star, full of talents in a circus almost a century ago. The black humor was that the chain actually broke.

I fantasize Mary just wouldn't die, even they try to execute her in different ways.

The second chain didn't break, but the crane came down ... ... ...

No gun is big enough .. .. ..

Electrocution! Not enough voltage to tickle ... ... ...

She simple would not touch poisoned food ..... ..... .....

My fantasy ended with her slow death of sadness, missing all the attention from her audiences, losing the special love from her owner.

This very strange image stuck in my mind for a long time.

Mickey and the Wild Thing

I love my "Where is the wild things are" jersey. It make you want to ride.
Here's Mickey and Wild Thing self portrait. No, Mickey is not fat. It's optical illusion, since he's holding the camera in his right hand.

Riding on razor's edge

I've been following the development of the Moth class ever since I got my Europe Dinghy 15 years ago, which is a derivative from the class. This summer the class has created a defining moment in the history of sailing. A small group of sailors are no longer just sailing, they are also flying or foiling. They ride the foil with the boat hull above water. Few years ago, only a few superman can barely control the beast. Today, some can even tack without coming off the foils. I imagine it maybe like skating backward in top speed, jump over a high fence and change direction all at the same time without losing a heart beat. According to this month's Sailing World, all of the techniques are only possible with relentless practice (hours on the water everyday). Instincts, reactions, and muscle memory are required to the point the sailor isn't thinking about every change in conditions, freeing his attention to concentrate on tactics. Like Tai Chi; looking at nothing, seeing everything and do as little as possible.

Also, it's best to ride as high as possible without the foil coming out of water. Height means less drag from the foils and a more efficient rig. If it get too high, it crash down. The sensations of flying above the water, of lightness, of pure efficiency, are unmatched anywhere else in the sport (in any sport, I would say, even I've not try it myself).

There is a saying "Path to salvation is narrow and difficult to walk on as a razor's edge." Live here and now. Prevent oneself from dragging through life between future expectation and past disappointment. Maybe without those frictions, one can attend enlightenment and truly be flying.

New toy from Shenzhen

It arrived a week after order, as Apple promised. Even it spent more time in transit from Shenzhen to Lantau Island and sat there, than from Lantau to Florida. Right, who said being able to track your shipment can reduce anxiety! I love the idea of engraving. Think how romantic it is; something cannot be wiped off without cutting away part of itself, like some memories.
I've to do some advertising for this 5th generation iPod, especially compared to my old hand down 2nd G U2 2005 edition. New Nano is 1/4 the size/ weight and last 4 times longer. It hurts my mind to think about how to cram a video camera, Fm radio, speaker, recorder and a bigger screen in such a small body. When I was young, such gadget only exist in Ngai Hong's sic fi. It's very hard to believe a company can do it so right, so fast, so good, still with a reasonable price tag. You name one!?!
OK! Downside. Every time you upgrade, you will find it no longer compatible with some of the old accessories. New Nano will sing with old dock but it won't charge! That's all right, I will keep my old Pod in my study with the old dock.

摘豆

媽的後院成了一個有機農場 入秋時大有收成

Times with Jacob

Before CNC, I went up north to spend 3 weeks with my little boy friend J. He still loves trains and cars.
But, the new things are Lego Kranxx / Squidman and the space police.
We can play for hours of made up stories. WALL-E, EVE and all of the robot friends on Axiom often get into trouble. But, with the help of different aliens, space police and sometimes Batman or Thomas , they always manage to save the ship and return to earth.

Won a race

This is not a race, but I raced with the dark clouds all morning long.
Making record time to Kenansville's brand spanking new indoor stadium
20 minutes before it poured down rain.

Indoor camping

In Dunn, but we are not done

I noticed the change of landscape, from steep mountain S curve roads
to rolling hills with soy beans one side & tobacco the other.

My kind of rest stop: Oreos, pb&j, fruit, Gatorade

Camping in Sanford fairground after 78 miles

Camping in Thomasville Baptist Children's Home

Camping in the soccer field

One grand day

On two wheels.
Saw three wild turkey.
Don't want to think about fall while going down the mountain.
But, wouldn't forget the five mile straight down.
After six hours, I am in seventh heaven laying on my air metress.

