watched the lunar eclipse last night on the balcony with jaime and some of his friends. the moon looked like it was slowly being infected by a dark red shadow. the ancient chinese thought it was a dragon swallowing the moon. i like to think of it that way. it sounds a bit more fanciful.

this afternoon, i also dropped by jaime's studio at school to watch him smelt bronze for his latest scultpure. it was fascinating. the amount of energy and heat that is required to melt down metal is astounding: they have to attain temperatures of up to 1000 degrees celcius. by the end, the furnace was spewing bright green flames and its contents glowed white-hot, as if you were staring into the heart of a star. when they poured the liquid metal, sparks and bursts of light and color exploded upon contact, like a blinding miniature fireworks display. smelting...why did i never get to do this at school?