If you can't make your mind up, we'll never get started*

I've worked on my About Me gadget; I've made a few changes. It's harder than, well, really hard things. I've tirelessly searched countless blogs, maybe a half dozen or so, to feel how other bloggers have handled it, to understand what moves me. One thing I can tell you--longer is not better. Size matters, in an inverse way. I'll need catchy, random, quirky facts. Those are good. You'll like those, dear mythical reader. That's what the all cool kids say. I'm going to be like them and sit at their table.

What must I do, then, to draw you in, get you hooked, make you beg, make you scream, um, keep you coming back for more?

I must enthrall you--look into my eyes. I will cast a net of enchantment, of magic, of mystery...

Oh, hell, why can't it be something simple like achieving world peace or finding a cure for cancer?

So, beloved reader, what is in it for you? I have to be clear on that. Why would you stick with my blog rather than reaching for the remote or playing another game of Hearts? (Solitaire is so yesterday, isn't it, dear friend? Hearts is way better.)

First, you'll get to learn about hammers and, really, who doesn't like that? It'll be like Christmas and your birthday and Fourth of the July all rolled into one. With confetti. And cake. (Anvils are good, too, along with bench vises, sandbags and forming stakes.)

Next, you'll get to hear me use words like sinusoidal and anticlastic, chasing and repousse, grisaille and sgraffito, sinking and raising, forge and firescale. I'll drop names like Brain and McCreight and Seppa.

Lastly, it's better than a root canal. Trust me. Even with the drugs the dentist gives you, this is way better. Dentists never give you cake and you never get to hold the hammer.

Now that that's settled, it's time to move on to Solid Concepts. They can't be airy or tenuous, not and pass this class. Solid. And I'll need 20.

Yeah, twenty.

It's slow going, this slogging through the conceptual mud. But I have broad shoulders and am firm in my resolve.

My list so far

• Guest blogger. I came across this idea somewhere and I liked it. I've already lined up Robin. She doesn't do metal or glass, she's into the needle arts and some photography, but she's game. When she reviews what she's reading, I like the way she writes--clear, concise.
• Product reviews
• Book reviews (ooh, here's one already--why Foldforming by Charles Lewton-Brain is so amazing. It's got pictures!)
• Website reviews
• A project from inception to completion--sketches, ponderings, photographs, wrong turns down blind alleys, the final ta da! everything
• Interviews
• How Tos--how to reticulate, how to keum-bo, how to electroplate, etc., with pictures and text, even line drawings where appropriate
• Attempt at a new process or technique--how it turned out, what I learned, what I'd do differently, ideas it's suggested
• FAQs--Liz Crain asked why Verthandi. Things like that could go in a FAQ
• Humor--surely there are metalsmithing jokes out there
• Vocabulary, jargon, glossary
• Vocabulary, jargon, glossary, but a crack version
• Injury prevention
• Profiles
• An account of my latest trip to FDJ or the like
• An account of a group discussion/bull session--why we're artists, why metal, etc.
• Replicating an ancient technique

The list is not complete yet but it's getting there.

Another idea, not exactly on point, but near the point, is to make a file of Pre-written posts, as well as a file of Best Ofs, for those times when I want to post something but am ill, traveling or what you will.

A few loose ends. Class started last Wednesday. Lorena is back with us. Talking with her got me thinking again about getting a kiln for home. I went back to Thompsons and looked at their selection. They have a Paragon there, more expensive than I was initially thinking, that is now quite appealing. It's the same size as the enameling kiln at school so I wouldn't have to compromise the size of my pieces.

Dohrmann's class got cancelled, low enrollment, I suspect. I was able to get a seat in Sarah's class at the last minute. I must be part salamander, I sure love playing in the fire.

Studio monitor form is complete and turned in, in time for this weekend. Now it looks like the weather will not cooperate. Temps were projected for around 85 to 88 degrees. Now they're talking 91. That's just too hot, especially on Saturday which they now say will be clear. Damn, damn, damn! I started work on a new copper bracelet and have ideas for at least one more. And have perhaps solved the problem of the clasp for the 7 Rings Collar. Damn, damn, damn!

*Osvaldo Farres/Joe Davis