Knives

It's about time that my kinfe block got a new life.  The block is a large chunk of dark wood that eats up space.  But as I'm not yet a huge fan of the magnetic strips attached to the walls, I'm thinking that I've got to find a way to liven this baby up rather than replacing it with a modern storage form.

The knives themselves were hand me downs from my parents, and have been going strong since before I was born.  Now the wear and tear is getting pretty obvious.  The handles have lost their luster.  The protective poly coating is basically gone.  And on the knives that get really frequent use the stain is disappearing.

Below is the close up, they're lacking shimmer and shine.  These poor knives appear tired.  

 

So right now I'm in the process of sanding the handles down.   I'm going to have to look up what's the best way to re-liven them.  My instincts say re-stain and coat with polyurethane.  But I may just be treating them like cabinets, and am unsure of the food safety level of polyurethane. Whatever I use I want it to be food safe and water proof, as knives will find themselves in and around food and water. 

Silly Apps

I just came across a silly app that lets you transform photos into posters. It made my freaking day.
So I figured that it would be great fun to make posters with pictures of my friends.

 

Those double made my day.  It was an enjoyable way to waste some time. And reminded me of why I freaking love my friends. 

Sightings

A short trip around my home town today revealed some fun sightings.  The world is a greatly colorful place. Makes it doubly fun to play with the photo editing apps on my phone.

 

 Its no longer common to see a blacksmith anywhere.  At one point I'm sure that it was a much more called upon position.  But thanks to modern technology it seems as if the career has died out.   So I was completely shocked today to see an anvil attached to the back of a work truck.  It's an awesome sighting. 

 

  I'm very fond of Stater Brothers.  They've got some great prices, solid produce and wonderful meat selection.  And in this picture the meat is extra amazing as you can see from the energy rays shooting out of their meaty beings.  It just calls you in saying "Buy me, eat me!"  Sometimes I wonder if I should have been a butcher... perhaps I have missed my calling.

Also on tap for the day was picking up a piece I had placed in the Riverside Art Museum's annual Off the Wall showing. 

This year it appeared that there were an unfortunate number of still there in the end, meaning there weren't as many sales as last year. Effect of the down economy?  Caused by the changed pricing system? Most likely.  Low Quality, I doubt it.  There were lots of peices that I found I really liked.  Some day I'll have purchasing power and will support the local artists and the Riverside Art Museum.

My piece was placed inside one of the normal wall display areas.  This was both a good feeling and a bad one.  On one side, it was cool to see my piece on display the way a normal show piece might be displayed.  As if it was part of a long term show. 

I was unhappy with it though because I prefer that sculptures be placed out in the open so they can be viewed from all sides.  Since I'd made then baby Stone Gollumn out of clay and painted it on all sides It really was mean to be out on a table or a pedestal.   Yet it wasn't, and it didn't get sold.  I was hoping to have sold a peice yet again, as I had sold one last year.  Perhaps I'll be more lucky next year.