"I fell off my pink cloud with a thud." ~ Elizabeth Taylor

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"Look what the catfish dragged in!" ~ Scuttle, The Little Mermaid

Today was a great day! OK, that doesn't sound so sincere, but it is!  In the morning I got the factory to find that it was only Vegard and I there yet (ie a few minutes before school actually starts like we are supposed to be) and he has not only set up a bench, gotten the best glory hole but was patiently waiting for a partner to show up! I happily stepped in and we worked together all morning.  He made a few really good karaffes for water that he has been trying to make for a week now! And, I continued to work on my bottles with a curvy necked top.  I managed to get 2 that were at least keep-able.  The only things I have made and kept all week!  Marianna (the 2nd year Nordic teacher mainly) helped us a lot and gave us new input and encouragement.  I think we were both pleased with our day.  We got to use some new jacks which are handmade by an old glass teacher somewhere in the area which Vegard is thinking of purchasing.  Stig-Allan suggested that he try a pair first, and they were really nice! It is amazing how nice it is to have nice tools and pipes and not have to get some crappy pair that a million people have abused before you!  

After lunch Micke Johansson, the master that currently works for Pukeberg and the Kalmar University Design Program came and did a demonstration at school! He is really amazing and regarded as one of the best in the business and he did some cool techniques.  He did one graal piece which ended up being around 5 kg and beautiful bottle.  He was working with and assistant who had designed the piece they were creating.  It was interesting because the assistant would be like "no, its not straight enough" or "put it in one more time and get it really hot to give it another puff, I want it wider in this area" even if it was super hard or difficult the master would just do it! It was amazing.  He also did a piece which I had never seen called Ariel (yes, like the Little Mermaid) but it is called that I think because it is air trapped in the piece.  It is similar to graal but the design is created by putting bubbles in the glass which gives it amazing depth and dimension.  I am not good at explaining it but Graal is when you take two layers of color in a sort of cylinder with one end closed and when it is cold crave away to the bottom layer some pattern.  Then you get it super hot, stick it on the pipe with the open in on the pipe so you can blow it into something bigger and cooler and keep the pattern in the colored glass.  Ariel is done in a similar manner but instead of cutting through colored glass you cut into clear super deep and then when it is hot again you put a layer of more clear hot glass over it and trap bubbles in the deep cut areas.  Both of these are traditional Swedish techniques and both very advanced and cool looking!  I really want to try them!!! I was left both inspired and determined, Micke Johansson only has 21 more years of glassblowing under his belt then I do... 

After that I went to the cold shop for the last evening class of 2010 (wow) and then to the gym!  I am happy I am getting to the gym so much now, feels like maybe I am getting stronger and more even.  Maybe?  No Red Sonja yet but soon!  Now, I am off to bed, tomorrow is a whole day of blowing the factory then to Kalmar with Rosanne to get a new camera! 

Here is the Danish Little Mermaid, originally written by Hans Christian Anderson.

Happy Birthday Finland!

(This was yesterday's post which got lost in my slightly tipsy posting and then found today... sorry!)

Today is Finland's Independence Day! The sexy country is 93 today and seems to be going strong... slowly invading Orrefors, actually.  The Fins here have claimed that the party for Finland's Indy Day is the best party of the year... and tonight they had their night!  

We started out the evening with shots of vodka.  It was weirdly brownish/black which had me concerned but I was told not to worry...  It had been spiked with Turkish Peppers! Ew, black, salty licorice and vodka... BUT it was actually good!  We had a nice meal of Finnish foods, meat (they tried to say it was polar bear, then reindeer, then finally it was just ground meat) cooked with onions or something, some vegetables like cabbage and carrots cooked down to soft delights, mashed potatoes, rice pies (seen below) which were made in my apartment over the weekend so it I have been smelling them for a while, egg butter (hard boiled eggs mixed with butter which sort of tastes of egg salad and I feel like I am forgetting something... I don't know.  It was super good and wholesome and fulfilling.  I really wished I had my camera to take a picture of my plate for you.  But this is a rice pie with the egg butter on top and then we had some jam for it too, like red  jam but I am not sure what type of berry though...

