What In The World IS A Blog?

I admit...I'm a technological Neanderthal...I don't blog (except here), I don't "face-space", I don't "tweeter-twit", I don't "my-pagey-page"...so, I'm an absolute neophyte when it comes to communicating in the modern age.  I don't miss it.  I don't know if there's something I'm missing...'cuz I don't do it.  I don't own a cell phone...if I can't (or won't) talk to someone while I'm home, I don't want to talk to them at all.  I am not now, nor will I ever be, a slave to "communicating" with others.  I could, perhaps, understand the need (though ever so slightly) if I were working or had kids I needed to keep in touch with...but I'm not and I don't...so where's the need to have myself on standby 24/7 for any idiot that gets or has my number?  The recent commercials by HULU (sp?) are brilliant!  "You're brain is turning to mush, and we're going to take advantage of it...!!!"
Anyway...total non-segue:
I love, love, love mokume gane.  For those of you who don't know it, or have never done it, please go to glassattic.com and read all you can.  There are so many, many different variations...and most are totally gorgeous.  One of my favorties is this:
--translucent clay
 --enough to get your job done...you decide
 --I absolutely recommend Premo! Frost - it cures the clearest of all I've ever used or seen
-metal leaf - any color you want
-alcohol inks - any color you want

condition your translucent, but not too much.  You'll know, because it will get really mushy.  If you're using Kato or another more firm clay, run it through about ten times to condition;  Run the clay through the pasta machine as thin as you can get it.  I would suggest you stop at about # 7...you'll get thinner after you've done everything else.
So, cut pieces about 7" x 7", and line them up.  Take your alcohol inks and drop about three drops on each individual sheet.  LET THE INK DRY...I can't stress this enough.  It will take about 30 minutes for the ink to completely dry.  If you don't let it dry, it wil get caught up in your rollers, and then you're going to have to spend  time completely cleaning the pasta machine...not worth the time.  Once the ink is completely dry, blend the translucent-tinted clay completely.  Then set it all aside and let it cool for about 20 minutes.
Run each colored sheet through the pasta machine until it's as thin as you can get it.  continue running through the pasta machine to the thinnest setting you can achieve.  If the clay starts crumbling, rippling, or sticking to the rollers, set it aside and let it rest for about twenty minutes on a cool surface, then run through on the next lower setting.  You may have to do this a few times as you ramp down on the settings, but it's worth it.
Once you get to the lowest setting, you'll need to manually stretch the clay a bit.  By this, I mean exactly what I say.  Stretch it a bit horizontally, then stretch it a bit vertically.  All you're doing is thinning it out just a bit more.  I lay the sheet of clay over my leg so my body keeps it a bit warm.
Cut each colored sheet to about  5" x 5".  Lay a sheet of metal leaf on top of each sheet.  Lay the sheets on top of each other...raw clay on metal foil...then cut the stack in half and place bottom on top, then cut again and place bottom on top.  Once you have a "loaf", you can slice off thin, thin pieces of it, or you can punch holes in it, or you can do anything you want.  Please, PLEASE go to glassattic.com to get more instructions...I can't do it  completely here.  
Hope you're thrilled with the results.  If I've been totally murky on the details, plese write me...
Cheers!
Julie