So Long Fair Well

This will be the last post on this blog. I will continue to blog, but I have moved to wordpress. It has more functionality than blogger and allows me to create multiple pages and better fits my needs.

To pick up where I left off, please go here.

To read the latest entry, go here.

Hump Day Round Up

As it has been slow at work and I am still a newbie, I have had the opportunity to do some internet adventuring

Here are a few of the fun/entertaining/delicious things I have found:

Courtesy of the Fontfeed , check out these amazing end credits

"With out a doubt one of the most beautiful title sequences ever, the intricate and sophis­ticated piece is a perfect marriage of art direction and design, motion graphics, music and typography."

This is my new favorite blog and I can't wait to try the chicken salad recipe, even though I have previously claimed to dislike said salad. 

And check out the purlbeehive for a great selection of creative blogs. It kept me busy for a few hours this week. 

For the designers out there, check out this blog. Full of tips and free vector graphics.

I will be trying this recipe out tomorrow night. Great for the summer weather that we are enjoying in Denver.

If you are feeling crafty this week check this DIY site or The Big Ass Book of Crafts, a book I picked up from the library this week.

What internet adventures have you been on lately?

Missing the Time

I am beginning my 2nd week of life on the job. It has been great to be working again, but I am missing the freedom of non-working life. The hardest part right now is that work is a bit slow and therefore there are not that many projects for me-as a newbie- to work on. I spend my days daydreaming about my old day to day schedule.

up by 8

breakfast and email

off to the gym

errands

home for late morning snack

home tasks-laundry, dishes etc

up in the studio

(gilmore girls)

dinner prep

My art has been selling well. In fact that last piece I dropped off sold in 8 days. This is great, except that I am preparing for my August show and therefore don't want to take any of the new pieces into the shop. The only answer is to create more work faster.

So I am feeling a bit overwhelming with all the things I must get done between the hours of 5:30pm and 8:30am. A time when I just want to relax after being at work all day. And make dinner and find time for the gym and now prepare for mom's arrival.

And it's summer so all I want to do is picnic in the park.

I have two 16x24 pieces started-the biggest so far- and I am feeling my usual artist's block and don't know how to continue. I must remember the mantra "whatever I make will sell." This may be a bit extreme, but seams to be surprisingly true. After 6 months one of the 3 frames I made finally sold-just when I was getting ready to pull them from the store. 

The scanner is coming with my mom this week so I will be able to scan my latest pieces and turn them into cards and prints and send those off to the printer. Maybe I will be able to get those into the shop before my show at least. 

Thanks to my blog searching today, I found this movie that looks great.

Settling In

The days of no work are winding down to an end. I did become more productive with a deadline for starting work. I finished my fourth piece of art last night. It is the third in a small series. I found that creating similar but different pieces of artwork is easy for the first two, but by the third one it becomes more of challenge. I wanted to do something different but not totally different that it didn't match the previous two. And of course there are no rules so I can do what I want. Once I realized this it made completing the third piece easier. It does not match exactly, but the size, background and flowers make the pieces go well enough together that someone may want to buy all three-which is what I was hoping for. But they still work well alone. 

I had used wax on the previous two pieces but for some reason I had more trouble with it this time around. I am looking forward to my mom coming to town at the end of the month because she will be bringing a hot plate to melt wax in. This means I won't have to travel down to the kitchen with my supplies anymore, I can just plug in and turn on and wax right in my studio. As a final touch I put one coat of varnish on the pieces to help protect the wax and brighten the pieces up a bit.

I am also excited to say that the 2nd bedroom/artroom/studio/guest bedroom is almost all set up. Last weekend the boyfriend and I went furniture shopping. We ended up with a new dining room table for downstairs and a shelf and click clack fold down couch for the 2nd bedroom. The room is definitely full but still maneuverable. Now there is a couch for sitting (or entertaining clients as the boyfriend suggested) and a bed for sleeping when guests come to visit. Plus, I was able to put all my books on a shelf and find a home for the knick knack items. I had hoped to put the photo albums on the shelf as well, but I must have 1000's of photos from my entire left and this would have taken up half the shelf. So the photos found a home on the shelf in the closet. Now I just need to get some stuff up on the walls, that for me is the hardest part to decide. I don't know what I'm going to do when I own a house and get to decorate it for real, I will never be able to decide on a paint color for the walls!