Camping in base ball field

1st rest stop

Begin at Blowing Rock

Day_0 text

Day-0 CNC ride

We drove from Charlotte airport to Blowing Rock (3 hours in the RAIN)

And we think we're READY

We're VERY lucky to have a hotel room in this RAINY town so our bikes can be warm, dry and cozy. But not for long.

Dinner was good

Early to bed; early to rise for our first riding day tomorrow

Day_0 of CNC09 ride at 3,300 feet

Keep track

After a beautiful ride this morning, the Flight Deck on my bicycle shows over 500 miles in 2 months. Reminded me that I have to do the same distance in 7 days at the end of Sept. It also show the gears (small front ring and 4th ring in back) for against the wind ride. I thought I will never ride on the road with no bike lane and/or car passes you in 60 mph. Somehow, I managed to over come the fear. On the other hand, A1A and Jupiter Island is an exception during the weekend morning. Hundreds of cyclist train there. They ride in pack, like what you see in Tour de france, even the Islander doesn't like it. Traffic police watch us carefully. Every times when the pack pass me, it feel like a swarm of bees just flew by........

Mediation on the bike II

I read about this 'divergence test' the other day in 'Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell'. Instead of using logic to converge to one right answer, it requires to use your imagination and take your mind in as many different directions as possible. Give yourself a minute and come up with as many different possible uses of 1. brick and 2. blanket. I took way more than a minute but come up with the following:

Brick can be used to build a kiln, to make more bricks

to build building and path

to build wall, to keep people in and/or people out

to throw at window, to stop more building and path

to kill someone and sink the dead body

to build a tomb to keep the dead body

to be a memory/ proof of love (楊度）

to save water in the toilet tank

to stop a wheel from rolling or door from closing

to build a dam to hold back water

to carve on to make sculpture

to be as the subject of a test.......

Blanket can be used to keep warm, cool, or from the sun

to hide behind or under

to put on ground for picnic, sleep on, make love

to kill someone and wrap the body in

as a sail to catch wind

as a net to catch things/ people/ animals

as a cover/ dress

as a parachute, to drop something like a brick down a building

as a toy for a child

as a memory/ proof of love

Handle bar bag

For the Cycle North Carolina ride at the end of Sept., we don't need to worry about luggage transportation between campsite. But, I still have to carry a few personal items to defend myself from the elements. Here's my old Timbuk2 modified by my in-house master sewer to become a handle bar bag. Big enough to hold a set of change out long sleeve jersey / pants, raincoat, wallet, sun block, flash light, cellphone, a pump and a map..........

Meditation on the bike

Long ride gives my thought a lot of time to wonder, since there's no traffic, no turn, no decision needed to be made. I normally start with feeling my breath; too short? too hard? Then is my legs, it feel good to pedal fast, but is the gear too low? Then I remembered something I said the day before, and how I could have said it differently, and it might make a different or most probably not....... A old friend moved in a nursing home after her husband left us last week; I was thinking about my last visit, her almost 60 years marriage....... Yes, it is going to be the 60th year for PRC in a couple of months. It's some articles on the news lately. BTW, what's "inciting subversion of the state" really mean? or it's just a new term for "counter-revolutionary" or anyone who dared to challenge? 60 years is a big circle in the chinese calendar and a long time for no change....... I could feel my breath become harder...... my legs trying to keep up with the pace mindlessly. But, there is still miles to go......

我家後園

Bun Bun 每早也來
跟這小黑蛇又愛又恨，每次見面給嚇一跳。

燒賣是園中主管

My one and only thrill

It's her interview with Bob Edward last weekend on NPR drew my attention to this remarkable blue jazz singer/writer. A serious bicycle accident and after math changed her life course. She's so humble, direct and honest about her past and her music. Just like her songs; quiet, poetic, irresistible and sophisticated. She said music is her only love, and men are just lovers.