Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Corporate America, Red Clay, and Baptism

Hi Everyone!

I have been a little absent from the blog lately. My (simultaneously boring and stressful) day job in the Business Outfitters division of a local clothing megacompany has been taking up lots of my time as we move into our peak season. I would say the company's name, but earlier this year we were all forced to sign a strange "social media contract" which prohibited me from, among other things, using obsenities in my personal blog and Facebook page. When I asked about that stipulation, I was told that, although the contract I was required to sign made a blanket statement for content in ALL forms of social media, it only meant I could not use obsenities on company-related sites. But just in case I need to bust out with a string of profanities, we'll keep it anonymous.

I have been working for The Aforementioned Clothing Company for over a year. This is the first time I have ever worked for a corporation, and hopefully the last. While I have met lots of great people, I hate feeling like a cog in a machine. I am a hard worker, and it feels draining to be sharing my time and energy with an entity that will never appreciate my skills, and sends reprimands if one goes 30 seconds over one's 30 minute lunch break. So little room for creative thinking, at least where I am in the company. I miss pouring all of my energy into something I am excited about... Windy Ridge, pots, farming. I love getting to know our Windy Ridge customers, and meeting people who have made handmade objects a priority in their lives. I just can't get into polo shirts.

So I took today off from ably assisting businesses with their apparel needs and spent the day working on the we-really-should-finish-that-before-it-really-starts-snowing list. First up was...

Mixing Clay!



I have been wanting to experiment with earthenware since we moved to WI. Leaving NC meant leaving behind lovely local high-fire clay. I want to work with what we have here, and here we have lovely limestoney red clay.

Isn't it a pretty color?

I'm planning to work on a clay recipe this winter and commandeer the third chamber when we fire next summer. Our red clay is a...bear (see?? no profanities here!) to push through our glaze sieves, so Joe made me a sieve out of hardware cloth that made the limestone-removal much easier.

I will keep you updated on this adventure as it unfolds.

In other news, we went to the Quad Cities last weekend for our niece's baptism. Alyssa is 5 months old, and a strong contender for the Cutest and Sweetest Baby Ever. And she thinks I am hilarious when I tickle her tummy, which makes me a strong contender for Best Aunt Ever.

Gogzie, Mom, Alyssa, and Carrie


Cheers, and thanks for all of your kind wishes as we get settled into the house!

**Christy

3 comments:

klineola said...

Are you sure you didn't just receive a truckload of NC red dirt? It looks a lot like my clay! I know about the "before it snows" list. It's not so crucial here, but it still weighs on me, like getting the wood cut! But when I lived in Mass. it was a serious matter.

ang design said...

thats so brilliant that you can dig it up and actually know what to mix in to make your own clay body....alas i shall prob be forever purchasing the plastic variety...cheers on the day off..

cookingwithgas said...

yes- I know having worked retail in my past lief.
But it gives you some understanding about the masses, both good and bad.
Babies, you know I love babaies. And she is lucky to have you as "the best Aunt!"