  

My final full week before starting work is drawing to and end. I have next week off as well but am leaving for Moab on Wednesday afternoon through the weekend. I have not been as productive as I had hoped. Those darn Gilmore Girls, so distracting. Plus I have been running errands for the bf's birthday present. I did start the mother's day present and prep 2 canvases and do some shopping...

I thought I would post what I'm hoping are some better pictures, although I don't have much faith in that. Some of these projects where just photo sketches last post and now are complete.

11x14, love this size, my biggest piece so far

I had almost forgotten about my monthly journal calendar when I started thinking about my new art journal. I quickly pulled open drawers and easily found the calendar. 

I would also like to add a final note about how annoying blogger is and that is why this post looks so jacked up. It kept adding it's own preferences that I could not change.

I am an Illustrator

I have been away for awhile. This was a combination of a trip to NY and not having the internet for most of the month. 

 

The most important thing for me to post is that I GOT A JOB. It is a temporary design position to feel a maternity leave with the potential of becoming a full time job. I begin in 2 weeks. I am really excited to be starting a creative job and feel great about the praise I was given at the job interview. Finally my talent is being noticed. 

Originally, I was told the job would start around Memorial Day. I thought that if I were to get the job, I would still have the whole month of May off. I am having to adjust that to just 2 weeks now, right when I have gotten used to being unemployed and back into a schedule after moving, NY and being sick. 

This means that I have to finish pulling dead twigs and clearing our little garden space so that I can plant my flower seeds. I picked up a pair of gardening gloves and started the project early last week. I need to pick up some sort of gardening tool to help finish the job and maybe some good new dirt as well.

 

In August, I will be having my first show and had planned on starting art for it this whole time I've been unemployed. It wasn't until this week (with the job offer) that I have finally sat down to do some work. I was so very proud of myself for finishing 3 pieces in 3 days. I had realized my problem in starting was that I have too many ideas. My head swims with them and I am unable to focus on just one idea and go with it. The ideas are always morphing into something else. 

Below are some terrible photos of the work I've completed. I have been working with wax and absolutely love it. For one, it is a great alternative to the gel medium I had been using to seal my artwork. And I love the milky, cloudy look (because I accidently bought white and not clear beeswax, which has worked out quite okay.) I have been pulling my black notebook doodles into my art and using my illustration. And that is a word I still am shocked to use. I have an easier time admitting to being an artist than an illustrator.

My new creative space, featuring my new-to-me desk (the wood one)

This was my first "big piece" an 11x14, which in my canvas collection is about a medium size. Next challenge is the 16x24's

This is pretty much the finished piece

This was a photo stetch for another piece, probably the 16x24 I will start next.

With the strawberries on sale and the desire to make a pie, I made strawberry pie last weekend. I spend my Saturday night in the kitchen with my rolling pin and oven. A taste before being baked left me a little worried. However, I was pleasely surprised with my delicious pie. It was not my baking skills that I doubted, I believe I am a great baker and after all, how many 25 year olds do you know that bake pies from scratch? But I am not a recipe follower, I am a recipe modifier. I reduced the sugar and substituted half wheat flour for the white flour. And the boyfriend still thought it was too sweet. 

The Beast of the Internet

Not having the internet can be a pain on more than one level. 

First, by the time I get over to my empty old apartment to use the internet, I have forgotten most of what I wanted to look up. I check the required e-mail and stare blankly at the screen afterwards. I did make a list one day which helped, but realized I didn't have some of the necessary information to complete my tasks. 

