MASAKAZU KUSAKABE----Zen & Potter 10 Steps Steps for the Zen
1. You decide to look for your favourite cow that is out in your fields. You learn tracking techniques to look for your favourite cow.
2. You search the fields and find the cow's footprints. You know the cow is nearby.
3. You look around the area see your favourite cow in the distance.
4. You are able to catch your cow but the cow is wild from living in the fields.
5. You spend time with your favourite cow and train it so that it will obey your commands.
6. You ride your tamed cow back home from the field. You are two beings who have become one and understand each other. There is a strong bond between you.
7. You release your cow from his halter. You busy yourself with other chores but the cow stays close to you and the farmhouse.
8. The cow stays near the farmhouse but understands freedom again and does not follow you in body or thought.
9. You and the cow now think individually and are both free of your bonds to each other. You interact very naturally and live as equals with one another.
10. You become everything and nothing.
Steps for the Potter
1. You realize that ceramic objects are enjoyable.
2. You begin to study ceramic shapes, history and uses.
3. You decide that you want to add ceramics to your life, maybe as a hobby or by becoming an apprentice.
4. You become a craftsman. You have knowledge of clay, forming, glazing, firing and kiln construction. You are capable of producing pottery.
5. You know how to use ceramics to live life more beautifully. You strive for beauty and grace in your work and share this with others.
6. Ceramics becomes your life. You need to express your ideas, thoughts and messages through ceramic art. You display these thoughts and messages through ceramic exhibits and shows.
7. Ceramics has now led to an interest in other areas such as gardening, cooking, painting, music and history. The pursuit of all knowledge becomes equal and ceramics no longer holds centre stage.
8. You loose your connection to ceramics and submerge yourself in the natural would, trying to live serenely and peacefully with the plants and animals around you.
9. You become part of the natural world and know that you are equal with all other living things. You loose your individuality and like the rabbit that feeds the hungry hawk, you would also give your life for another creature.
10. You become nothing and everything.
Have you ever decided you're going to be deeply moved by a movie even months before you watch it? That's my experience with "the fountain". It's simply one of the most heart breakingly beautiful and intriguing movie I've seen. Be forewarned, You either totally love or hate Darren Aronofsky's work.
PB and I have an interesting relationship. Sometimes, he will disappear for days and then show up in front of the door all dirty. Today, he stayed for a long while, enjoyed a lot of cat pets and food before taking a long nap. He will use his ESP to tell me "Perhaps I will see you tomorrow, maybe not. I will come when I can, but I don't know. Because, I was born to chase butterfly and bird."
The kind of glazes interest me the most, are those been to hell. To me, it means oxygen deprived for hours in thousands of degree. The poor soul came out with extreme clarity and layers of depth. The closest thing I can related to, is like a writer who had a difficult life (war/ jail/ death.....), through the prolong struggling, he found clarity and layers of meaning in life. You can see it in the writing. It's the kind of book makes you keep going back, and every time you will see a new layer.
It's what happen when you let stranger wandered into your life. He will tame you. He got a name now, which is "Panda Boy" ,who also become the studio companion. He loves to follow me around like a dog. When I'm throwing on the wheel, he loves to lay on the cool tile in the bathroom. Like Fox say to little prince, "only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye." I become responsible for what I have tamed, I'm afraid.
Fig is in season. Buy one get one free in our Publix. So, I got online and found receipts to try out. Grilled Mission figs with Serrano ham and olive oil. Sound Delicious! I even put some goat cheese in. I hope some day one day, we can post not only words, sound and images, but also tastes and smells.
Always been an Apple fan, ever since Mac classic with 2 MB of memory and a 40 MB hard drive back in college. It must be really hard for kids these days to imagine days with back and white screen, no photo, movie, internet or email, and or action games 8 MHz computer....... They must ask, then what it's for? 
Somehow we managed to procrastinate this project for years. In fact, the real work only took 30 mins (of course assume you've all the right tool and gear.) It's the kind of thing, once it's done, you keep asking yourself, why it's not done earlier.
