I guess it’s been a couple of days so I should probably make a post. I’m still alive, FYI.

Yesterday I had the boneheaded idea to try a shot of cinnamon whiskey in Vanilla Coke Zero because, well, it just seemed like a good idea at the time…and today my pancreas hates my guts. I didn’t even finish the drink, I had maybe about 1/3 of it! But I am huuuuuurting today. I took pancreatic enzymes but they don’t seem to be helping. I don’t think they work after the fact, I think you have to take them while you’re actually ingesting the triggering food/substance, but I figured I’d try it anyway.

Yesterday I uploaded about 50 photos to the Black’s website and ordered 128 prints. It took me over 3 hours because their site is such a fucking piece of pure and utter counter intuitive, buggy shit so I e-mailed corporate and told them so. I don’t expect to hear back. I also told them that the only reason I was even using them was because free prints came with my camera and that their new dry inkjet process is balls and that I’d be using Japan Camera henceforth because they still use wet labs. *nods*

Ugh. Juxtapoz is on Twitter telling me about how in 1949, Life magazine documented Pablo Picasso “painting” with light. I mention this because A) no shit, Sherlock and B) this is AT LEAST the 4th or 5th time in the last 2 years they’ve tweeted the exact same thing. Juxtapoz is 99% crap, 99% of the time (both the magazine and their Twitter feed) so I don’t even know why I follow them. I stopped buying the magazine a long time ago, the last issue I bought solely because Mark Ryden did the cover and I’m poor so I’d frame that shit, because I am so sick of graffiti and comic book artists (usually white, usually male) being the be all that ends all. The only artists in that magazine I ever really found interesting were the ones who bought ads in the magazine and I got sick of buying a magazine just to sift through ads and surf websites. I have Google for that.

Anyway, rant over. Juxtapoz sucks.

This afternoon I have a work meeting (yay) and I have to go see my shrink in Midland. Theoretically I should drive to my shrink’s office but I’m going to let Blake do that because I have to leave my work meeting early just to get there in time and I don’t want the pressure of having to potentially go over the speed limit to achieve that. I think the most horrible thing that could happen to me at this point in my immersion therapy, besides having an accident, is getting pulled over, which has never happened to me before. I’m pretty sure I would lose my shit and never drive again. So. Blake’s driving. I’ll work the iPod.

I have to remember to take my shrink back her painting from Touched By Fire and I think I’m going to return the lightbox I borrowed because I keep forgetting to use it and someone else might be waiting for one. The increase in Wellbutrin has kept me pretty in check so I don’t really think I’ve needed it anyway. Plus we’ve had more sun so far this year than I think we usually do.

Wednesday morning, the guy who owns The Conservatory tweeted @ me and asked me to e-mail him. He said he “loved” my 3 pieces, that they were “super sweet” and “refreshing” and he wanted to discuss pricing. So I e-mailed him and we worked out pricing and now my work is being sold in a store!

Encouraged, I pretty much immediately started working on a new painting which is still in the early stages but I’m making it with a brick and mortar store in mind. I made a snow princess a few years ago and sold it to a friend almost immediately who insisted on calling her a snow fairy, even though she didn’t have wings, which, in hindsight, was probably a better idea than a princess anyway. But whatever, she was happy with it and it’s hers so she can call it whatever she wants. However, I decided that my first painting of the new year, since it’ll take me that long to finish it, is going to be a snow fairy of pretty much the same design, just altered a bit and of course she’ll actually have wings.  She’s also going to be bigger at 11 x 14 inches, whereas the original snow princess was 12 x 12.

Through following links, I discovered that there’s an artists’ group in our town and I e-mailed the guy who runs it asking what it was all about and how to become a member and we’ve been exchanging e-mails back and forth. They have meetings once a month and there’s even a studio tour in the fall, as well as some other events and I’m pretty sure it would be good for me to be a part of this. I don’t really care about sales since art isn’t my main source of income, but honestly, I just kinda want “art friends” since I’ve never really had any before. I mean, something that would get me out of the house and into the community once a month or maybe even more than that couldn’t possibly be a bad thing.

The only thing I’m struggling with is how to fit everything in. I can’t do my job, paint AND go to school to get my photography certificate all at the same time. And learn how to drive. And take pictures for the assignments for my photography classes. I just don’t have that kind of energy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying, by any means, that I’m giving up on photography, I just don’t know how I’m going to explore that area yet. I’m not sure if school is really all that feasible or if it was even really all that feasible in the first place. I think I’m definitely going to take some classes at the college, but I’m not sure I’m going to actively work toward the certificate in any specific timeframe like I was planning on before. Originally I figured I’d have like, 3 years  if I started in the fall, to get it done because we’re theoretically moving in 4 before Wes starts high school and after Madison finishes. Blake says moving is relative though and not set in stone and it all depends on a million other things so I’m not supposed to plan my life around it. Also it’s theoretical that if we did move somewhere else that there would be a college around that would have a similar program and I could finish there if I wanted to. It’s all technically possible. So I dunno. I just feel like I have to decide right now, which I know is completely unrealistic but I don’t function well without a plan and right now I don’t have one. Or at least the one I have is pretty loose and I need tight, compact plans or I feel out of control. I need to start making lists.

I just don’t see where this photography thing could go. I thought I wanted to do what Thea does and do family portraits, mostly outdoors, but I don’t have the first clue as to how to run a business like that and I don’t know how you would even learn. I’m also still really interested in HDR and you don’t need school for that.

Anyway, lots to think about. Lots to do. Better get busy.