Secondly, I am completely behind on my blog posting. I was doing so well and now I am doing worse than when I started when I was at least posting once a week. 

Thirdly, there are so many blog posts that I have been unable to read. When our internet gets turned on Wednesday, I will be glued to the computer updating myself on 16+ blogs. 

For those of you who follow my blog religiously, you will be wondering what happend to that first purse that I started to sew. I posted the fabric and that was all. This is because it was a gift for my BFF. I had decided to make it for her so that I 1) had a deadline (my trip to NYC) and 2) had a purpose. I was fabulously proud of the finished product! And the BFF loved it, of course.

Things Are Looking Up

I am almost 100% moved into the new place. There are still a few strangler items left at the old place. One of those items is the internet. We have not hooked up the internet in our new apartment, so everyday I make the 1.5 mile trek to the old place with the laptop and plug in. This means that I am greatly behind in my blog watching, as well as my own blog posting. I am off to NY tomorrow so I thought I should make one post before my week long trip. 

In between moving and packing and unpacking, I managed to sew a new bag for myself. I really wanted to have the perfect tourist bag for my NY trip. Not too big, but big enough to hold my camera, notebook, water with a little extra room for whatever. I found a pattern  for a taxi tote in the book Seams to Me, and modified it a bit. I used the fabric I ordered from Etsy, which coincidentally was designed by the author of the book.

The pattern was a good place to start, but overall I felt the directions were a little hard to follow and the drawings weren't much help. It was a good thing that I don't like to follow directions anyway and was modifying the purse to begin with.

The hardest part about this project was deciding on the fabric. With 8 different patterns to choose from I spent several hours pushing fabric around until I found what I liked. Also, I was working from a selection of fat quarters which meant I was going to have to piece some fabric together. The pattern called for 3/4 of a yard for the outside and the lining. I just finished the purse this morning,  but I didn't work on it at all yesterday and technically it was done on Monday. I was happy with the stitching on the bias tape, so I took it all out and re-sewed it this morning. So it really isn't that long of a project. 

I had a busy Friday last week: An informational interview in the morning with a design firm, a real job interview with a company for a temporary maternity leave design position, and I was selling my cards at First Friday. Both interviews went well and it was especially nice to have the informational interview before the real deal. I was encouraged and reassured that I am a talented designer and not falling behind as a result of not doing creative design work for the past year and a half. I am waiting to hear back about the real interview. I would be called in for a second time if they liked me. 

First Friday went well, nothing spectacular, but it was exposure. I sold $23 worth of cards in a few hours and lots of people took my business cards. I am hoping this might lead to an etsy sale.

 

I also have an interview again today for a part time position. Things are starting to look up. I love love love my new apartment. It really feels like home. I am heading off for a vacation to NY to see my best friend. And my "business" is starting to grow a tiny bit again. I am off to Rejuvanest to drop off more cards and a piece of artwork. I must start concentrating on my show in August at the shop as well. My very own show!!

How I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways

I was roaming though Borders Bookstore recently and stumbled upon Paperchase. I had forgotten that Borders carried this London based company's line of merchandize. Out of all the places I visited in London, this was by far one of my favorites. The day I stumbled upon this store I wanted to drop my entire bank account on cards and notebooks and papers. Of course the value of the dollar at the time would have left me with barely one shopping bag worth of purchases. Also, the fact that I was currently jobless prevented me from making most of the desired purchases. I did  splurge for a new umbrella when I realized I had forgotten my umbrella in my mom's car on the way to the airport. And I made promises of future purchases once I was gainfully employed. 

I bought my portfolio book at London's Paperchase for 7 pounds and was shocked to see a year and a half later it was selling for $24 here in the US. I also bought a large 11x17 kraft paper book for my "big book of prolific" for a reasonable price while abroad. If only I was still abroad and I could shop at their UK only amazon store, or visit their masthead store on Tottenham Court Road.

