Today I made a clay extruder following a how-to video on Ceramic Arts Daily. As I already had a caulk gun, it cost me less than $5 to make 3 sets of a 8" pipe and a test-cap die. I modified one of the test caps, so that I could insert dies I already had. It was very easy to make. As long as clay is soft it works well.
p.s. If you're making one here in Rapid City, only Lowe's carried the particular test caps I was looking for.
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Here is how my niece Hoho looks now at Sweet 17. Gary and Bjo Shreirer made a sheet of rice crispy bars specially for her and asked me to hand it to her in Japan. The first video is from Hoho to Gary and Bjo when she received the gift. (Sorry, I did not want to spend too much time editing the clip.) Hoho is a senior at Osaka High School of Music, training to become an idol. In the following film, you will see her soaring to the height of her dream. It may be a very impractical field, but it is obvious she is enjoying her youth to the fullest. Keiko Sakakabara's life has never been easy. The 66-year-old retired ranch hand looks forlorn, without a family or a steady income, in this country. Yet, her heart is definitely not lonely. In my last visit to her, I felt reassured that she would manage no matter what. Her simple happiness lies in the circle of friends she has nurtured in the Nebraska Sandhills, in the abundance of garden vegetables, and in her indestructible faith in God's love.
Redesigning my yard using permaculture methods is time-consuming and backbreaking, but it makes me feel good that my little property is becoming friendlier to the earth. This year I made a soil swale - a water reservoir that is supposed to keep rain water in the ground. When I acquired this property 12 years ago, I wanted to make a Japanese garden, but I postponed the project indefinitely. As I assumed that maintaining a Japanese garden in the dry climate of South Dakota would consume lots of water, I just could not bring myself to do it. When permaculture gardening was introduced to me a few years ago, however, I felt the calling. My progress is extremely slow, but in 10 years I envision to have a little oasis with lots of edible plants.
#153 Fear, 2010, oil on canvas, 42x24"
Listening to a pro-dialogue discussion on Being this morning, I recalled the following: As a young anti-gun supporter was feeling isolated among his friends in a pro-gun state of South Dakota, he visited me to hear my encouragement. While I was relating to him who supported his stance in this conservative town, my housemate came home. He immediately began to yell, “We need guns! We need marshals!” The young man and I hushed our conversation while the housemate was getting ready to go to gym. When he left, we uttered, “South Dakota is backward because of people like him.” There was no dialog in the account, and it only deepened the gap between “them” and “us.” I assumed that my housemate was not going to listen to us. We had no respect in his opinions, either. It is easier to shut “the other” out. However, in order to reach a middle ground between two opponents, we need to exchange dialogues. In the future, if I encounter a situation like the above, I shall respond and listen to “the other” openly with the willingness to change my opinions if he/she convinces me so. On Being, Krista Tippett asked her guest speakers, “What is it in your own position that gives you trouble? What is it in the position of the other’s that you are attracted to?” I will keep the insightful questions in my mind. |
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