Stress = What?

Just finished a Lipton Green Tea with citrus, the chatter of BECon attendees during our 15 minute afternoon break for music. Is there something in glass that stunts peoples growth? I am putting lots of names to faces (and bodies) here at BECon, and my almost universal reaction can be summed up in reverse by the first words Alicia Lomne said to me when we met, "Wow, you're taller than I expected!". She was definitely MUCH tinier than I expected. And then there was Cynthia Morgan, Morganica, I pictured her as Boadicea--tall, long flowing dark hair like, well, Morgan le Fey. But she's little too! Almost everyone here is way shorter than I expected.

Going to get this out of the way right up front--more info on the "why" tomorrow: Bullseye is lowering their recommended anneal soak temp from 960 degrees F to 900 degrees F. What a way to get all of our attention and to keep us from dozing off!

Today was day 3 of the conference. Many topics have been covered by presenters with very diverse ages, experiences, backgrounds, levels of happiness, and current life situations. Though I have been fascinated and enthralled by the information on technique, body of work, and artistic process conferred so far, what has struck me most is the universal fit of the presenters into the maiden, mother, and crone taxonomy... Come again? ... And I'm going to wait to finish that thought and topic in tomorrow's post.

Today was the last day of the conference and I have a day off tomorrow before my post-conference workshop with Linda Ethier begins. It will be a perfect day to reflect upon and analyze the myriad impressions and monumental data flow that rolled over me during the conference. I'll also have the time to elaborate why I think Howard Ben Tré is the crone personified while Chick Butcher is the perfect representation of the mother.

So if I'm not going to post about the conference today, what am I going to post about? Why, about the farmer's market, of course! As I trotted off this morning to the first session--late and harried as usual, I had to pass through an extraordinary and completely unexpected farmer's market. As I had no time to stop on the way, I bolted out the door at our first break and loaded up on pheasant paté, smoked salmon, chevre and other artisanal cheeses, fresh-baked sourdough bread, local (Oregon) raspberries, cherries and tiny strawberries, and fresh butter and cream cheese.

Of course then I had the dilemma of how was I going to slice the bread, on what was I going to serve the food, and what beverage would accompany this all-day Sunday feast. The answer to all those questions was found in Safeway where I walked on my lunch break and purchased wine, paper and plastic goods, and a couple of sharp knives (of course I already have a wine opener in my travel case). Tomorrow shapes up to be a very nice day indeed and I have already invited some people over to share my feast!

Tonight--as a fitting over-the-top wrap-up party for a conference filled with over-the-top presenters--there is the Bullseye Lehr-B-Q which my spouse will be very sad he is missing. A few years ago he came to me all excited because a company that was head-hunting him (not in the shrunken-head sense of the word) took him to dinner at a restaurant that cooked their steaks in a kiln. Well, Bullseye--as they style themselves "The company that makes glass at the cutting edge of 17th century technology"--tonight will serve up chicken and ribs cooked on their 100-foot-long continuous annealer. Look for pics tomorrow--and I'll try not to lose my camera tonight.