I am all caught up on my blogs again, which is now a list of 16. Today I added to my list (sewing books and art blogs) of addicting things. Cooking blogs. What makes this one so great is the pictures. I just want to head right into the kitchen and start cooking up a storm. On the list are these, these and these. Viewing this blog is a bit of a tease with my calorie counting, which I am starting to get tire. I kinda went of the wagon this weekend, wanting to enjoy a concert with friends, a 2 am breakfast, a 10 am breakfast, my homemade mac and cheese and more pasta at the ski condo. It is very difficult to count calories AND enjoy your life. My upcoming trip to New York will require a hiatus on my counting as well. Then only a few short days to April 20 and I will be done and supposedly at my goal. 

Doodles In My Blackbook

After last week's entry about creating an art journal, here is the result. I picked out the School of Visual Arts catalog as my journal. The one I had kept for 2 years to specifically be an art journal. I love the binding on it: perfect binding with thick book board covers. 

Every Tuesday, Amanobooks blog, one of the many blogs I discovered last week, posts a journaling tip. After viewing Amanobooks blog, I took their advice about the first page and created an intention page. It worked as a good place to start. As I created the page I thought, "This is easy, I could do this everyday." Of course, I haven't created a page since this one last week. 

 

Since my last post, I had my second Temp job. I spent a Friday and a Monday answering phones for a wonderful company. I read 3/4 of my book and created several doodles in my blackbook. I also made my first Etsy purchase- all on the job. I had forgotten that even though I hadn't been creating art to sell or even an "art journal," I am often jotting down ideas and doodles in my blackbook. 

I had good news from the shop my art is at. My February sales doubled from January and a few more canvases sold this past weekend. This is further motivation that I need to be creating again. Also, I am on schedule for 3rd Thursday in August. After settling from the move and back from New York, I must make art my job. 

I have begun looking into online printers to print large quantities of my greeting cards. Some of the websites that have good deals:

uprinting.com- 250 cards for $90 or 500 for $93 with more size options

printplace.com 250 cards for $94 or 500 for $107

nextdayflyers.com- this site has smaller quantities available while most sites start at 250

I also have a friend doing some research at her shop for me.  There are great deals for 250 cards, but really do I want 250 cards at this point? With my budget that really means I can only get 2-3 designs.

What Are You Waiting For?

I'm going through the blogs I collected yesterday and I found a really amazing website to show case your own work. This site would be great for a graphic design portfolio or a place to show art journals. I particularly like how this artist has used mundane magazine images and collaborated them into the journal to create an amazing piece. 

Looking through all of these journaling blogs is making me feel guilty for not starting a new one for myself. I have plenty of books to choose from in my art drawers. And really to say the art room is "shut down" because of packing is truly an excuse. 

It is snowing here today-finally-and combined with the unemployment blues, I am feeling lazy and happy to close myself in doors. Although ideas of ice cream, hot chocolate and movies are filling my head, I should reprogram myself to art journaling. Or even planning my NY trip. I dreamed I was there and had not planned a single thing. I'm thinking a no to my noon yoga and a yes to picking out a journal and doing one page. 

Unemployment Blues

Last week I posted about starting a new art journal. I did not start a new journal, but I did remember that I had started an art journal calendar. I am using a calendar from last year and creating one journal page per month. Above is March's entry. Not wanting my mini Rex Ray inspired collages to go to waste, I used them for this journal page. 

The unemployment blues are definitely starting to settle in. The $2 bowling was great yesterday but after bowling and appetizers and beer, I spent my weekly "allowance." I have spent today at home doing some moving prep. Only one week left until we get the keys to our new place. I am excited to be movED and a little excited to actually move. It will give me something to do and setting  up a new place is always fun. I must resist the urge to buy more house things though. This always seems to be the case when one moves. New spaces and closets require new organizers and the desire to pretty everything up. I guess that is where my sewing craze comes in. I am always hesitant to sew for apartments though because I know I will be moving again and what will I do with the custom curtains?

