My earthenware love/r

Oh, lump of clay. Oh, blob of mud, why have you forsaken me? Why so stubbornly do you insist on staying away from the center? Why be content in your lumpness? Why are you so difficult? Are you not at home on the wheel? Am I not your thrower of choice? You behave so well, move so beautifully in the hands of Mcbeth. You poke and prod into muscles that I never use. For you, the Golden Mean is no option. If the perfect balance is not reached in each of the various hand positions or techniques, you fall to pieces. Pressure, moisture, timing are crucial to you.
I'll be honest. I love the mess you make. You splatter water and muck all over me, and I do very little to minimize the spread. I love the cool feel of your moldability. The very sight and feel of your compressed, decomposed, caked muddy self puts a smile on my face. I spend hours with you at the wheel. I would leave, but I'm compelled to stay "just a bit longer." And yet you ignore all of that.

Lump of clay, why don't you love me?

art, god, math, and evil or "A week of the most fulfilling conversations I've ever had"

What an awesome spring break!

I never knew how much impact a meaningful conversation could have on my mood or just how deceiving or telling first impressions can be. It's like I'm on revelation overload. I continue to see things from a new perspective and it's really fun! Oh, to describe each and every conversation. Let me explain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up. n_n Yes, yes there was a healthy dose of Princess Bride over the break, and by that I mean that I saw it once. Watching the Princess Bride is probably a requirement for any self-respecting good time, if it spans 3 or more days. Probably.

I think my favorite conversation was one of the first that I had and it was with a guy that I doubt I'll see again. His name's Matt, I don't know his major (though I think it was something math related). Hmm... No, I know his major was something math related, but I don't know what he wanted to do with it. The whole thing took place at "Mochaffee" a Union equivalent of the BCM coffeehouse, but on a slightly smaller scale. It was a little crowded, but I eye-balled the tables and their super-nifty drawn on table cloths. At that point, my plan was to let out some pent up creativity. I saw an empty spot next to two guys who were proving $ and pulling out obscure theorems. I started by complimenting noses and eyebrows and hair, which took them aback, but just a little. Then I started asking if various doodles were art. I can't remember when the coffee house started, but I stayed until ~2. The conversation started around the question of "What is art?" but then it drifted into what a Christian's view of art is, which I would scoff at had I not been there to hear this guy's reasoning. He's taking a class, "Christian History of Drama" or something like that. (Whatever it was, I was a little jealous.) The whole time, but especially near the end we'd go off on tangents only to say "I don't know where I was going with that..." It was so funny and refreshing! At random times, I'd think "I want this to never end. I wish I could do this every day," but then I'd let it slide, because new, better ideas demanded my attention. At some point, Matt asked if everything was math because the laws or theorems could be applied everywhere. My brain exploded in my head. I had never thought of that before! Oh my stars! And my only retort, which I kept to myself, was "Of course not, I hate math." Wow. How very superficial of me. Now, we talked about other fun stuff, like the nature of evil and the nature of God, and the reasons why I was fed up with Christianity as I saw it. It feels like we talked about everything. Strange, isn't it? Upon meeting him, I have maybe the most meaningful conversation I've ever had so far, and then we part ways, but I'm not sad. I'm actually really happy. Happy for the brain-swap and the thought-exchange.$

Did I mention that this was the first night? It's true! Thursday night this took place, and then it snowed, and I met more people with their respective thoughts and hopes and filters. I think infinitely more of Brandy, Stephanny, Mum, and Matthew. Oh, there's so much here, I don't know where to start. I haven't said anything about the time Brandy, Stephanny, and I spent with Travis and his brother Dustin. I haven't said anything about Barefoots Joe, the new coffee spot on campus, and all the fun conversations that went on there. Nor did I touch on Mum's visits to Union to work on her dissertation, or Clint's visits to bring dessert pizza and watch a movie. And now that I've said that, I almost went to Baton Rouge, but decided against it. At any rate, now Matthew and I are on good terms. We had some good conversations, too.

So, now I'm awake at 3:26 a.m. and I never know how to end a sentence with an abbreviation. Generally, it's not good to take naps after 4, so I've heard, but especially not good to take a nap between 6 and 7. Alas, those bugger head aches have a mind of their own and they're not following anyone's rules. Samson went back to bed, not much hair left on his head. Ate a slice of wonder bread and went right back to bed.
Me too. Good night.


P.S.
How's this for something to read, Ashley? :]