After dinner Jukke gave us the history of Finland in shorthand.  Which for being such a young country took a while.  He was very in depth and precise, we had a drink when Finland wasn't controlled by Sweden and given to the Russians (one independence down) and then again when Finland made a pact with Russia to fight Germans to get their country (final independence achieved).  Also, I learned that the world's most deadly snipper in history is Finnish.  He got shot through the face and killed more then 700 people in 300 days of war or something, and didn't use a scope, just was a bad ass in general... The White Death I think he was called.  And, molotov cocktail was a Finnish invention, which I had previously believed to be Russian.  Then we all drank more of the vodka, listened to super intense Finnish war march songs and then finally it was time for a Finnish tradition...  The winner would win a trophy... Big surprise, this was the trophy:

MORE VODKA!

The competition was to run around the house in the snow.  The person who ran the most laps won... not too hard right?  Well, you had to run barefoot and if you wanted double points you ran fully naked around the house in the snow... still barefoot.  Ahhhh, Finlandia, the land of the naked people!  Everyone was a little daunted by this competition and needed a few more drinks to start.  So, we drank some more, then all of a sudden Jukke (the ring leader of the evening) was naked and standing in the apartment telling us it was time for the run.  Needless to say it was only the Fins which ran naked.  Bjorn did do a lap or two without his shoes on, but Jukke, Jenny and Melissa all ran naked a few times around the house.  Jukke and Melissa even rolled in the snow! Insanity.  At one point also a car drove down the road behind Melissa! It of course went around the block and came back for another look! haha great fun.  I left the party after the nakedness.  I figured it would only get more absurd after that and I wanted to be healthy enough in the morning to work in the hot shop!  All of the Fins had already said they would not be joining us in school in the morning.  Nick went on and on about standing in front of a glory hole sweating out all of the alcohol is the best hangover cure, not sure if I believe him.   Anyway, Happy Birthday Finland!

PS: Thank you for your many contributions to the world...  such as this:

Yes, the Nokia Transformer!  :-D

"Even in winter an isolated patch of snow has a special quality." ~ Andy Goldsworthy

This weekend turned out to be a very pleasant relaxing weekend which was exactly what I needed after my last week.  I think I am happily recharged and ready for the next two weeks of school before Christmas break!  I can't believe that it is Christmas time already!!!

So, Saturday I went searching for the camera one last time, no luck.  I have given up hope and even if I find it when the snow melts I don't think it will work by then... especially since it got to 1C today for the first time in Nybro and it isn't supposed to get that high again for a long time.  So, looked for camera (still lost, I will have to get another on in Kalmar), went to Tempo (grocery store in town/post office) and mailed a few packages! I sent my family a little Christmas tease for when I come home :)  And then! I went cross country skiing again, this time with Kirsten though.  She helped me a lot and lent me some poles to use.  We went to the track in the woods where I used to run assuming they had made a ski/walk path already but there was nothing but virgin snow.  It was beautiful and really breathtaking but super hard! It most places the snow is above my knees when I walk so skiing that makes it half way to my knees.  I went behind Kirsten since her skis are bigger and have steel edges and she is a million times better.  I did pretty well and she was surprised how good I was!  I did fall several times, at one point Kirsten was laughing and said "I should have brought my camera! You look like the 7 year old me!" Just what I wanted to hear! Haha! I had a really good time and was sweaty and exhausted by the time I got home and we didn't even make it the whole way around the 2.5km track because it was blocked by snowed over trees!  Next time we will go to Flygsfors (the next tiny town over) and ski around the lake and take a picnic and make a whole day of it! That sounds great but pretty ambitious and exhausting, I can't lie.  But, I am looking forward to it!

