deep thoughts

methinks about the concept of god whilst folding bulletins today, and I think that i have a rrived at a logical conlusion. People ask "if god exists then why does he let bad things like war and poverty happen," and "If god wants us to love him then why does he not make it known that he exists?" I think i may have an answer. God does not want us just to love him, he wants us to have faith and love him based on that faith. that is why things like war and poverty happen and that is why he does not make it widely known that he exists. One of the first things that comes to mind when you think about the judeo-christian God is the saying "god is love," and if this be true then god exists between each and every human; in addition, god then, is something intangible and there cannot be any evidence that he exists other than the love between human beings for each other.

Another reason why god cannot be proven is the the infinate amount of questions that there are to be answered. Science attempts to uncover the mechanical nature of the universe and everything in it, but with every answer more questions are raised. for example the origin of life is attempted to be explained by the theory of panspermia which states that organic molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids arrived on earth via a foreign object such as an asteroid. If this is indeed the case then how did the organic molecules form? where did they come from? how did they get on said foreign object? where did this foreign object come from? there is an unending cache of questions to be answered in the sciences.

and the moral of today's story is: always write an outline first. There is more to this story, but the end escapes me at the moment. perhaps it will some back

peace and carrots y'all
Bandit Out

August 20

I just wanted to take the time to write about the people that I love, and why I love them and what not. and i figured now would be a good time to do so because their birthdays were last week.

First of all, Grandpa Bandit (papa). Papa turned 81 on Thursday, and I am really grateful that he is around! I remember all the time I used to spend with him when I was in elementary school and how he would cut apple for my snacks and let me watch TV after I was done with my homework. When I think of why my grandpa is so special to me, I think of all the things that he does for me and my family, like take us to school, taking care of us while mom and dad were at work, taking us to get haircuts when my brother and I were really little. I think the thing that i miss most is going to church and sitting with him on Sunday mornings. My job at church requires me to be in Fresno for the mornings on Sundays so there really isn't any practical way for this to happen, at least for the foreseeable future.
Anyway Papa is an ornry old dutch man and its pretty funny when he gives people a hard time. He's very particular, so sometimes it's a little frustrating whenever I help around the house or something, but the time spent with him is well worth it! I hope that Papa is around for many more years to come cause I love him so much!

The other person that I would like to write about is the grasshopper's little Cee. she too had a birthday on thursday. Its amazing how goofy and cute Grasshopper's little girls are! Cee especially. It's a weird experience watching your cousins grow up, I vaguely remember when Cee was born and I got to hold her! But then I dropped her and haven't been able to hold a baby ever since. maybe thats why Cee is especially silly... Just kidding, that never happened.

anyway those are some of the people I love!!! peace and carrots y'all
Bandit Out...

idk bout this new blog color... what do you think?

i feel high- but i'm not on anything...

for all of my devout followers (HA) i am not on any drugs. i just had the weirdest experience ever. i wanted to WRITE!!! can you beleive it? so what caused this sudden inspiration of creativity, you ask? METALLICA!!!

my mom wanted some peace and quiet so naturally i wanted some chaos, and i thought the best course of action would be to thump my brain with Fight Fire with Fire, and boy did my bran get thumped. (note: in order to enjoy this experience for yourself buy some top notch headphones, get fight fire with fire, and "turn the volume to 11," as they say)

it was a torrential downpour of heavy metal... EPIC!!!

church today

so i went to church today, and i figured i might remember what the message was better if i wrote it down since they don't have the readings to follow along where i work.

so the second reading was concerning Elijah, and that his service to God was becoming wearisome and he began to pray asking God to take his life. when he was finished there was water and "hearth cake" at his side and a voice told him that the journey ahead would be too wearisome if he was to eat nothing. and so Elijah ate and walked to mount horeb.

The Gospel was a little less fantastic so i kinda lost myself in thought. i do remember something about their ancestors eating Mana from heaven and dying, but if you eat the Jesus bread then you will have eternal life.

during the sermon, i like Fr's opening statement about how if we did away with anger then there wouldn't be any talk radio or very many news outlets. other than that it was mostly are you going to conform to the culture around you and taking the message to the people and stuff like that. pretty cut-and-dry I'd say...

anyway, one of the my many pet-peeves are electronic drums in church. they are sooo unimpassioned!!! i wish if they would get a little inspiration for church music by listening to some motley crue or something. now that would be a service to remember!!!

