Day 138: I won't grade your heart.

After reading Sonnet 138 this morning, I set out to begin my usual task -- making bowls. Today's goal was to make 12 smooth bowls on which members of the Literary Magazine will be able to write their poetry as a collaboration with the Clay Club this week. As I started rolling slab and molding it into dishes, words started popping into my head that eventually turned into a short article about my experience at Flint Hill. You can click here to read the piece I ended up writing, and I also hope to have it published in the next issue of the school's newspaper.

Ms. Cardone's second class of the day was just starting Ceramics III, and thus engaging in their "rite of passage" adventure -- throwing 3 pots each on the wheel . . . blindfolded. I was Julia's assistant as she blindfolded her students and helped them transition from one pot to the next. Other than that, they were to receive no help.


I found this activity, and the students' observations on't, fascinating. You'd be surprised to see how nicely their work came out -- they reported that the other senses kicked in when sight was not available as an option.

1. Setting
2. Trimming
During first lunch, I caught up with Angelica, Jess, and Jenny. During second lunch, I started to tell Zane my life story in seven minutes. Then, it was back to Ceramics. I established an assembly line approach to handbuilding today, first setting the slab into all the bowls and then trimming them all down, rather than setting and trimming each bowl one at a time.

After school, my brothers Zane and Nizar visited me in the studio! Having admired (jeered at) my work, they listened to the end of my life story before heading to their respective academic engagements. It is worth noting that they both happened to be wearing red.


When I'd cleaned up all 23 of the bowls I ended up making, I spent some time with Patrick and then left school. After a mind workout on the bus and a body workout at home, Mama and I went to her office to drop off her "vision board" and some new furniture there.


Now back at my abode, I'm ready for some steamy soup and sweet sleep.

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