Today, Sunday I went to Martin's (Dane across the street) to go to the gym (yes, I am hardcore, working out on a SUNDAY!).  I got there and we had some coffee, he has amazing good hazelnut coffee and cookies! I can't say no to cookies (I am starting to get the reputation of being a bit of a cookie monster around here)!  Then, two hours later we left to go the gym, half way there Martin realizes he is hungry and wants to stop for some food on the way there.  We stopped at Victoria's Pizza and had a gyro then finally went to the gym.  At this point Martin admits that he is actually feeling rather lazy and tired today... maybe that is why it took nearly 3 hours to get to the gym! Haha!  He does mostly upper body work and wanted to do some bench presses and I was the only one there to help him! I was sure he was going to drop the bar with the 321651981 kilos on it and crush his brain but luckily he didn't!  He even convinced me to bench press some too! I could do the bar! I thought Martin said it was 40 kilos... which would make it 88lbs, but after some google searching because I can't be that strong, I have found the average bar weights 45 lbs, about 20 kilos.  That sounds more correct... but I am still impressed with myself! The last time I tried (in high school) I couldn't even lift the bar! I kind of feel like a bad ass now ;) haha.  Maybe I will leave Sweden a bad ass glass blower and body builder?  A modern day Red Sonja finally... well with more clothes.  I couldn't find a picture with more clothes on her.  

Maybe Grant's prophecies are coming true ;)  

"My story begins in London, not so very long ago. And yet so much has happened since then, that it seems more like an eternity." ~ Pongo, 101 Dalmations

 

Why 101 Dalmatians you may ask?  Did Theresa get a spotted puppy??!?!?!? 

Or a strange cow made of numbers?

No, my friends this is post # 101!!! Can you believe it?  I can really relate to the quote at the beginning on this one! I have two weeks of school left this semester and time is flying by faster and faster every day.  Soon I will be back in the US for a little visit! 

Anyway,  I haven't found my camera... very sad.  I have looked everywhere! I even looked in a nearly 6 foot wide path in the snow that I cleared around Rosanne's apartment! We cleaned the school like mad today because it is Öppet Hus (Open House) tomorrow so, we would have found it if it was there.  My room is spotless and my roommates haven't seen it.  I don't know where else it could be.  Maybe in Rosanne's apartment but I don't think so.  It might be lost forever... or at least until the snow melts :(  This is super frustrating, it is ruining my sleep and my concentration!

I am trying to think what you may have missed in the past few days... not much that I can remember, the pot has a crack in it in the furnace, so we haven't been in the hot shop much.   Wednesday I was there all day though, working on vases with a long skinny neck that squiggles about.  Hard to explain... let me find a picture on the internet.  OK, google is not being very helpful, you guys are going to have to use your imagination on this one.  I made a few, they looked really weird and it was SUPER hard! I had to pull the neck long and while it was still hot try to make it go in a "S" shape... not easy.  After school I went to Rosanne's, helped her put up some shelves, clean, dye her hair (bright orange again) and then I made dinner for us.  She told me she had some stuff: chicken, coconut milk, spice flavoring and bell peppers.  She had found some recipe.  Well, I assumed she had gotten all the ingredients for some sort of curry or eastern chicken dish.  No, she had frozen chicken, chicken broth (the spice flavoring), 2 orange peppers and about 4 cans of coconut milk.  This was like being on that show Chopped but with a VERY limited pantry to aid the creation of a dish.  I ended up creating a delicious curry dish with a ton of powdered curry, coconut milk, soy milk, lemon juice, onion and the bell peppers.  We put it over crispy pan seared chicken and rice!  I was very proud of myself, it looked like we might starve there for a while.  

Then, I went home, and a some point in all of this I lost my camera.

Thursday, I was in the cold shop all day.  IT WAS FREEZING because the hot shop wasn't in use, so it wasn't putting out any heat.  I had two aprons on me, one frontwards and one backwards creating a sort of micro-climate around my body, trapping all my body heat and stayed pretty nice and warm.  I was actually kind of glad to be in there for the day.  I woke up not feeling 100% and was a little weary of working in front of a glory hole all day.  I worked on that super thick vase I am cutting like an upside down diamond and some Christmas Balls (when I say that I mean the glass balls you hang on your christmas tree).  It was good to have two completely different things to work on so that I never got too bored.  It was a long day in the cold shop though.  Then, I went to Rosanne's and searched her apartment and snow and came back empty handed.  