Man, I really need to brighten this page up with some pictures!!!

I'm back!!!

Howdy y'all after an extended leave of absence I have something that really tears at my moral fibers to write about.

Last week Harvard Girl and I were kickin back at work and she was reading an article on an "Abortion Boat" that sails around to third-world countries and gives abortions to pregnant women. She then proceeded to say "Oh, I want to be on that boat so bad!!" What the flip people???

I will be the last person who tries to tell someone what they should think- we are all entitled to our own opinions, but abortion is a topic that is uncomprimisable. The murder of 50 million Americans and countless others is a blight on the human race, and it is somethingg that I feel to strongly about to let it stand at "oh wouldn't it be great to go sailing on an abortion boat??"

I half excpected as much out of someone as socially liberal as Harvard Girl, but her reasons justifyingthe pro-choice position are almost as absurd as the the desire to go sailing around and helping doctors conduct abortions.

"what if I got pregnant..." what if you get pregnant? for most pregnancies there is a decision that precedes the "what am I going to do now that I am pregnant decision" decision. you know your own situation better than anybody else, so it is up to you to analyse whether or not you are ready to have a baby. The "Ok, I'm ready... lets do this" is pretty much a concession that you have thought about it... you just signed the dotted line. However there are a few exceptions to this rule, and I hate to say it as much as the next person... rape. Nothing good comes out of rape because it is the perverted action of sick individuals. Nevertheless, there are alternatives to abortion. "I don't want to carry around the baby of the freak who did this to me..." okay Magua- cut the Grey-Haired man's heart out, and kill his seed so he knows that he will be the ancestor to no one. What did the child do to be brutally ripped out of the the one place where it could thrive? What hand did the baby have? having an abortion to "solve" the problems of a rape only creates more problems, because this child isn't just the fruit of his loins. When you have abortion you dispose of a part of yourself too.

But what do I know? I'm just a man, I could never understand what it means to be pregnant. This is true, but that doesn't mean that abortions don't affect men at all. After all, what choice does a pregnant woman have when her boyfriend leaves her when he finds out that she is pregnant? Well I've got news ladies, chivalry isn't necessarily dead. Not all men are detached jerks who leave the women to care for their children. One of my best friends is one of these stand-up guys who works pretty much full time and takes care of his baby, and although I haven't come accross the oportunnity, I would like to think that I would be the same way as well.

Anyway, I've run out of steam, but there is so much more that i have to say on this subject, and so many ways to say it. Hopefully Harvard Girl will say something next week to provoke such an emotional response as to drive me to blogging. I would just like to end with saying that abortion will always be the wrong decision, and that there are better alternatives to abortion.

summer is in full shwing i guess

what it is my neezies?!?! so i was looking up how you do sago plams and apparently you cant really grow from seed until the plant is around 15 years old and planted in the ground! so if i start now i can probably get to plantin seeds at age 35... :( bummer.

its amazing whaty you learn when you get older. this week i have been ferrying my brother and sister to their respective practices and i'm learning what a chore it can be. with completely different schedules, the running around in the fashion of a headless chicken is quite a hinderance on the goings on of everyday life! so in respect to the comments made and those not made, i would like to take a moment and applaud momma bandit for everything that she did for me when i was in much more youthful state. for taking me to practice several times daily, for running me my forgotten uniform on game day, for taking the initiative and providing after game meals (delicious ones at that), for hosting "lineman parties," and all other sort of miserable plodding, monotonous tasks that you carried out so dutifully I would like to submit my thanks for all to see. THANKS MOM!!!

First week out of school

So with the first week out of school gone, i am looking forward to a good month of relaxing and letting all the stress of school and work melt away... NAT! even though i wont be on the job for the whole month of june, i have a lot planned. i would like to volunteer at the spca this summer but they were closed when i drove by to look into the matter :( I know that you have to go to a class some time but i need to know when and where so ima have to find out this week.

next i HAVE to go to the cabin with some of my friends. i had a couple trips planned last summer and it was a blast so ima have to start talkin bout it and see what happens. pictures will be a must!!

other than that im lookin forward to quite a bit of landscaping at home or with papa. i cant wait to get my hands on a male sago palm!! i'm pretty sure that the ones that we have currently are females, but hopefully they are mature so my assumptions are correct. wont know till we see some seed pods. i need to look this up!!!

i will be working at del monte again and that makes me happy! it is such a good job!

got all the biology names down...

