D3 – Fuels of propane and anxiety – Harold Williams "BagBowl" Cooney

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026. Studio Uncle Fish, Irmo, South Carolina.

Wake at 7am via alarm. Having to actually try not to throw out my back moving to turn off the alarm, lol, sigh. Morning!

Coffee. ’00 rap. Weed. Clean my van a bit.

Mid 70’s, maybe. Clear to blue skies. No breeze. Very calm.

Agreements

In a progressive future, there will be a link to the agreements document here.

Buddy, in reviewing the Agreements this morning, I got to thinking: it’s important to recognize that this “business” is a very specific idea.

This endeavor is a very deliberate choice to make with my life.

As a document, Agreements is important for the exact reason of creating moments of recognition and renewed respect. Making self-recognition a routine process is the goal.

It’s a team effort. Appreciate you being here with me, buddy. We’re gonna be wooks.

Studio Assessment

In a progressive future, there will be a link to a tour of the glass shop.

I don’t get to this place in my day until after 11 am. I’m happy to see me follow the steps prescribed by Agreements, but probably getting in here sooner would be better for survival in the real world.

This morning’s kiln split. All marbles. 5 marbles each to M1 and M2. 5 marles to Etsy. 4 marbles to eBay. That’s 19 marbles, if you’re counting and obviously we are. That’s $475. The quota is $500. So -$25 on the split.

M1 and M2 are starting to look like real things. Unfortunately, looking at them, my hopes for “the board” have fallen apart. It is inconvenient and unsafe to have multiple growing piles of glass trying to be displayed and organized on this board. I thought it would be good, but no. Shit needs to change.

Continuing to fall back against quota in week 2. My cellphone camera has been permanently fogged by parmesan cheese oil and snot, I think. I use a second phone to take pictures for listings, and it’s on its last days. But, I digress. Things are coming into focus, more every day. It’s going to be uncomfortable for a while because this new information is going to go show me how I’m inperfect before anything else. For example, quota. Shit is a nightmare.

eBay Charity Auctions

Learn about eBay Charity Auctions. Link to live eBay auctions.

Auctions are looking good this morning. Today’s auction price lets me know that it’s okay to focus on other aspects of my business. I don’t need to desperately try and find people to bid today. Which is nice. Good job, buddy. Thank you.

Auctions as of noon Eastern time. Things look very good. I am thankful. Houston Food Bank will close its last auctions at retail prices. This has been very rare. Facing Hunger Food Bank will begin its period of auctions at not $0.

I pack and ship one. Message a buyer about saving money by combining purchases. Done by 12:30 pm.

Etsy

The Zanfirico Harold Etsy page. You buy, I backpack.

I am able to pack and ship one order. Thankful. Six days previous, no sales. The way the Etsy app has it, this sale occurred on Monday. I’m not sure how that works, but whatever. The first sale of the week.

I push off the task of new photos and listing stuff to Etsy. I hope to finish all marbles from available segments today and list everything together tomorrow. But, yeah, I’ve had this plan before.

Moving on with my life, 12:50 pm.

Lampworking

In a progressive future, there will be a link to photograph history or plans or some shit.

Say something smart about the subject.

Getting propane with Uncle Fish. There is no need to be bored on propane runs. There’s jokes and anxiety to fulfill us.

Back at the shop, lunch was completed with watermelon style. I am ready to start making glass at 2:45 pm.

I continue to have issues with eBay shipping. It’s definitely going backward in my day, but I have a series of messages with a buyer about combining orders. It is not the first time this has been a problem. I spent maybe 30 minutes to attempt again to solve this problem when I should have been making glass.

I made it until 10:15 pm. when I put the last of the marbles from the available segments into the kiln. I am pretty much ready to pass out.

The materials I have been working through for months – with the last of these marbles – are basically done. Which is amazing to me.

I spent a long period in my professional life working towards a prep strategy I called “librarying.” Basically, it is an operational standard of being prepared in-depth for classic applications of Zanfirico. But all that is done for. A thing of the vocational past. The materials I’ve been working through are the last farts of a once bad ass cane library. But, yeah, buddy, those farts are just about blown away.

I am starting a new system that, for lack of a better word, I have been calling “trys.” It’s almost 0% managerial compared to any version of the word library. The new thing is all reactionary. Literally, “ahhh, well, let’s try this.”

I have three going. Trys, that is. Tomorrow will be the first time the concept owns the day.

Anyways. A life chapter out with a whimper today. Last of the various library materials.

Conclusion

I don’t know how close to the quota I come, but I sure do try. I’ve been stuck in this marble thing, and I’ll be glad to see myself move on.

Another blessed day. Working like a dog. Snacking like a king. Watermelon. Grocery store roasted chicken. Pico de gallo and parmesan. It was a great day making stuff. Thankful.

Harold Williams "BagBowl" Cooney