Sunday, June 15, 2008

Wuthering Heights

I first read Wuthering Heights in my late teens. In my youthful almost adulthood I wallowed in the misery that book yielded. How romantic I thought Heathcliff was, wrecking his revenge on all for his love of Cathy. Now that I am rereading in my ripe old age of 41, I am seeing Heathcliff as the monster that he is, how could I have thought the traps , webs of deceit and revenge he wielded were romantic? It is the ultimate cycle of abuse story, that shows how families create their own chaos, and how the abused become the abusers. Makes me want to go back in time a slap myself and hand me a book about co-dependants save myself from some future misery, but I digress. Poor Emily Bronte this was her only novel and soon died after it was published, what state of mind was she in when she wrote this book ?
In my late teens it was then also that I discovered my love for Kate Bush, her song Wuthering Heights coupled with my Bronte book made a great catalyst for the self inflicted sorrow of my young mind. Kate Bush was only 15 or 16 when she wrote that great album The Kick Inside, which I still listen to, although not wallowing in misery I might add, now I just wonder about what a genius Kate Bush was at such a young age and if when she read Wuthering Heights in her youth did she wallow in delectable anguish too? And now if she reread it what would she think of it now?

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Slow like Molasses

Everything is on hold ceramic wise until I buy a kiln. I have decided on Aim Kilns they have a few small test kilns that plug into a regular socket! They start out at 160$ on up up up but really they are the most affordable kilns I have found. Which I should mention I would not have found them if not for this wonderful forum Wet Canvas. I am thinking of the one that is 8" x 8" by 9" it's small, but for a beginner I am sure that it will suit me just fine. If I find that I need a bigger kiln I have this one that I bought off Craigs List for 100$. Boy this baby is an ancient 1975 Duncan Kiln, its pretty big for what I need and overwhelms me when I think of trying to work it. I bought it on a whim and maybe it will come into use later down the road. Lucky me I have two brother in-laws that are electricians that can help me install a new outlet for it because this one runs off of 220. I am going to continue to create more goodies with the clay and just store the green-ware until my kiln comes which can take Gulp, 2 to 6 weeks! But life is good and I am thankful for everything even the little bumps which cause us to slow down when we don't want to.