Tom Gray and Tom Starland

As I was saying.... this week has been full of fits and starts and yesterday was no exception.
We were lucky and just had rain yesterday, no ice and no snow.
But I tell you me- it is soggy wet out there.
A bit like walking on pudding.

It has made our trips across the yard an adventure.
First the snow, then the ice/snow followed by the mud and slush and now the soggy mess of just wet oversaturated ground.

Red pudding.

But we did get some work done.
I did not get anything posted up for Mr. Kline's challenge.
I though I would but yesterday I did not even make it down to the basement where my computer lives.

After lunch yesterday we had a nice surprise visit with Tom Starland from Carolina Arts Unleashed.
Tom writes about the arts in the Carolinas and has done a great job of keeping us all up on what is going on in the art scene.
Tom also has a great way of speaking his mind.
Yesterday was a treat to just take some time and chat.
He one of those people you wished lived closer.

The day before that Tom Gray stopped over to pick up potatoes.
We have a veggie delivery here once a week and we are down to the last of the stored potatoes, Yukon gold, that were dug last spring.
Eat them up or lose them so our farmer friends were here to distribute.

Tom stayed and we chatted away before they came.
It is always fun to talk to Tom.
He spent time in the area Mark and I grew up.
Nothing short of parallel lives because we are very close to the same age.
So we were playing the name game- what was the name of the drive-in on...
Where was ... located?
Did you ever go to?

Before Tom left I asked him how long he has been writing on his blog.
He wasn't quite sure and I thought it was at least 6-7 years.
Turns out, after he looked it up, he started his blog in May 2001.

That is quite a while in the blog world.
I had asked his about his thoughts on blogging and he sent me this response.


"When the graphical World Wide Web began, the only people who knew their way around it were the geeks and the prop heads. If you wanted a Web presence you had to be one of the former, or hire them to build and upload your Web site for you. Within a couple of years tools were developed that allowed anyone with enough time and curiosity the ability to build their own sites. When the graphic artists became involved, the “look” became much more slick, more professional, and even began to compete with print. Today, with programs like blogger, wordpress and typepad, anyone with a computer, digital camera, and the desire to share their lives with others can do so very easily and very quickly. A blog page, blog being short for Web log, can be set up in a matter of minutes, and you can be publishing immediately."

I know there are so many different stories out there.
The community of potters who are out there writting all blog for different reasons.
What's yours?

PS- above is one of those tools we use all the time.
Not for throwing but for clean up- simple, yet, useful.
The handle is about 5'9".