bike swarms and acid etching

life: nayan had a birthday party to go to this morning. was down at the nordic heritage museum - a great time for the mini people. all the boys were racing around the play area on their bikes. most of the boys at the party had a second younger sibling. in all cases, the young ones seem to hobble and roam, solo, while being swarmed by speedy, though not quite stable, cycles. this, in normally quite uptight seattle is quite an aberration. typically seattle parents can be found micro managing the tiniest minutia of their kids' lives. what a pleasure to see parents just cruising about, young boys in unconstrained play, and toddlers meandering happily exploring their environment - all in all, a low key low stress birthday affair.

after b-day fun, i've spent the last couple hours applying vast quantities of acid to the floors of our studio. this lithochrome stain is seriously toxic stuff. basically, i spray it on, brush it into the concrete (while wearing thick rubber boots, gloves, respirator, goggles, etc.) it bubbles and gurgles and makes all kinds of noise. i have absolutely no idea whether it is going to end up looking good. the sample i did months ago looked great, unfortunately the floor seems to be behaving quite differently now. my gosh the sun is out. first time since i can remember. must go now.