In an effort to get ready to move, I went through my stack of library books. The last thing I want is to misplace a book and incur a late fee. I copied the recipes tagged in the cookbooks and googled the artists tagged in a journaling book. I now have 5 more blogs to follow and more inspiration. Of course the inspiration doesn't seem to be the problem. It is the motivation. And I know that time is not the issue now. I have unofficially put art on hold with the packing. I collected the random items in my art room and placed what was left in a large tote and shoved other items into the drawers. I feel too disjointed to properly sit down and create since so much is out of place and cluttered in the drawers. I will enjoy setting up my new space and hopefully find rejuvenation in the process.

I do have an idea for the starting of a new background. I got brave and pulled out a precious 8x8x2 canvas and started placing strips of dictionary pages on top. I have yet to pull it out of the protective plastic wrap, not sure I want to commit just yet. There are 2 and I feel this would be a good chance to make two pieces that go together. 

Working Girl

I had my first Temp assignment yesterday. It was data entry and of course boring. I had thought of bringing my ipod, but wasn't sure since it was the first day. The night before there was talk of a rain/snow mix and the boyfriend warned of traffic, so I left 45 minutes early. In reality there was little rain and no traffic. I was almost 30 minutes early. 

I was put to work entering the results of a survey of 5th -12th grade students on graduation and drop outs. The only thing that made this interesting were the questions on the back that allowed the students to write their own answers. I was really surprised to find out how much bullying is a problem. Over all students wanted school to be "more fun" and some even wanted to be paid or awarded prizes for graduation. Otherwise, the task was monotonous, a series of 1234 on the keypad. 

The assignment was supposed to be for Monday and Tuesday. When I arrived, I was told it might go until Wednesday. After I started I began to wonder if I could survive through Wednesday. I daydreamed about ice cream and coffee all day long, which is not good for someone counting calories. By the end of the day I had done such a good job, I had worked myself out of the job. I wasn't needed for the second or possible third day. I feel someone thankful for this. 

And I just got a call from the temp agency telling me they received rave reviews from the company I temped for yesterday. Professional, polite and efficient were words used to describe me. I wasn't surprised because the guy told me yesterday he was going to call in and give me a good reference. He even told me I was too good and hoped I wouldn't be in the temp world for long. Me too!

As I sat in the office yesterday, I couldn't help but think of how this temp assignment had screwed up my schedule. Getting up early wasn't the problem. I have been getting up before 7:30. But I wasn't able to go to the gym, or check the blogs. And a full day of work, when you're not used it, is exhausting. I was so tired when I got home, I just wanted to lay around. Plans of yoga turned into fantasies of sundaes. So I found a low fat brownie recipe (substituted the eggs with yogurt) and made a brownie sundae. Delicious and within my calorie budget. 

I did begin to think that my productive unemployment time was coming to end and about to turn to laziness. After 3 weeks of a busy schedule, I stared at iCal and saw emptiness. Even the happy hour planned for the end of the week was cancelled. I allowed myself to sleep until 8 today and laid in bed for 5 minutes. But I made myself get up and go to the gym. 

A happy text on my way out of the gym told me I had bowling with the girls I hiked with last week. This is a group that includes one girl on work disability from a broken shoulder and 2 other laid off girls. So another meeting of the unemployed it is. I'm thinking a beer may be in order.

My "First" Sewing Project

As I noted in my last entry, I have been obsessed with the idea of sewing. This has been steadily growing over the last few weeks, particularly since I've become unemployed. I went to Borders the other day to roam through the craft and design books. I was looking through the sewing books for ideas and found the magazine Stitch. I thought a magazine for $8 was better than buying a book for over $20-especially without an income. I flipped through the pages and oohed and ahhed at the projects. 

