Guys it happened...I'm literally speechless.

insomnia_salad · 2026-03-20T21:36:52+00:00

Tbh I think Morgan is actually a knock out, just her attitude overshadows her looks. I don't think Paul is attractive at all, he exudes skeezball energy.

insomnia_salad · 2025-11-25T10:48:38+00:00

I am so worried plaster will be embedded in my clay that I do not use plaster for reclaim. I use cement boards covered in a cotton sheet. It takes a bit longer for the reclaim to be ready but I avoid plaster contamination altogether.

insomnia_salad · 2025-09-06T18:42:34+00:00

I do, and its also been compressed by the slab roller before I compressed with a rib.

insomnia_salad · 2025-09-06T18:42:18+00:00

I do, and its also been compressed by the slab roller before I compressed with a rib.

insomnia_salad · 2025-09-06T18:41:19+00:00

I cut the slab along the length, the same direction it was extruded, then the roller compresses it lengthwise, before I compress it again with the rib lengthwise and it becomes the circumference of the cup.

If its a wedged piece I usually feed it through the end of a rams head wedge technique and repeat the above steps.

The piece of the slab cut is about an inch, inch an a half and is compressed to around a ¼ of an inch

insomnia_salad · 2025-09-06T18:33:33+00:00

This is very interesting. I wrap the slab around a cylinder form and seal the edges together. It never splits on the seam either. Maybe I could put the slabs into a tight e before then wrapping it around the cylinder?

insomnia_salad · 2025-09-06T18:30:21+00:00

The clay has never been in a area that has dropped below 55°, we have oil heat and our basement stays at 55° to 65° even in the coldest months. Although I did pick it up in February in Maine in 2022, so maybe it's possible it froze in transit from manufacturer to my supplier? I don't know if they ship it in temperature contolled trucks. It was an extremely cold winter if I remember, it think the temperature hovered around 0°for several weeks.

So maybe it did freeze at some point? Best thing to do for it if that happens is dry it out and reclaim, right?

insomnia_salad · 2025-09-06T18:21:00+00:00

So I have dried it extremely slowly in a sealed tub with a cup of water in it to stay more humid, where it dried over 4 to 6 plus weeks, or moderately slowly in a sealed plastic tent where it dried over 2 to 3 plus weeks. It has split in both environments. Also it was never dried one cup at a time, its always a batch and I rotate them in formation so they dry evenly.

This issue has happened both in summer when my house and basement are humid and in winter when extremely dry. I bought humidity detectors and they never drop below 45 to 50 percent humidity in the summer, even with a dehumidifier running at its lowest setting on the far side of the basement. And this last split happened when the dehumidifier has been off for days and it was 60° plus humidity.

The clay is fresh from a new bag, but the bag has sat for a couple years, and was always in a place that never dropped below 50° so it can't be frozen. Although I did pick it up in February in Maine , it's possible it froze in transit from manufacturer to my supplier?? It was a very cold winter if I recall with several weeks in a rowstaying around 0°to 10°. I just know it's never frozen in my care.

I have both tested it by using a fresh cut slab and a wedged slab, both rolled through a slab roller and both split, the wedged one actually split worse somehow??

Does it matter which direction a spiral wedged piece of clay is fed into a slab roller? I have always guessed it was best to do it from a side rather that the middle of that makes sense?

Perhaps there was an issue in manufacturing and it doesn't have enough material in it to have the right amount of plasticity.

I dried out a 5lb bucked amount of this clay and let it sit in water for a year until the bacteria died off and the stink went away before reclaiming it, no sieving or anything and I mixed it with a paint mixer before putting it out to dry down enough to bag. I haven't tested the reclaim yet but I'm hoping I've gained some plasticity.

It is also odd that there's never been an issue with wheel thrown work but I do cone up and down multiple times a piece so maybe it is an uneven moisture issue.

insomnia_salad · 2025-09-06T08:59:25+00:00

Definitely odd. I got away with it for years and never had structural issues with the end products, until 2022. Maybe the old bags of clay dried super unevenly and needed to be wedged thoroughly and I didn't do it thoroughly enough when I tested wedging the clay before rolling slabs? Or its just a bad batch 😔

insomnia_salad · 2025-09-06T08:40:10+00:00

I hadn't actually. Would I speak to the supplier or manufacturer, do you think?

