There used to be a time when I’d go for sabbaticals from the blog because I was depressed.  If you’ve ever been depressed, and it turns out more people than would like to admit so have been, you know what I mean. 

However, recently I just haven’t had the time to update on the multitude of things that are going on.  I also have trouble getting photos onto the blog because many of my card readers won’t read the 8GB card I use in my camera.  This is a hardware issue apparently wherein Dell apparently in 2007 thought it would be another ten years before we’d see SD cards larger than 2GB and designed all their integrated card readers accordingly. 

One of these days I’ll have a post with photos and/or information about all my current and recently completed projects: 

#1 the painting I finished months ago with butterflies, hair and nudity (shocking!). 

#2 the painting I finished three weeks ago that was a commissioned birthday present portrait for Sam (no butterflies or nudity of course – but there IS hair!).

#3 the sketches for a project I’m working on with/for a friend’s upcoming album cover.   I’m having to revisit octopuses again.  This seems to be a theme at this point.  Last fall I painted and drew this unlucky guy. My Cthulhu piece (which could be mistaken for some kind of octopus-like creature) will be at The Hive all next month.

#4 the redesign of my room to accommodate a real easel (which apparently takes four weeks to arrive when ordered online – although they processed the payment the same day I ordered!).  Doesn’t sound like a big deal – but it really is!  I had never reorganized the room in the over three years I’ve been living there.   It took about nine hours to scoot everything around, hang paintings and clean up, but the space “works” much better now for what I need to do (PAINT!).  Before I was sitting on the floor and leaning canvases awkwardly up against my desk.  It was also awkward climbing over my bed to open/close the window to control temperature and air flow (paint stinks, remember?).

#5 the short film I’m working on with a friend.  About six months ago I was introduced to a producer/writer through a mutual friend, but it became clear that our interests are quite different.  So I approached a friend I’ve actually known much longer about it (not sure why I didn’t before) and now a real script (in FinalDraft!) is actually being written.   My friend seems just as hyped, or perhaps more so, than I am – which is great.  Finding money to actually get it made… is not going to be as great – but I’ll worry about that when the script is polished.  The other friend is actually a good producer – and so I’m sure we’ll still be working together albeit not on the actual writing/conceptual end.

#6 upcoming collaboration with a certain FontGod in Seattle.  We did a little prep for this experiment last summer, but we’ve talked more recently about doing it “fo real, yo” – and as soon as he gets one last (big) freelance piece done we can dig in… 

#7 school – oh yeah…THAT…   People keep asking when I’m graduating and I say in December.  They all seem to think it is “coming up quick,” but to me it feels a million miles away.  Sam and I are trying to plan a little vacation to a national park on the break – but with all the major airlines pledging to hike their rates between independence and labor day, our plans might have to change.  We were arguing over whether to go to Mt. Rainier National or Glacier National – but now our destination might just end in “ornia” and be within driving distance.

Of course, I’m a little jittery planning any travel at all (i.e. spending in dollar amounts larger than two digits at a time) after the financiapocalypse that happened last year.  I still haven’t recovered the several thousand that I’m owed by some folks that took advantage of my kindness, but more freelance has been coming my way the last two months, and both of my rooms are no longer vacant, so I’m solvent now and maybe even able to start repairing the damages to my emergency savings.