so last time i was sayin that i didnt know all the mammals and stuff, but now i do! get ready to get some knowledge dropped...

so in the arthropods there are the
1) Cheliceroformes- these guys have fangs instead of teeth like spiders
a) merostomata-horsehoe crabs
b) arachnida
i) aranea-spiders
ii) scorpionida-scorpions obviously
iii) acarina-ticks and mites

2) crustacea- these are the marine arthropods, usually with shells
a) cirripoda-barnacles
b) malacostraca-big crstaceans like shrimp, lobster, prawn and crab
c) angiopods- these next four classes are plankton and they get pretty sketchy
d) brachiopods
e) copepods
f) ostracods

3) myripoda centipedes and millipedes, i'll let you guess which is which
a) oligiopoda
b) decapoda

4) Insecta- insects yay!!
a) Hymenoptera- bees ants wasps and hornets
b) Hemiptera- these are true bugs, so stop calling any buzzing flying creeping crawling thing a bug! if they suck blood and have wings that fold across their backs like a v then they are bugs
c) homoptera-these are gnats and cicada
d) orthropoda-grasshoppers, locusts and crickets
e) odontata-dragonflies
f) diptera-flies and mosquitoes
g) coleoptera-bettles (there are over 350000 species of these guys and the numbers are still growing)
h) lepidoptera- butterflies and moths

5) and in the Echinoderms...
a) Asteroidea-sea stars (or starfish)
b) Echinoidea-sea urchins and sand dollars
c) othiuroidea-brittle stars (these guys walk with their five legs which is pretty cool)
d) holothuroidea-0 sea cucumbers

6) now for the chordates, this one is pretty long

a) urochordata- these are called tunicates and look a lot like sponges
b) cephalochordata-lancelets, the most simplistic chordates
i) myxini-hagfish
c) cephalospidomorphi-lampreys
d) chondricthyes-cardilaginous fish
i) elasmobranchii-specifically sharks skates and rays
e) osteichthyes-bony fish
i) actinopterygii-ray finned fish or fish with bone in their fins
f) amphibia amphibians obviously
i) gymniophiona- these guys look a lot like worms
ii) caudata-salamanders
iii) anura-frogs and toads
g) reptilia
i) testudines-turtles and torytoises
(1) chelonia-extant or living species of testudines
ii) squamata-snakes and lizards
iii) crocodilia-crocodiles and alligators
h) aves
i) anseriformes-water fowl like duck, geese and swan
ii) charadriiformes- water dwelling brids like seagulls and killdeer
iii) galliformes- fowl or game birds like chicken, turkey, pheasant, and quail
iv) falconiformes-raptors of the sky i.e. falcons, eagles, hawks and kestrals
v) strigiformes-owlslike the great horned owl,snowy and barn owls
vi) columbiformes-pidgeons and doves
vii) piciformes-woodpeckers
viii) passeriformes-song birds like jays, cardinals sparrows and many others

i) mammalia
i) monotremata-duck billed platypus' and echidnasmarsupialis-kangaroos opposums koalas and wallabies
ii) eutheria-placental mammals including all of the following
(1) pinnipedia-seals and sea lions
(2) carnivora-bears cats dogs and weasels
(3) lagomorpha-rabbits
(4) chiroptera-bats
(5) edentata-ant eaters and armadillos
(6) insectivora-shrews and moles
(7) cetacea-whales and dolphins
(8) artiodactyla-cows hippos sheep and deer
(9) perissodactyla-horses zebra nad rhinoceroses
(10) rodentia-rodents like rats mice squirrels and gophers
(11) proboscidea-elephants
(12) primates- monkeys and thomas...

and the is just the more complicated animals not including the nematodes, platyhelminthes, annelids or molluscs. anyway, i am glad that i learned so much in biology. I cant wait wait next somester and learn some more!!!

OMG mothers day is this weekend!

YEAH mothers day is this weekend and that means that i get to go to Morro Bay with my family and katviper, and anut Lisa too. Anyway, aside form the card that i usually get momma bandit and the mothers day breakfast that all the guys have to take part in, i think i am gonna make some glass for dear old mom. recently i made a mug that for all intents and purposes was perfect, and so that might be a good idea and then there was this one thing that Joe showed me where you rolled your peice in a mixture of sawdust and glass and it comes out looking like it has some kind of volcanic texture. it looks really cool.