Today, Friday, I was in the factory in the morning working with Maja.... and still felt pretty crappy, maybe worse then yesterday.  I couldn't make anything and the heat was super hot and the glass was different then I am used to and it was just crap.  I burned my hand and went to stick it in water to stop the blister and stuck it in a bucket of SCALDING HOT WATER by accident.  So, my whole hand turned red and swelled for a few minutes.  So much for stopping the blister right?  I went back to the cold shop after lunch and finished the Christmas Balls and started to work on this candle holder I made on Wednesday with Stig-Allan.  I had finally found on of those Advent candles where you burn down a little everyday like this sort of:

I had 3 ones that worth trying to finish but they were super thin.  They were supposed to be so that the glass won't crack when the hot wax hits it, but this made it difficult to finish the tops of them.  I broke two and just ended up with one.  THANK GOD I only need one!  I also cut my hand... the opposite hand that I burned... of course.  Also, some how in the course of the day I have lost a banana... HOW DOES SOMEONE LOOSE A WHOLE BANANA?!?!?

I guess the same way someone looses a camera.  Uhg.

I went back to Rosanne's after school again today to look more in the snow.  We get out early on Fridays and so the the sun was still out (sort of, mostly cloudy) and so it was much easier to see.  I still didn't find anything.  

I went to the barn for my riding lesson and had fairly good lesson, probably the high point of the day actually. I rode Lady and she was a real pain in the ass today, maybe she was cold too! I had to borrow extra gloves from my teacher today because I was so cold!  It was kind of odd when I came into the ring for the lesson she said "I heard there was trouble on Sunday?" and I was like "what?!?! No! She was perfect!" but was confused on why she would think there was trouble... maybe I messed up and didn't know... I don't know.  I was too cold to managed to ask her what she meant.  Sometimes my brain doesn't work when it is -12C (10F)... just like my feet, they were frozen within 1 lap around the ring I think!  I finally made it home (I thought I was going to be stuck there for a few hours for a while) after getting a ride from this SUPER shy girl in my riding lesson.

Now, I have eaten a whole delicious pizza, and am sitting in my room with my candle slowly burning down the  1 for December 1, a few days late, so what? and my heater blasting and 2 layers of clothes.  It is very nice.  I think I may stay here all weekend.  Well, move to the bed, this chair is a little hard.  I am sure next week will be better!  This is a pretty good depiction of my situation:

"Well, crap." ~ could have been either of my sisters really, but most likely Jennifer

I still can't find the camera! I looked at Rosanne's and so did she, I looked in my apartment (it is now very tidy) and asked my roommates and even looked in the snow outside! Maybe it is at school... one can only hope! I really had a feeling it was outside Rosanne's apartment where I ran through some deep snow, sadly it has snowed a ton since last night and I couldn't see my tracks but I cleared a 4 foot wide area where I believed I walked and searched for it! No luck.  My only hope is at school.  Rosanne says that things don't just fall out of people's pockets, that is an excuse people make up.  But, I don't know.  I will continue the search and if I don't find it I will do a regular post tomorrow or Saturday anyway.  Sorry for the delay!  Wish me luck on finding the camera!!! 

frustrated,

t

In the mean time, check this out!  (more pics and cool story on link)

GLASS DOORKNOBS!

"ITS ALIIIIIIIIVE!!!!" ~ Young Frankenstien

Just wanted to let everyone know that, though I am buried in a TON of snow, I am alive.  I have currently misplaced, its not lost yet, my camera.  I think it is at Rosanne's.  But, once I have that back I will resume posting... until then the posts wont be so exciting, so we wait.

adios!

-t