Status Report: Operation Soggy Romaine

http://gurdymonkey.livejournal.com/203229.html

Thank you for contacting Nob Hill with your inquiry regarding water conservation.

It is very helpful to learn what our customers are looking for when they visit one of our stores. It is also flattering that they feel comfortable enough to make suggestions for improvement. We value your opinion and have forwarded your suggestion to the appropriate persons for their review and consideration.

Thank you, again, for caring enough to inquire and as always, thank you for your patronage.

Sincerely,
Bonnie Warren
Consumer Affairs Coordinator

We'll see if anything happens. I'll be very curious to see what sort of response, if any, I receive from EBMUD.

Random acts of poetry

Litany
by Billy Collins

     You are the bread and the knife,
     The crystal goblet and the wine...
               —Jacques Crickillon

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.

You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and—somehow—the wine.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19797

On craftsmanship

"Duh!" statement of the day: "You have to give the armorers of that time period credit. They did some absolutely fantastic work.. and to get helmets that are THAT detailed..."

Why do you think I've been poring over books and museum sites on the net for weeks looking at Japanese lacquerware and design motifs and agonizing about exactly what is going to go on the sides of a plywood box? For that matter, why is there nothing yet painted on a hiogi I started work on over a year ago?

Granted, the commenter is not, judging by photos posted in the past of her armor/soft kit, the artisan type.

Miyabi.

Wabi sabi.

Attempting to re-create kit for the Japanese part of my game is really, REALLY daunting. If I don't get it right, it's going to be a hack job. I can't apprentice to a master craftsman in Japan and spend years learning a technique, not in this life. In fact, that makes it inevitable that my pitiful imitations must be, by definition, hack jobs.

The reality is I can't get it right - and must find a way to make peace with that.