more Wendling brain cells

So after many months of talking about it, we three went down to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, which includes a "hot shop" where a small crew blows glass. The Wendling was pretty excited about the exhibits, as were we grown-ups, but wasn't thrilled with the hot shop. (He says, as he stands at my elbow and reads over my shoulder, that he liked it at first.) That's hardly what you'd expect, is it? I mean, big, hot, firey things and molten, glowing glass were put on earth to thrill the little boy in everyone. It probably didn't help that he couldn't watch the crew without looking right into the "glory hole" -- he borrowed my shades. And yes, glass blowers have to "flash" their pieces in the glory hole repeatedly to keep them at the right temperature, which slows things down. Blowing glass takes patience, like costuming, but entails more collaboration, more expensive equipment, and more danger.

Geeky cool thing alert: in the MoG hot shop there's a glass pipe organ driven by convection. Each pipe has a torch inside.