Randomosity

My host, Laughing Squid, is phasing out standard hosting and wants me to move to cloud hosting. This isn’t a drama, it’s just that I have to do it myself and I’m far too lazy. But if you come here later – within the next week or so – and things are wonky, that means I buckled down and am in the process of moving all my databases and DNS settings and all those geeky things that I can do but just find tedious.

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I miss putting up Tiltshift photos. But I’m really kind of out of photos that might look good in Tiltshift. Uhm… yeah. That’s all I really have to say about that. Just acknowledging, if you’re one of the three people who have missed it, why they’re not showing up any more.

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I’m thinking about replacing Tiltshift Saturday with My Family Was Awesome Saturday. Kind of a play on one of my favorite voyeuristic sites, My Parents Were Awesome. I always want to submit a photo to that about my family members but don’t think I could narrow it down to just one photo.

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Both of my favorite pair of flannel PJ bottoms have worn out at the same time. Coincidence? Or just that I bought them both at the same time and wear them pretty much constantly? My Google-fu must be off because I can’t find new pairs that I like that are within the range of money I am willing to spend. Grr. Argh. Recommendations on PJ bottoms welcome – especially if they are red & black plaid or contain skulls and/or sock monkeys. Bonus if they are in the $20 range. They do not need to be a set – I have a couple of “sets” and never wear the tops.

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One thing that I wish I could do on Etsy is offer repeat customers a discount code. But Etsy subscribes to a rule that I am usually 100% behind – the rule about what you give to one, you have to give to all. You can give an item a discount or free shipping, but then you have to offer it to everyone who buys that item (not just, say, someone who bought twelve items and you want to give them a little “thank you” by giving them free shipping or 10% off their next order). Any sort of discount like that has to be done through PayPal as a refund; and then PayPal takes a certain percentage of that as a cut. Plus, it’s tedious. But I do have a number of repeat customers (already! I know!) and I want to offer them a little sumptin’ sumptin. So I’m thinking of starting to include cards in my packages that say something like “free guest-sized bar of soap with your next order” and let them choose from one of three fragrances… or “free custom glazed coffee mug if you spend over $$$” or something. Many, if not all of you, shop online. What are your thoughts?

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Did I tell you I ordered a new kiln for my birthday? I KNOW! I can’t wait until the new one gets here and I can do a whole post about it. I am alternately excited beyond imagining, and plagued with guilt. I’ve had the same kiln my whole life. 41 years, although it’s older than that. It was my G-ma’s, and my mom’s first remembrance of it was in 1965 although she thinks it may be older. The poor thing is really on its last legs. It’s been rewired, resided (twice), the automatic firing mechanism has rusted off and I’ve been firing manually by looking at a cone through a peephole for at least ten years. There are gaps in the brick that you can see through. I’ve had to buy a new lid. Lately it’s been either under- or over-firing (I’ll go into that more when I do my official old kiln/new kiln post). It’s… it’s time. It’s more than time. I started a New Kiln Fund about ten years ago, but wound up spending the money on getting divorced instead (I’m trying to write a joke about that but none of them look as funny on paper as they do in my head). But my mom sent me some birthday money, and Aunt Gay and Uncle Joe are willing to chip in… so it’s time. Yet I still feel guilty! As if this one isn’t dead yet, it’s just a flesh wound, it’s still firing on a few cylinders…!

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Speaking of kilns, I did fire yesterday and am looking forward to opening it this morning. I love glaze firings! That’s when you find out if everything worked or if the last few weeks have been for naught.

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Oh! I think I twittered or Facebooked about this, but I’m on Goodreads now. (“Finally,” some of my friends say.) I’m still figuring out how it works, and Sweet Zombie Jesus I will never ever ever be able to get everything I’ve read or everything I own up there. But I’ll plod away.

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… aaaaaand… that about wraps it up for this right now. I’m sure there are another hundred little things I want to tell you, but I also want to go crack open the kiln to get it to cool down a little more quickly. Also there is soap to be made. And dogs to be walked.