I am going to eventually make this a pictorially accurate map of my master's brain, but with all of the gophers to hunt and sleeping to do, I haven't been able to find the time...
Woodworking
Zarka has very big tools, like this 1944 30-inch Orton thickness planer, and two large old lathes. He also brings lots of wood home. His business is called TreeCycler. He cuts up logs and trunks of dead urban trees and makes bowls, furniture and musical instruments. Being an ecologically responsible woodworker is not always easy, but it's not as hard as it seems.
Very fun games and a very cool group of people. Icehouse, Zendo, and many more!
Making Xyloid Icehouse pieces!
In addition to being a responsible woodworker, Master Zarka plants trees. He takes me and Dioji camping and we play in the dirt while the humans put trees in the ground. It's fun, especially when everyone cooks dinner. I sit under the picnic table and eat whatever falls off when they're cooking and eating. DeeOhGee gets right up on the table if you don't watch him. He's a bad boy.
Cooking
What's that you say? Cooking isn't a creative activity? You just follow the recipe? Well, the way Zarka cooks, it is! We don't mind, though, 'cause whatever he doesn't want to eat, he gives to me! Of course Deeogee (rude boy that he is) will eat it all if you let him. Here are some of the recipes that Zarka usually doesn't let us eat. If you like barbecue, grilling, cooking over coals with a dutch oven, or camping, there is a cornucopia of information about cooking outdoors at the Kitchen Link!
Fresh vegetables are good to use. We have an abundance of pumpkin. The bees do genetic experiments with all the different varieties of squash.
Barbershop
Zarka sings a lot, usually with three other guys. It's nice except when he turns up the stereo all the way and plays the same song over and over and over to pick out the different parts. He's a member of SPEBSQSA and sings with the Masters of Harmony.
If you want more information about vocal harmony or a cappella recordings, CASA has a fine list of links to a cappella sites on the web. The World A Cappella Association (WAA) has more links, and is spearheading the effort to make a cappella singing a Grammy category once again, so please go there and fill out an electronic postcard to the Grammy folks!
My Master's Left Brain
Zarka likes to call himself a rocket scientist. I think he might be telling the truth, but I can't vouch for him one way or the other. He does seem pretty smart.
Word fun, Fractured Fairy Tales
My master is a goofy guy. He tells funny stories in Anguish Languish
Including Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, Guilty Looks Enter Tree Beers and more!
Palindromes and Spoonerisms are fun to write too. Here are links to Zarka's originals, spoonerisms, alliteration, and other word fun!
Math
If you like polyhedrons and other wacky shapes, you'll love the pavilion of polyhedreality.
Science Fiction
Zarka fancies himself a science fiction writer. He's struggling to complete several projects right now, but he's obsessed with the wood. I suspect he regards words as mere playthings while wood, being more substantial, gives art a feeling of permanence, but what do I know? I'm just a dog. I still believe that ideas have power. Zarka's got several partly complete stories. He needs to get on the stick. One interesting site he raves about has lots of links to 3-D star map pages. Star maps can be useful if you're trying to write realistic SF and want to visualize distances and such. Now if you just want astronomical information, you can get all kinds of great things from the ADC, NSSDC, and Sky Magazine's online catalog. If you want to find out what's up tonight, look here.
