What's this?

Welcome, fair reader, to The Wedging Board: a place for two people from Boston - and an occasional guest - to discuss movies, the urban experience, arts, culture, daily consternations, and general musings.

To begin - a definition - courtesy of wordsmyth.net

Wedging - transitive verb of wedge

Definition 1. to split or force apart with a wedge (often fol. by open, apart, or the like).
Definition 2. to fix firmly in place with a wedge.
Definition 3. to force or thrust into a narrow space.

As one of the Bostonians responsible for this blog is also a potter, the title came from the use of a wedging board in the work of ceramics.

A more specialized definition, from Wise Geek
Wedging is a process which is used to prepare clay for working.

What's interesting - to this potter at least - is that clay is prepared differently depending on its use. When you work on the wheel, the clay is worked in a circular motion, similiar to kneading bread. This process works the moisture into the clay evenly, and also places the molecules in a circular pattern - perfect, for being worked on the wheel. In contrast, for tile work - where the piece needs to lie flat - the clay is prepared by slicing the clay, stacking it on itself, and stacking again. This way the molecules will lie on top of one another, rather than in a spiral pattern. This is more fitting for work that is intended to lie flat.

The other Bostonian responsible for this blog was pleased with the title because it sounded like the phrase, whose definition - also courtesy of wordsmyth.net is:

a board having the alphabet and the numbers 1 through 10 printed on it, and a smaller board on casters which supposedly moves beneath one's fingers by power of spirits to spell out messages.

Happy reading!