Anyway, even though mothers day is this weekend and i get to go to the coast and have some fun, i dont know how i will be able to go and study. seeing that by this weekend i will only have three days of classes left and then its time for finals. Speakin of which i think i have one on Sunday this semester, and i had one on saturday least semester. What is the deal with that?

So Happy early Mothers day to the few dedicated moms that read my blog!

OMG SUMMER IS 4WEEKS AWAY!!!

This semester went by super fast!! where did all the time go? i have learned so much in my biology class about different phyla of animals and what animals belong in each one. so for example most of the birds belong to one of the following: Anseriformes, Charadriiformes, Galliformes, Faloniformes, Strigiformes, Columbiformes, Piciformes, and Passeriformes. mammals are a littel harder to do off teh top of my head but there are monotremata, marsupialis, artiodactyla, edentata, rodentia, primates, carnivora, insectivora, chiroptera, lagiformes, and there are a couple more but im not sure what their names are exactly.

Speaking of next semester, it is going to be really tough! i am taking a lot of classes with labs, and they all are gonna be hard. I got physiology, chemistry and physics along with critical thinking about race- getting lower division GE out of the way. hopefully whoever i live with doesnt have a tv!

Anyway back on the whole summer idea, I cant wait to get some stuff done around my house, Like burn all the wood that i have been saving for campfires, and get some plants in the ground. anywhoosles, on the other hand summer is gonna be a total bummer because my best friend will be in japan! He signed up for the marinies, and luckily he got stationed there instead of iraq or afghanistan. But who knows what things will look like in the future, though, with North Korea and all.

Anyway, i am glad that school will be getting out soon the only problem is my newman center job. I really like it but i wont have an appartment to spend sunday night at fresno in, and i dont know if i can make the drive from hanford at 5 in the morning to get there on time. hopefully io wont have to quit.

well, i been down so gawd damn long...

howdy y'all, yeah thats a line from a doors song, its pretty awesome... anyway, i've been so busy with school studying for tests and other stuff. as i am sure that everyone who reads my blog knows i got a pretty bad burn a couple weeks ago. anyway, it was a second degree burn i'm sure and i wish i had a picture of when it was all swollen and blistered- gross!

But this weekend is vintage days at fresno state! YAY! for anyone who has the opportunity to come to fresno state this weekened, come by the glass shop on the south side of the conely art building and see what glassblowing is like for yourself! and don't forget to buy something- we actually ran out of glass so our teacher had make a special trip to richmond, ca to get some more glass. nevertheless there will be people working this weekend and will be happy to show you how it goes down, or at least let you watch them make something!

WOW its been 8 days since my last post!!! where has the time gone? Anyway I think i will write about the default subject.. glassblowing of course. This week we started blowing!!! we have to make 4, 6 and 8 inch tall cylinders, and its gonna be pretty tough making that 8 inch tall cylinder, but when i finally make it, i'll be ready for makin' flaggons!! can't wait for that to happen! i'm already thinking of different ways to make the handles.

Anyway, I'm a little rusty because i haven't actually blown anything since 'round december so i need to get beack in the hang of things. need to learn how to get the edges thinner. the one that i have successfully made so far is about 4 or 5 inches and is really thick, which is not very desirable. Anyway, I can't wait to get some of that work done!

March Birthdays

This month has a few birthdays that I would like to get out of the way. First of all There is aunt Lisa on the 4th, and then there is brother bandit on the 14th, followed up by Uncle Roberto on the 24th, I believe. I remember one time having a birthday for all of these harguinde-guys at my house when i was relatively little. It blew my mind that they were all on 4 days.

On another note, I never really got adding machines. Why not just use a big calculator or something?

On yet another note, Jesus must have been a great guy. I mean why wouldn't anyone like a guy with a beard like his? I mean look at ZZ-Top, everyone loves those guys.

Everything

Hey everyone, I'm pretty sure that it isn't quite springtime yet, but all of the most beautiful flowers are in blume!

This is the tree that made me want a camera in the first place. It has the prettiest flowers on campus and it only stay in blume for a couple of weeks. I was so upset when I had to walk by it everyday last year and I couldn't take a picture.

I just recently noticed these flowers I don't know what kind they are, but they are really nice

These birds of paradise are no longer this nice looking, because I took this one a few weeks ago. They are all kinda grimy now. anyway these are very beautiful angiosperms (that is the kind of family of plant that all flowering species belong to).

This is a little plot next to the Science II building they remind me of my grandpas garden in the front of his house during easter. I hope that isn't a plastic bag in the bottom right corner...

