January 25, 2001 Let's see how quickly this gets annoying in a journal... I've got a new (to me, anyway) tv! whoo hoo! I can't wait for those superbowl commercials ~ 7 Up has already had two of theirs yanked because of 'questionable content.' One is set in a nudist colony (with the requisite well placed blurring) and another where a guy...uh...well, hell ~ he flat out farts in the swimming pool, o.k? I wonder if Budweiser is going to have a lizard commercial this year? Last year's was my absolute favorite: Louie the lizard 'outed' the ferret as having posed for nude pictures in 1979...and proceeded to show them! Oh my god...this means I can finally resume my Saturday night/Sunday morning sci~fi/adventure routine...oh man...I'm positively heady with the prospect! The Saturday night/Sunday morning routine: The X - Files, 10:30 pm Stargate SG-1, 11:30 pm The Outer Limits 12:30 pm Total Recall 2070 1:30 am Relic Hunter 2:30 am I'm doomed.... There have been some interesting developments in the library. Apparently, when I went in, I had missed the pervert. Now, this wasn't an ordinary pervert, this was a stupid pervert. Pervert was in a crowded library, surrounded by a class doing research on the internet, looking at various kiddie porn sites. So add the adjective 'sick' to the list. This was not the first time Pervert had been in there, surfing these disgusting sites. They also said that he was a huge guy ~ and no one wanted to challenge him directly. At the moment, they are keeping a record of his travels on the 'net (and even demons wouldn't want to tread in some of these sites.) and hopefully this guy will be caught. People like this make me sick.

I'm covered in wood dust. I love it.

I've been a Dremel fool since I bought that little gadget. Tonight, I've been working on making tubular beads out of oak. The way the inner bark partially obscures the wood makes for a very interesting effect. I wish I had a scanner or digital camera so I could post a picture. I've tried making smaller, rounder beads but at the moment the oak lends itself to the tubular ones.

My books (bead and wire jewelry; creative beading, candlemaking and creative cash) finally got here and I've already started utilizing them. I spent the first part of the day making a totally different kind of bead out of brown paper bags. All one has to do to jazz the things (Sheesh ~ I typed 'ting'. Next, I'll be saying "He...look likea man!" just like Ms. Swan!) up is to take a black marker to them in interesting and creative ways. There are also instructions on how to make beads out of old denim jeans... I may have to make some 'just because' even though I don't see any use for them in my work. They just look so cool!

My next idea is to try carving charms to go with the beads ~ horse heads in particular. Other critters may come along later but horses are what I really want to do (imagine that.) I also want to make beads out of hickory and whatever other kinds of wood I can identify. I only hope that the hickory isn't its usual, tough self ~ next to hedge apple (also known as Osage Orange and Ironwood) I don't know of a harder wood that's native to this area. Especially after it's aged. Some of the old buildings where I grew up were made out of the stuff. I don't know how old they actually are ~ they could have come with the property when my grandparents bought it in the '40's or my grandfather could have built them...I've never asked. Anyway, getting back to the point here ~ those buildings are at least 40 or 50 years old (allowing 10 years in case they were built by my grandfather) and don't even think about driving a nail into them. I remember my dad trying to mount a basketball hoop on the side of the smokehouse and it about didn't happen. The nail just sat there on the surface of the wood.

(Nuts from the shagbark hickory are the best thing around ~ if you don't mind a lot of cussing and busted fingers from trying to get the blasted things out of the hull! Still, the pies made from them are well worth the cussing.)

I like the idea of being able to just walk out into the yard and find a bounty of stuff to be creative with. Oak; hickory, sassafras, cedar...wow...