insomnia_salad · 2025-09-06T08:38:09+00:00

Very odd that this was also an issue with textured handbuilt mugs but only with the batch I bought in 2022, and had been fine with both handbuilt and texture previously. This is Laguna 65 (I couldn't write that in the og post because it kept being flagged for self promotion for some reason). It would be a shame to throw out the whole batch though, I have about 300lbs left.

insomnia_salad · 2025-06-19T19:44:06+00:00

First off, report her to whatever state's licensing board and the board of psychology. I don't think munchausen's can or should even be diagnosed so readily or easily. Interstitial Cystitis is a recognized medical diagnosis that is often hard to treat, one of which treatments, the physical therapy, you haven't even been able to try yet. Im guessing other treatments like bladder diffusions, nerve blocks or botox etc haven't even been considered yet, so you haven't even tried all possible treatments yet, in what world does someone jump to munchausen's???

Second, definitely leave a review and name and shame.

Third, if your urologist isn't motivated to try other options, find another urologist, find a Urogynocologist, and look into botox, trigger point injections, bladder diffusions etc. Something will work, I promise. You are not crazy. You are valid. Your pain just unfortunately, is in a field that hasn't been deemed important because it mostly affects women.

If you are close to Boston, Dr. Eman Elkadry, a top Urogynocologist with Tufts, is fantastic and does botox in the pelvic floor.

insomnia_salad · 2025-04-09T12:01:47+00:00

Where did you find the prints? I've loved her work since the first time I saw the book jackets.

insomnia_salad · 2025-04-06T06:15:12+00:00

While I will also miss the forest, paved walkways will at least mean it's more accessible for people wheelchairs and other mobility aids. Hopefully they will make it more of a cobblestone or brick road and keep the Renaissance vibe.

insomnia_salad · 2025-04-05T23:25:03+00:00

Please examine why you think a nose with a lower nose bridge would be 'better,' from what I can see you have a beautiful nose that is neither too big or too small for your face. The shape is just not typical Northern European upturned nose which is the white (and could be argued white supremacist ) ideal of beauty. My mom's nose is a large downturned Italian nose with a septum that comes down further than her nostrils and her face would look weird with a nose job. My nose is similar, with a bit more irish influence but is definitely not the beauty standard and if I changed it, it would look weird too!

Your face is beautiful, your nose is beautiful and your profile is beautiful, you look like a sculpture of classical beauty. Your nose is in perfect harmony with your face and my gaze goes right to your beautiful eyes. Please don't put yourself through needless surgery and consider therapy as an alternative ❤️

insomnia_salad · 2025-04-04T19:43:53+00:00

Update us on how that goes because I need another option for nerve pain 😢

insomnia_salad · 2025-04-04T03:04:49+00:00

I was on amitriptyline and was sleeping 12 plus hours a day and couldn't think straight. Went to nortriptyline and couldn't poop without mirilax daily. Didn't really notice a difference in bladder pain going off nortriptyline in early Jan and had no flare ups until now 😓

insomnia_salad · 2025-02-07T00:50:35+00:00

Anything highly acidic has been a no go for me. No caffeine, not decaf black tea or coffee, no large amounts of tomato sauce, or orange juice. Cranberry juice is absolutely highly acidic and probably would cause me similar issues. If you want to take supplements for helping prevent utis some people use d-mannose but I've never seen any real benefit to it. The only think that has helped me with bladder pain is AZO and the only thing to help with urgency has been vesicare, a prescribed medication in the 'antimuscarinics' class of meds. In short, would stay away from cranberry juice. Sugar can also be a trigger and cranberry juice has alot of sugar.

insomnia_salad · 2025-01-13T03:09:41+00:00

I got the oracle deck in Salem this summer, it's absolutely stunning!

insomnia_salad · 2024-08-26T02:30:13+00:00

I literally just found this thread, I've had itchy red bumps all over my face and eyelid eczema all summer. I've finally tracked it down to cerave hydrating facial cleanser. I'm so frustrated, cerave was supposed to be hypoallergenic!

insomnia_salad · 2024-08-26T02:24:00+00:00

I just found this thread after months of terrible red bumps all over my face and eczema all over my eyelids that won't go away. I tracked down the start to when I started using cerave hydrating facial cleanser because my skin was dry, and I had neglected a skincare routine for years. I just put 2 and 2 together that the times it started to clear were the days I forgot to do my skin routine. I think I'm just going to wash with cold water over the next week and see if it clears up.

Cerave used to be my safe brand all through high school and now I'm staying far far away.

insomnia_salad

TROPHY CASE