On a another note, I have quite a bit more glass done now and I actually have a picture...

These are all solid peices with the exception of the second from the right, which was a mistake. I tried to pull four arms up and the twist them together, but it fell apart on me so i just made the best of the situation. The one on the farthest right has redused copper wire in it. You cant se eit but it is a really beautiful magenta color. The one on the fourth from the left is pretty cool. it looks kinda like a horse and i did it pretty much by just puling threads of glass of and playing around with it. and speaking of glass there are a couple more tools that I want to show you...

This gal here is named sophie. sophie comes in reall helpful when you need to blow out a lip on a blown peice. someetimes the lip is kinda thick and sophie helps to even it out.

This is the break off station. When you break a peice off, you put some water in the jack line and then you hit the punty and break it off. The fiberglass helps when you when you need to put something like christmas ornaments away or something solid.

These are optic molds and they are used for making what we call zippers, or pleated bowls or cups. They don't have that big of a role but yo do need them for some pieces. These are all of the tools that we use in the glass shop so now you know everything that I talk about when I talk about glass

Laundry :(

So today is laundry day, and that makes me not very happy. No sir, not because I have to do laundry, but because I don't have my own washer and dryer. It's -pretty cool that my appartment complex has it's own laundry stations, but for the last couple of weeks the dryers haven't been working very good. The last time I did laundry at my appartment complex it took me like two cycles and it still wasn't dry. I was so frustrated that I took my laundry back layed it out and used my roomies hair dryer to finish the job.

Anyway this is very frustrating because I do not like paying $3 per load of laundry. thats like $9 a week and $36 a month. thats more than my utilities. Needless to say I looked into alternative means to getting my laundry done. The last time I did laundry in fresno i went to a laundromat and i felt really weird, so I think maybe I will ask my amigo if I can use his facilities this week.

combo peice

Hey what do you know I'm here writing about glass again!!! Anyway, soon we will have to be making a combination peice where we encorporate metal into something that we make. the only downside is that only copper is compatible so that when the glass cools down it won't crack it. so be can't go and put red cornstarch on the ends of nails and then stick them into a peice. So I came up with the idea that I could get some copper wire and make a spider web and maybe even a spider and then pick those things up with the glass! I was so excited about this idea that i went out to home depot too look for some copper wire.

Anyway all I found was a big spool of huge wire that was like $157, so I called my dad and he said he could let me borrow some of the good stuff, I also talked to my brother who is a big fan of metal shop, and he said he could get me some iron fillings, and this is where I will explain how you get colored glass! colored glass is basically a mix of clear glass and different metals. you get blue from mixing cobalt, green from iron, lots of different colors from different mixes of metals. Usually there are glass companies who make and distribute color and it is exponentially easier to buy your colors than making an assortment of your own color. Basically I came up with the idea that I could roll my glass in the iron, turn it green and then pick up the copper web. I don't know how well this idea will work, so i'll let you know how the iron portion goes when I get the iron.

TV

Since about the beginning of the semester my one and only tv was not working for some weird reason. we think that the problem was the remote (we tried the batteries, and yes we did actually did get up and try the buttons on televison but it still didn't work) so when I came back up to Fresno, I couldn't help but notice the big new LCD TV that had replaced the old one. I also can't help but notice that my study habits haven't been what they used to be over the last week.

Personally I think that Televison is among one of the most addictive drugs, right below crack (I don't do crack, mom). I would much rather read than watch some b-list movie, but I can't bring myself to get away from the TV and get my nose in the book. Anyway I have come to the conclusion that when I actually graduate and can afford a place of my own, I definately will not be getting a TV for it.

On another thought I love what my conditioner is doing to my hair! its making it so soft!!! Instead of big hair, I get it more where I want it to be.

Dragons are silly

Is Crime Always Functional?

In my criminology class we have to write a response to two papers arguing whether or not crime is "functional" or not. Emile Durkheim, a sociologist from the 1920s argues that crime is functional because it presses the morals of society, and allows for a sense of unity among law abiding citizens. I agree with this paradigm to a point, but can crime be ALWAYS be functional? I think not. Durkheim may be right in certain cases like with Rosa Parks, and others who pressed for equal rights, but how can crimes like those commited by Ted Bundy, Joel Rifkin, Edward Gein, Bernard Madoff, and those involved with the Enron scandal be even thought of as Functional?

