I leave for vacation on Tuesday and I'm finally starting to get a bit excited about going back to Milwaukee and seeing my beading and writing friends once more. I'm reviewing what I want to pack, and it is an indication of how sick I am (LOL) that the first things I am deciding is whether to bring colored pencils or only my graphite ones on the trip, and how I hope I can access WiFi in a variety of locations while out there so that I can continue to write and download my next two class assignments while I'm out there. There should be a business area somewhere that I can print my class assignments out from...right? LOL. OK, I know I'm sick, but it's really a good sick. And I have story deadlines that I have to meet....

( music by nature and cute boys follow the cut )

One of the articles that I referenced in a second post yesterday mentioned several things that allow an author to clear their mental space and allow themes, characters, and other things such as story lines to enter into the brain. Silence was golden to this blogger, and although I can't disagree on principle, I can disagree in my own personal life. More often than not I prefer some noise around me. I get a bit antsy just listening to Mother Nature, although I admit it can be soothing. But when I'm writing I don't want soothing, I want edgy to keep me moving along. Soothing would just send me to sleep over my keyboard, and I've done that. It wasn't fun and I accomplished nothing by doing it.



No, I want noise, whether it be the TV or music. I am starting to get more into music again lately, after several years of pushing it behind me. I suppose because my little Apple Nano is so easy to use, but also because I have f-list friends who are far more savvy about music than I and who keep putting up links to videos by their current favorites. So my repertoire of music has been shifting to include more popular tunes such as "Florence and the Machine" and "Apocalyptica" instead of concentrating on JS Bach, Beethoven and Mahler. This can't be a bad thing, because I love music and for many years was going to make my career in it. So keep those recommendations coming f-list friends. I'm picking up a lot of great tunes and it's making my writing come easier, which is allowing me to write better, etc. All good!

I have so much to do today. I did get two items finished yesterday, one of the last two B2ME stories and my poem for LOTR Community which will be revealed on the 16th. I have one last B2ME story to write, a drabble for the week, and I MUST edit some things for Iris (I have a large note on my desk so that I don't forget).

( what ever happened to relaxation for days off? )

So my DH's surgery went well yesterday, and I thank each and every one of you who reached out to me via post responses and Emails. Your positive thoughts and prayers were gratefully appreciated. I actually will get today as my day off, and I'm very grateful because my head is deep in fiction and I also have an art project due tomorrow which I have barely started. (Speaking of which, I should probably ask for a 24-hour extension because I will actually need that.)

( Read more... )

Yesterday at this time they were forecasting snow - 6"-12" of the white stuff to hit us. But we got rain and sleet all night instead. It has just now (4:30 am) changed over to snow which we're supposed to have for most of the day. So over an icy and slushy mess, we'll get snow. It's going to be a very icy day and treacherous driving. I'll get my errands done as soon as possible and then settle down at my computer. I started printing my overheads at the shop yesterday and was having variable success, so I will be continuing working on that today because I have to get this nailed. If this doesn't work, I'll print detailed hi-def photo prints and then copy them onto overheads at the copy shop tomorrow am. One thing is for sure, I'm going through a lot of ink. But the overheads I've done are beautiful. Things are falling into place - none too soon :-)

( Yes, I'm drawing...but you can't see it. Why? Read on... )

Today WILL be spent in front of my computer working on my presentation - if they are going to pay me (and they are) then the least I can do is make sure that they are getting their money's worth. So I'll work on that today. It is coalescing in my mind, so I think I can pull it together, it's just getting the graphics organized. I'll set the scanner up and work on some of that too. Hopefully I'll also get a phone call from my friend in California late this afternoon. It's always a joy to hear from her, but last week we had to cancel because of my crazy work schedule.


( Read more... )

Breakfast was a success, and I got the bags for the shop. I then dropped by my local art store and bought the colored pencils and pens I wanted (decided on the 24 pencil set instead of the 12 pencil set, so I was a bad girl), and actually only indulged in four metallic pencils that caught my eye. Gemerally speaking, although I spent almost an hour looking at everything and indulged in the larger pack of pencils, I was good.

( Why was I good? Maybe because my money will be going to....below the cut )

So I'm busy drawing again and it's so much fun. I had forgotten how much fun I can have with pencils in my hand. I committed to providing at least one illustration for a friend's story and I'm working on that. I sent her a scan of a preliminary sketch yesterday and she was fine with the concept, so I'm good to go. I'm ready to dive into the real thing beginning this morning and I'll bring my travel easel home from the shop with me for Sunday and maybe get some more work done on it tomorrow too. I wish I was a bit more practiced, it would take less time. But I was getting the look I wanted in the preliminary so now I get to go crazy. I want to watercolor one copy and have a pencil copy also, so I'll actually do two versions.


( Read more... )

Once again I am missing Tucson. Why, you may ask, do I care about Tucson and what brings me to state this in my daily blog? Well, right now Tucson is the heart of the gem and bead-buying nation with the Tucson Gem Show going on now and most of the bead shows scheduled for this coming weekend. Fortunately I still have gemstone material from my last major trip that I can work with in my own work, but it was always a nice break from winter, to head down to the (relative) warmth of Arizona, look at amazing rock, gems and beads, and catch up with friends.

( Read more... )

 So, one of the websites that I use regularly to post my fanfiction has been sold. 

( Rants behind the cut... )

I am completely through with my main Big Bang illustration.  I showed it to several friends yesterday because I had it at the shop.  People seem to really like it.  I'll get that photographed within the next week, and as soon as the administrators have responded to my query about how to submit it, I'll get that sent off.  I am still working on pencil work for the chapter heads, but those are a bonus, not a requirement. 

Have a good last day of June.  We'll be under a Heat Advisory today with temps expected to be around 100 F (almost 38 C for my Celsius friends).  I don't have air conditioning at my house, so we'll have the fan on tonight.  It will be one day when I go to work happily because I do have air conditioning there, so I'll be comfortable for the day.  

 Thank goodness for a great computer guru.  My guru phoned me at 6:30 am and I had the CPU to him by shortly after 7 am.  He worked on it until a little after 8 am, replacing the graphics card with a much better one, and I had the CPU back home and hooked up by 9 am.  I was even at the shop on time.  Call me happy. 

( More below the cut... )

This weekend is the American Craft Council show in downtown Saint Paul.  It's an event that I always attend, I have been going to it for more than 10 years.  I have no money to spend, but I love looking at the pretty things and watching whatever demonstrations they may have going on.  There are often a few customers of mine who exibit there, and some friends as well, so it's a pleasant few hours of wandering looking at beauty and dreaming of possibilities. 



And I'm so nose-deep in Swordspoint.  I'm looking forward to when I leave for work today, because I'll either grab breakfast or coffee with oatmeal at Caribou and read for an hour.  Just call me happy (at least for the time being).  Oh, and artist signups for the Tolkien Big Bang event are early next week, so I'll be sure to sign up for that also.  It will at least get me back to my sketchbook.  Have a creative weekend.