The Big Three

The big three:
There has been a misconception that the three most powerful words in the universe are, "I love you". That would be incorrect; any good crone knows that the three most powerful words in the universe are, "I don't know".

An elderly friend gave me the gift of stupidity early on but I had to chaw on it for years before I finally learned how to use it. "Jill", she said, "it took me YEARS to get this dumb". Then a recently graduated academic I thought why would anyone want to be dumb? Now, as I have achieved the honor of crone status I get it... dumb is the new smart.

Blondes get it:
So, why would anyone want to be dumb? After years of solving problems for members of the household that require my attention I have found it's a smart thing to acquire. For instance, when my daughter tells me she doesn't understand a concept. The fix-it-bell goes off in my head. I stop what I'm doing, tap into my brain stores and with my limitless knowledge on the subject solve her problem. This takes up my allotted free time and distracts me from what I'm trying to accomplish. Second case in point: my husband tells me he can't find the peanut butter, pepper, long underwear, hat, gloves, (fill in the blank) that is currently residing in plain sight. Some how the misplaced item miraculously reappears when I join the find-it-force and point out its location to him.

Say it and mean it:
The I-don't-know response is mandatory gear that should be used in every woman's arsenal of household defense. Used correctly it can give you more free time, stop distractions in your life, lessen stress levels, and stop your hair from turning gray. There are several options to choose from. Try the sincere version, "boy, you know... I just don't know", or the apologetic stance, "don't know hon, sorry", or the standard short and sweet version "don't know". If you’re non-verbally inclined try the hands up gesture with a shoulder shrug and the head tilted to one side, a blank expression assists in the delivery. Sometimes I-don’t-know is very effective when coupled with the phrase, I-haven’t-seen-it.

Use it or Lose it:
There is no longer a reason to lose your temper at the gazillion interruptions that occur in a woman’s day-to-day activities. The I-don’t-know response frees you up from the responsibility of assisting fellow household dwellers. It is always a good offensive option as berating an empty vessel with a dull, glazed, look on their face just doesn’t make the questioner feel good inside. Remember young women as you aspire to greatness that the only truly happy person … is the village idiot.

J-LOG

Joseph and Logwagger:
Logwagger zipped across the track this weekend at the Junior World Championships. A three day race I got a chance to see him run on Sunday on his last run of the season. I was there in spirit on Saturday while teaching class. All the students cheered him on at 11:24 when he was on the track.

Evidently Fridays run was interrupted by another dog on the trail and the Log stopped to say hello. This put him in 12th place by the time he got it back together again. Joseph and his pal however won the first place in the Alaska Sled Dog Race Association Junior league for overall competition. Very cool. His Mom Jo gave me this autographed pic of the winning team. I can't tell you how proud I am of both Logwagger and Joseph.

Here's me sucking up to the champ. It's one of those "Please Mom, get a grip" pics.

Postcards to the Edge: Got some postcards in the mail from the Web & Flow Basketry Exhibition. I'm in there with some big names like Michael Davis, Kari Lonning, JoAnne Russo, Polly Adams Sutton! Woooo-hoooo! Me and Logwagger are hitting the big time!

Back to the grind: Now that the fun is over it's back to work around here. Lots of things to get finished before we take off at the end of March. I've got some new ideas I want to work on as well and don't know if I'll have the time to crank them out.

In the MONEY!

In the MONEY!
Logwagger rocks! This weekend he scored his best friend Joseph $2,500 in scholarship monies. Now that's what I call paying for dog food. Not only did he win all three races he was ahead of his second place contender by 10 seconds. Love that dog! LOVE that dog! Next weekend is the Junior World Championships. I have to to the last race on Sunday so I can yell GO! LOGWAGGER! until my lungs hurt.

And Meanwhile in the Studio....

The flute case is completed. After trying out several types of lids (all of which ended up as fire fodder) I ended up making a rib constructed lid. It fit the look and style of the case perfectly. It's had its rub of mineral oil to give it some sparkle and tomorrow I'll put the remaining lashing on plus a few embellishments. It'll be headed to it's owners home this weekend. One more done, yee-haw!

GO LOGWAGGER!

GO LOGWAGGER GO!

We got a chance to see Logwagger and his new friend Joseph compete at the Willow Winter Carnival. No one yelled louder than me! This was apparent by all the judges at the finish line that turned around and looked at me me when I bellered "GO! LOGWAGGER!" I was a little excited I'll admit but I hoped that if he heard me he would run faster to the finish line. Logwagger and Joseph took third at that race but they are currently in the first place overall in the Junior league. We couldn't be prouder! Junior League finals are 2/21 and I hope to be there to see if Logwagger can beat another track record in Anchorage.

What's up in the Studio?

I've been working on a flute case for John from Eagle River. It's the first time I've worked over a mold and I am pretty happy with the results. Hopefully John will be too when he sees it. Now all I have to do is finish the cap for it (also a first). This guy is about 30" tall and 6" in diameter. It's been fun to have so much room to play with different weaves and designs. I used a sonatube for a mold so it could be wet and taken out. I think in the future I would leave the mold in and give it more stability. Weaving it up has given me a lot of new ideas for future projects.