Monday, October 20, 2008

Crossing paths with yourself

Sometime within the last year I lamented to a friend that my interests were so disparate that there was probably no chance I'd ever have an occupation that would integrate them and, by extension, really satisfy me. Two of the most disparate interests have been art and technology. Yes, I know it's easy to assume, "Oh that's easy: graphic arts!" But, graphic arts doesn't grab me, even though I do a lot of it. What grabs me is ceramic. And, I was marching right along with computer app's, programming and database fun (yes, I mean fun...I thought programming was a riot).

Last year, my "real job" disappeared with the state budge crisis and it did not come back this year. By summer, I came to the conclusion I might be better off looking in other directions. I've been freelancing since. And, three weeks ago, someone called and offered me work in the art department at the local community college. This ended up being a half time job, as a tech, in ceramic. But the big surprise? They had a huge brand new gas shuttle kiln with microprocessor controls for temperature and oxygen. And, nobody knew how to run it.

I programmed it and we fired it successfully this last Thursday and Friday. This morning, we unloaded a treasure trove of student work.

I couldn't have found this job if I'd have tried. I'm not sure when they would have found someone who understood the kiln.

That's the art of getting there.

Now, where are the central asian history, and the languages, going to appear? ;P