I have decided to make the craft bag featured in the magazine. This project was going to require me to actually buy fabric and have it cut-no more fat quarters. I made drawings to double check how much fabric I would need and made my first purposeful trip to the fabric store. I roamed around with the intention of using brown since I could use the fabric I already had for the lining. The best part was that I found the brown print below, which was pretty much the pattern I had imagined. It took me a little longer to pick the other fabric, but I love it. I am even thinking of making pillows to go with our brown couch. I was a little nervous when I went up to the counter to have the fabric cut, as I have never had to request fabric to be cut before. I double checked my drawings and requested 1/2 yard of the brown and a yard of the colored fabric.

When sewing you're supposed to wash the fabric before you use it, but because I had just done laundry and we don't move into our new apartment until next month (with a washer and dryer in the unit) I skipped this. I have always forgotten to wash fabric for previous purse projects and I haven't had any problems. 

I can say that the best tools to have when cutting fabric are a large self healing mat and a rotary cutting. These two tools, particularly the rotary cutter rock my world. Again, I was anxious as I placed ruler and blade down on the fabric. I actually did cut 2 pieces a little short, but they are the pockets so I should be fine. After ironing the pieces flat, I was ready to start and super excited. 

I sewed my first seam and was totally bummed to find out the stitches are way messed up. I gave up trying to fix the problem last night and returned to the machine this morning. I played with the tension and seam length and still hadn't fixed the problem by the time I had to leave for a hike today. I almost called my mom for help and realized that I am getting low on minutes after last week's 109 minute call to Unemployment. So tomorrow morning I will be calling Mom Tech Support. I'm hoping she can offer some help since the machine used to be her's. I'm also hoping that the machine being over 20 years old is not the problem. I really don't want to have to pay to have it fixed.  

And thirdly, I am hoping that I don't lose my sewing enthusiasm in the mean time.

So Many Blogs So Little Time

My current problem is an obsession with blogs. This requires sitting in front of the computer A LOT and not sitting at my art desk. I am getting incredibly inspired by all of the work that I am seeing and my head is filling with ideas. My notebook is slowly filling with sketches and doodles, but they are not leading to fruition. For those of you looking for some eye candy, here are a few blogs to check out. 

Sewing (this will have to be a whole other post about my new obsession with the idea of sewing)

The Purl Bee

Disdressed

Design/Art

Designer Jots

Orange You Lucky

My first day of not working I went to Savers to look at the junk and walked away with a wooden knick knack holder for $1.99. It has been sitting waiting for me to decide what to do with it for 2 weeks. I thought I had the solution last Thursday after attending Rex Ray's gallery opening with a friend. I was going to make little Rex Ray inspired collages in each box. 

The problem was once I started, I realized it is really hard to make these collage in a 2 x 2 square. They had to be very simple. The other challenge was that Rex Ray's work is so unique, almost anything I tried looked like his work. I am all about being inspired by other artist and "borrowing" their technique and incorporating it into my own work. But this look like copying and crap. I abandoned my collages and decided to do some organizing instead. 

Today on a trip to the art store, browsing through Eco Jot notebooks, I came across a notebook that gave me an idea. I could fill each little box with a doodle/drawing that I created. It would be whimsical and bright and springy. Because really in the back of my head I had sale-ability in mind. At the end of the day I am trying to create art that will sell-eventually. 

Although, I suppose that could be my problem. I am too focused on creating for someone rather than just myself. I keep telling myself I need to get back into art journaling. That way I can just get stuff out. And really that is part of the process that I have been skipping. I need to schedule in art the way I schedule the gym. Being physically healthy is just as important to me as being art healthy. It is time I start doing something about that. 

these are pages from 2006's journal

Another thing I realized at the art store today is that I am always fantasying about new art supplies to buy and sometimes indulging-as I thought about today. But realizing that I have no money and more importantly, that don't use half the stuff I have, put a stop to any purchases. I must begin to create on a more consistent level and than I can think about buying water color crayons, glues, masking type and paint extender. Yes, I am a simple girl, I long for masking tape and glue. 