I remember watching a documentary on the discovery channel which explored the parts o fthe brain that are involved with crime and deviance, and it claimed that there is indeed a part of the brain that involved with rationalizing criminal behavior. The Amygdala, the part of the brain that deals with emotions and fear, is actually smaller in criminals meaning that criminals have a harder time relating to how people feel as a result of their actions. In this expose, they interviewed Joel Rifkin and asked him what was going through his mind when he was murdering those women, and he said that he was simply focused in the now. This shows that the Amygdala and the cerebrum, the part of the brain that thinks rationally, were not communicating as well as it should and the cranial check against the amygdala didn't work to prevent Rifkin's actions.

In other white collar criminals such as those involved in the Enron Scandal the amygdala communicates normally with the cerebrum, it is just smaller and inhibits the way that the perpetrators feel fear and emotion. This enables these criminals to embezzle away people's retirements without the thought of what this will do to people's lives.

In summary, No I don't think that crime is ALWAYS functional, but that isn't what I'm supposed to write about so that is why I am writing this here. By the way don't quote me because I'm not sure if I got the physiology of the brain right...

Biology and stuff

I was so happy when I walked in today and my rommie said that I got my movie that I ordered a while ago. I had a bad experience when I ordered something online previously because it came and they left it at the office of the appartment complex that I live in, and they didn't let me know that it had arrived. Nonetheless I am happy because I have it now...

I remember watching this movie in theaters when it first came out, and thinking what a great movie it was. It is called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, and it is a documentary type move on how several scientists got in trouble over mentioning that there was at least a little credance to the notion of intelligent design. Being a Cradle Catholic surrounded by an unbeleivably faithful family and a biology student as well, this movie had a really big impact on my outlook on this matter. My faith has always been a big part of my life, whether it was forced upon me or I chose to immerse myself into it, I always took a more rational view on the way things came to be than my parents might like, and this film really entertains my train of thought.

Anyway this movie comes highly recomended, it isn't about whether or not God exists , or anything like that, but it does make people like Richard Dawkins look foolish and ignorant.

One of my favorite scenes was when it shows a CG movie of what happens inside a cell and being able to be like "oh thats a microtubule, and that a carrier protein, and thats a chaperonin!" It is really amazing how the life works on a macroscopic as well as a microscopic level. biology has to be one of the most exciting sciences because you get to see how everything comes together from physics and chemistry to form the dynamics of life as we know it. besides that it changes so frequently!! Species are being reorganized into different families and taxa (names of species) because their genomes (DNA) are being sequenced and we are realizing that we placed them in the wrong places. the other day my teacher was showing us the phylogeny (family tree if you will, it shows how different species are related to a common ancestor) of many different species and he was like "oh that wasn't there when i learned it."

speaking of my biology class it freaks me out every time my head itches in that class because he is a parasitologist and some of his underlings work with head lice infestations in tent city... ... ...

Glassblowing

Okie Dokie, as promised I took a few pictures of the glass blowing equipment that you need and, let you know how you go about blowing glass. Glass art is a very old artform, and can be traced back to the ancient romans... or something like that, and aside from the improved heating technology not very much has changed since then. First things first, the most important tools to a glass worker are gravity and cetripetal force. Because of these natural phenominae it is important to turn the glass only as fast as it fall off center from the pipe or punty. one of the next important tools to a glass artist is the furnace, where you keep the crucible where molten glass is stored. The one at fresno state is kept at around 2150 degrees fahrenheit, and this is a picture of it.

when you take glass out of the furnace it is called a "gather" and it's a lot like taking honey out o a jar with a toothpick provided that the honey is very viscous, and the honey jar isn't melt-your-face-off hot (that is seriously how most of the girls describe their first gather "I felt like my face was going to melt off"). Once you've gathered enouh glass to make you peice big enough you need to be able to keep it hot, and that is done in a heating drum affectionatly referred to as the "Glory Hole." there are several different set ups for the doors and whatnot, but this is the one that I like the most.

