Plowing, in ancient Egypt

I thought of Daddy the second I saw this. He always brags abut plowing behind a mule when he was little, but he fessed up and told us that he was never all that great at plowing in a straight line so his dad and brother wouldn't let him do it much :)

And even MORE horrible US pottery

I say I blame the patriarchy for this. Maybe it's a simple case of capitalist patriarchy. In any case, American pottery is in a current state of crappiness that should have us all cringing in mortification. Observe it in comparison to (from top to bottom) traditional pottery from China, Japan, Morocco, and Kenya. The last is another stellar example of American tastelessness.
Ok, ok, maybe tastelessness is too harsh a word. But it's how I'm feeling right now.

Again with the crappy American pottery

Perhaps I cherry-pick my examples. However, if you have walked up and down the rows of any art show in the US recently you know I tell the truth. Again, I say - "compare!" From top to bottom I present you with pottery from Poland, Greece, Turkey, Spain, and, the USA. And for this travesty, I do blame the patriarchy.

Notes on the sorry state of US ceramics

I listed this under moral dilemmas because I figure that some of my friends who see this are probably fans of US pottery and I don't really want to have to be the one to tell them that they have been maliciously duped. I have tried to avoid this moment for some time now, but I just can't take it any more!
Ok, so the bottom picture here is of your typical American crap-o-la pottery. If you go to any art show you will be assaulted by hundreds of little booths full of identically hideous pottery for sale at truly idiotically high prices, flogged by folksy-arty types who toss around words like 'raku' and 'character'. The spectacle is so upsetting to me that I've almost had to avoid art shows to get away from it.
I want to know WHY we in the US can't seem to produce pottery that comes anywhere near the beauty and elegance of other countries? Are we all just tone-deaf of the eyes? Come on people, this stuff is just ugly.
In contrast, note the grace and beauty of the specimens I've posted here (from the top down) from Mexico, Mexico, Guatemala, and Italy. Centuries of tradition, craftspersonship, artistry, love, and beauty goes into these pieces. And then we get to America's offering.

Azaleas and ME

More Bellingrath. I don't know why I post all these pictures. I think to prove to myself that I was there, that I did something in this life, even if it was just move around.

More Bellingrath Gardens

Here we are again at Bellingrath Gardens. Mommy walked most of the way through but she ditched out on the Japanese garden part (as usual) but I should cut her some slack since she had that massive back surgery - over a year ago, mind you- and buys senior coffee at McDonalds.

More Gardens

The weather was great but just a tiny bit cool. And there were a lot of other people there. Maybe we should have waited for a weekday. Overall, though, I can't say how much I love this place. It inspires me to build me castle and make fantastic flower beds. But then I want to quit school and get a job so I can do that. Then I remember the social isolation of Walker County. Then I remember that people are crappy everywhere and I always feel socially isolated. Then I want to move back there. Again. It's a vicious cycle of longing.

Bellingrath Gardens 2009

Mommy and I went to Bellingrath Gardens to see the azaleas in bloom. They weren't all blooming like they should have been- they said it would be a couple more weeks. But the gardens are always pretty. I forgot my camera so I'm using Mommy's camera and I think mine is better, but you get the gist of it.

Winter Storm 2009

Yesterday it snowed about an inch or so, then overnight it snowed even more so that I woke up this morning to about 3 or 4 inches of snow (that I had to walk through to do my laundry but, hey, it's cool). I immediately tried to make a snow-dog on my car, but the snow was pretty dry and to get it to melt enough to stick together I had to hold it so long that my fingers hurt. So, basically, I didn't make a snow dog because I am not hard-core enough to resist the pain. Gilligan would be disappointed.
I can hear it melting as I type this, so by tomorrow it should be back to icky not-yet-spring-what's-the-point weather.