EARLY!

Sitting on the bus that goes to Kohler.  I woke up at 2:30am and never went back to sleep.  I may be able to catch a few catnaps on the bus on this all day tour.  Part of me wishes I was staying here all day for the trade show and gallery expo. I will fit it all in tomorrow.   

Day 1

 The RIVER!? Walk!?!?! It is WAY frozen.  Never thought I would see a frozen river with FONZIE or seagulls.  

My room!!  Way better than a hostel!!  Thank you to the BBE (best boyfriend ever) for my flight and room.  

FonZie!?! And frozen river. 

Dinner!   And Wine flight at the public market.  

Mushroom and green bean vegetarian soup in a bread bowl.  The two bottles of wine I bought that were on the wine flight. 

Ladybugs on a building.    Blaze(Grandson)will like this!

And, of course kayak picture

In my hotel  room.  Argh, I miss

Kayaking.  

I met four really nice kids in the hot tub at the hotel. All from Iowa and very into Clay, young and enthusiastic.   I also met a nice teacher from W. Va on the shuttle bus (Andrea).  Funny we were both thinking about buying the Cheesehead hats. She was thinking of buying one for her child (age3)and I was thinking of buying one for my grand child(age 3) It makes me very excited to see the young people that are here that are so enthusiastic about Clay. I guess in my job I don't see the young pups very often. I sure hope there are kids to carry on our tradition.

Milwaukee.

Okay. So I am here. It is really really cold. I went walking around after I got here and got my registration. My head started to hurt really really bad. I didn't know what was going on. Suddenly I realized my head was really really cold. So I put my hood onwith the raccoon fur fringe. Once I put my hood on my head stopped hurting. It is really cold here,the river is frozen.

Over a week to go.

I am so looking forward to going to NCECA. I am ALSO quite nervous about going to a new city and I'm worried about transportation and how to get to the convention center. TODAY I WILL RESEARCH MORE ABOUT THE LECTURES AND DEMONSTRATIONS AND AND GET SOME IDEAS ABOUT WHAT I WANT TO GO SEE.

Plane, Hotel and Conference Milwaukee, WI

My Plane, Hotel and Conference are booked. I am about a month away from departure. I have started to research the conference schedule and plan some of my outings. Touring the Kohler Plant is high on my list. I am excited that I know a few people who are going! More to come, Love,Love,Love, Jada

Sunday Sunset in Seattle

Sunday, Sunset, Seattle, my most favorite time of day on my most favoriteday of the week... I am looking down upon a very long line for the Ani Defranco, show. I hear a fairly loud band playing somewhere down the street. It is freakin' cold right now, I don't see how they do it. Some of the gals in that line have short sleeves and short skirts. Doors open at 7:00. We shall see how it goes..

It is so very busy here there is always something happening. ...ooo the line is moving.. It is very, very long.

SUPERGIRL'S! Sullen Saturday

I woke up to rain, rain, rain. Booooo.... Made some frantic texts home trying to figure if I could go home today, or get a hotel till I leave on Tues. NOTHING would work with out downpayment on a house. I resigned myself to staying here. I am tired of being cold and wet.
Leila came down to the mkt in the morning and bought me some fresh made donuts! She is the best... she had to parent me and Catherine a few times on this trip. I got my act together and went back up to the convention center, did I mention that it is 5 blocks uphill in the cold rain? waaaaaaa.... The emerging artists were very interesting. They all have stuff written up about them in the conference materials. What they do is way beyond what I can dream of. They are using alot of computer stuff for their designing and imagery. They really are in the digital age, I don't even think that NCECA was in the digital age when I started going in 2000. Things move so fast. They also had closing speakers, Robert Brady and his wife Sandy/?. They both spoke separately about their lives and their work. She is an unbelievable potter, making utilitarian pottery with grace and peace. He is a sculptor who works in a variety of meetings. They are very different, but must make it all work. I enjoyed what they said and how they said it. It was a very nice wrap up to the conference.

I was very discouraged about having to stay here any longer so I tried to make the best of it, I walked to Poineer Square, not a long walk if you know where you are going. I feel like I am in a labrynth/maze here and it has these tall walls I cannot see over or around and when I think I have a handle on it, it takes me down another path. It was getting to be about 2pm and I realized I REALLY needed some food. I found this shop that had the kalamata olive bread as a grilled cheese. YUM. When I came out of the restaurant I tried to use my guide and my gps to find the galleries that everyone so raved about. It was darkish and still raining and I was frustrated and sad. I remember Gayle telling me to go to a japanese mkt called Kobo. I got my bearings and walked UPHILL again and found it. It was worth the climb. There were beautiful asian styled pottery all over the place that was part of a show for the conference. There were also interesting other interesting things there.

After I left there I headed down the hill (still raining) and decided I was too tired to walk all the way back. I found some transportation tunnel that I thought was the train(that I rode in from the airport) but it was busses and I had NO idea where I was going. I looked for someone to ask, I thought I had found him, but just as I was about to speak he got on a bus. I went back up the stairs and headed back on foot. I stumbled upon a gallery that was the Archie Bray Show.. it was magnificent!! As I left there I asked where I might find the Underground Tour that everyone recommends. I found it but there was such a massive amt of people there I turned around and walked out.(that has happened several times this weekend, I think that my people anxiety sometimes kicks my butt so that I miss out on good things because of it) The sun was shining now and I walked back to Pikes Mkt and went to my hostel for a few. I couldn't stand that I was so tired but missing the sun.

I got myself out of my bunk and headed out to the mkt and walked around a bit more. It was cold and beautiful outside(those who know me, know those are not two words I would ever use in the same sentence). I parked myself near the market and watched the sunset! Yipee, SUN! I went back through the market and got myself some togo lentil soup and took it back up to the hostel We aren't allowed to eat in our rooms so I ate in the VERY busy community room. I sat with some potters who cringed when I sat down because of the SUPERGIRL! shirt, but I noticed one of them was one of my bunk mates and I introduced myself to the others. I think they were relieved I wasn't a comic book hero. We had an awesome conversation about teaching pottery. The gal "Violet" was cool and we talked about here getting ready to teach in the summer, she is a grad student now. I hope to help her out if she likes.

I decided to do laundry, I was on my last pair of underwear. Not so good for 3 more days here. I read for a bit and then finally slept. I haven't had to take any sleeping pills, but I am sure that my sleep pattern is really screwed up from the slamming door. I cannot wait to get home, I am soooo homesick, but the sun coming out had it's redeeming qualities.

Love, Love, Love,
Jada