Needless to say, bigger peices require bigger openings and why buy multiple gloryholes when you can get different openings? This one is my favorite becuase the doors are hydraulicly opereated and open at the push of a pedal on the floor. Glory holes usually run at about 2400 degrees. Once you are done with the peice that you are working on you put it in the annealing oven which cools down the peice uniformly so it doesn't explode. ours looks like this...

there are various tools that you use to pinch, pull, flatten, cut and shape the glass in order to make it look like the thing that you want it to look like. here are some pictures...

this is called a bench, you sit on it while you work with the glass. it also has a place where you can put the tools and stuff. You should also have access to an air compressor to help cool down the glass in localized places.
this is called a marving table. you roll the glass on it to keep it straight in relation to the puny or pipe that you are working on. You also lay out frit, which is small bits of colored glass,on its surface. you roll your glass in the frit and you will be able to pick it up and it different size frits give you different effects. powders give you more of a tint, wheras bigger chunks make polkadots. The steel of the table also tents to be cold to the touch so it also helps to control the temperature of the glass that you are woking with.

this is a pipe cooler. sometimes when you gather out of the furnace, or if you are heating in the glory hole the pipe gets really hot and you need to cool it off so you don't burn yourself. anyway this basically runs water up through this appartatus and you lay your pipe in it and it gets cooled off.

this is a paddle for when we misbehave... just kidding we use this to flatten certain things, like when we open up lips on blown peices and they are crooked then this helps to straighten them out. it's pretty much a portable flat edge.

these are called blocks, and they are used to make the glass into more of a bulb shape. this is very important when you are making blown peices. it is imperative that the peice is on center and domed off on the end so that the peice doesn't get thin in one spot and not in another. it also helps to keep a solid peice on center. they come in different shapes (more spherical), and in different sizes.

these are called jacks, they are used to make "jack lines"which are spots where you pinch the glass and make jack lines, which are places where you might break a peice off or make a neck on a vase. they are all flat on the end towards the handle so they can be used to flatten peices in localized places. these might be one of the most important hand held tools in the glass shop.

these are called penssieries, and are essentially heavy duty glass foreceps. you use these to hold and pull glass.

these are called diamond shears because when you open good ones up there is a cockeyed square shape that looks like a diamond. incidentally all of our good diamond shears dissappeared over christmas break and we are stuck with kinda half-rate ones. even so they do the job so I can't complain. these tools compete with the jacks for the most important hand held tools of a glass blower. these tools pretty much cut the glass, but they cut more like a guillotine than scissors. they also have an openeing anterior to the cutting edge to hold punty rods while you put hot bits of glass on a peice for patches or punties or leaves or fins on a fish.

these are called duck bill or lip shears. they cut more like scissors than the diamond shears. they are called duck bill shears because they are convex and form a complex that looks like a duck bill. tin snips also serve the same purpose but with much less finesse.

For the most part these are all of the tools that you use in the glass shop, and what you do with them. bear in mind that when you use these tools, especially the marver, and the blocks that it takes a very dlicate touch and by no means should you manhandle the glass. it gets all discombobulated when you do that and you mess everything up. it's kinda late now and thistook me so long to do. i'm pretty tired so i guess i'll finish tomorrow.

Hi ho, it's me again! Got to thinkin that I should let you all know a little more about my Glassblowing hobby...

I'm taking intermediate glassblowing at Fresno State and I had initially heard about glassblowing classes in the school newspaper. I remember on one of my visits to Mr Boring, my high schol mentor you might say. I told him about it and he encouraged me to take it because so I far I had not enjoyed my college experience at all, and I thought it would be fun. So I started beginning glassblowing last semester, and I loved it. Teacher is very skilled in the art and used to own a "world renowned" glass art company. He closed it in 2005 to teach glass full time.

I think I'll write a little more about the process and tools that you need in order to work the glass when I take some pictures of them. I didn't think to bring my camera this morning, but I need it for my bio lab tomorrow. anyway this is a picture of some of the things i havemade. Please note that they are the ones that I haven't given away, and am the most proud of.

There's a shot glass, a little mug, two paperweights, two sculptures(thats glass speak for something that didn't turn out quite the way you expect), and my rommie's George Foreman Grill. Every time I use that thing the smoke alarm goes off...

blog

Wass up gangstas!?!? Anyway this is my blog. For those of you who are wondering why i'm the "Love Bandit," it's because I got a stuffed gorilla on valentines day that said "Love Bandit" on it. it fit the mold so badly that it stuck... courtesy of Uncle Rodrigo

You will soon find out that one of my favorite hobbies is Glassblowing! and I get to go and do it tomorrow!!! I have been looking forward to it all day. I got some inspiration from one of Katviper's posts about the flowers from Morro Bay. I think I'm gonna make something reminiscent of those dangling bulb things.

Anywhoosles, I guess I'll get some pictures up soon...