So my goal today is to keep some good doodling in and see if I can't create a journal page. Because let me tell you finding the journal is not a problem. If it's made of paper I can't help but keep it. I have an art school catalog that I have been holding onto when I started a new art journal. Perhaps today will be the day. I also have some nice paper sample books that I have thought of using as well.

Leprechaun Visit

I woke up this morning and thought a leprechaun had come to visit my home during the night. There are several green shamrocks on our sliding glass window. 

What I realized is that the boyfriend, in is inebriated state last night, must have acquired (read stolen) the window decals and adhered them to our windows last night when he got home at 1 am.

109 minutes and 52 seconds

It is minute 84 on hold with unemployment. I was told it could be 120 minutes, so I'm over half way there. The good news is that I am on hold. I tried calling for 20 minutes on Wednesday and the 2 times I did get through, I got "We are experiencing high call volumes, please call back." So making it through to hold-with the worst hold music ever- is  step in the right direction.  I would also like to add that speakerphone is the best invention. While on hold I caught up on last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy,  I just tuned out the terrible hold music. 

In the age of the internet, you might be wondering why I am calling unemployment and not dealing with it online. With all of the websites I have signed up with,  I swore I had chosen my own pin for my unemployment account. So after 3 attempts at logging in,  I was locked out of  my account and the only way to get it fixed is to actually speak with a representative from unemployment. This has become a pressing issue because every 2 weeks I must request my payment and starting Sunday, I have 1 week to make my request (which can be done online.) 

I am on day 5 of the calorie counting. What I do like about it, is that I can see what I am eating and where my calories are coming from. What I hate is that I am always hungry and want ice cream more than ever. Plus, I want to see how tomorrow goes at the St. Patrick's Day Parade. I have a feeling that my 1550 calories will all be liquid. 

I have been pretty successful however. The hardest part is dinner. Trying to cook for the boyfriend-Mr. Meat and Potato- and myself is somewhat of a challenge. Just making tacos proved to be more work than I had imaged. I made everything the way I normally would, but before eating, I sat down to my computer and plugged in all the nutrition info. After 10 minutes I figured that I could eat what I call a taco bowl: 1.5 servings of black beans, 2 ounces of meat, 2 tablespoons of cheese (this is actually half a serving) 1 tortilla and some salsa. What I wanted to eat was 2 tacos with a cup of cheese. How I miss the cheese. 

I was also greeted by a 7:15 am text message from my trainer. Hello? I am unemployed. This is early. Even though I spoke of "not sleeping in" I'm not getting up early either. My goal has been 8 am, which I think is perfectly sensible. My trainer gave me encouragement in my calorie logging, but also suggested I eat 10 grams of fat and 30 grams of fiber per day. The fiber's pretty easy. More fruits and veggies, we all know this. The fat part is another story. In 2 tablespoon (1 serving) of peanut butter alone there is 16 grams of fat. Granted, a lot of this fat is the good kind-polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. If I eat peanut butter I've eaten 1.5 times my days allowance! This is crazy. 

And thankfully, I made it through to unemployment. The gentleman on the other line was kind and apologetic for the wait and I have a new pin being sent out. The title of this post indicates the amount of time I spent on hold. So I will definitely be going over my cell minutes this month. 

Rex Ray Fantastic

   

One of the benefits of being unemployed is that I can actually make it to the training sessions at the MCA where I volunteer on an occasional basis. I was reading my e-mail last week and was SO excited when I saw that Rex Ray was going to be opening a show and training was to be this week. I discover Rex Ray last fall on a pick-me-upper lunch trip to the art store. I bought a postcard book of his work and put a few up in my art room for inspiration.

Seeing Rex Ray made my day. I had never seen pictures of the artist and was surprised by what he looked like-but not if that makes sense. Even though I wouldn't have recognized him on the street, listening to him speak about his art and process was like being in the presence of a celebrity. 

I have wanted to take some of his techniques into my own work, but his work is so unique that I feel like if I were to do anything it would look too much like a copy. So I have yet to solve that design/art problem.