…heh…he’ll get the joke.
Though really, my dad isn’t elderly. Far from it, having survived a heart attack and does his best to walk every morning, test himself on the fitness trail at the local park, and continues to work and play with his trains; along with help me go about maintaining a house.
For those who don’t know me, I’m a Daddy’s Girl! I adore him to no end! Why? Because somehow he understands me enough to make me laugh at my own quirks. He’ll occasionally call me his son, vaguely due to the fact that in high school I picked up a nickname of the male gender; because…well…I’m not all that feminine personality wise! When he bought the women in his family porcelain pendants, he was so dead one with the dragon (as I’ve seen them around before but couldn’t decide which one I wanted if I ever could afford one) that I haven’t taken it off since. And though he occasionally forgets that I understand logic and physics (a class I should have taken in high school instead of chemistry), it’s fun to see the delight in his eyes when he’s reminded and reiterates how I’m not all that girly.
I LOVE MY DAD! And I have some really fun memories that even revolve around his previous birthdays!
I spent my first summer as a SCAD student at home with my parents. By the time Dad’s birthday came around, I was working the graveyard shift at a nearby gas station. It was pretty fun, despite being left in the sub-station making coffee and muffins in preparation for the morning rush that I was normally gone in time for. I had worked the night before and into the morning of his birthday, and had asked for his birthday night off so I could enjoy the day with him, Mom, Statler, and Kermit’s godparents at…HERSHEY PARK! Why there? BECAUSE WE LOVE ROLLERCOASTERS! Mom doesn’t, but Dad and his girls do! OH THE FUN!
So I get home from work at around 6am, wonder into my room to find…!!! A computer game I had been obsessing about (I can’t wait for Dungeon Siege 3 to come out next year!) all summer and a DVD drive for my computer! That’s right! Dad gave me gifts for his birthday! How awesome is that?! My friends still can’t figure out how that works, but I’m not going to question it. All I know is that when it comes to his birthday and X-mas, all he ever wants is to spend time with his daughters. No other gifts really matter as much.
Excited about the DVD drive because I had gotten a movie that I couldn’t watch because…I didn’t own a DVD player; I accidently woke him up trying to install the damn thing into my computer. Sadly, I couldn’t remember how to open my computer to install it. He had been hoping to wake up to find me playing the game so he could watch me play it…just to see what it was like, but of course…that wasn’t the case. “Go make breakfast and I’ll have it up and running by the time you’re done!” The computer was put back together and the game was up and running like I said it would be! And I was overjoyed when I got to get past the part where the DEMO I had normally stopped me. Basically, my convincing argument for getting the game: I work overnight hours. None of my friends are up that late to chat with, and I don’t want to keep you and Mom up watching TV. What better way to keep my sleeping schedule in tact by playing a video game on my nights off?
Now, I know what you’re thinking, as my sister didn’t understand why I worked the night before Dad’s birthday and not ask for it off along with the night after. I didn’t want to risk for asking for too much time off then. Heh…I knew what I was doing. Basically I took a catnap on the drive up to the park (hour long), to which we went around riding roller coasters, including a kiddy one that was like taking a trolley around a western themed area that helped to settle our stomachs for lunch. Seriously…it was that tame. Then there was the original Mighty Mouse that Mom rode because it didn’t have any loopty-loops; she can’t handle the good stuff. And after some disappointment in waiting in line for a coaster ride that had been on and off all day, they went to ride the teacups with Mom and then drove home. Hour long actually dead asleep nap in the car again, and then I was up all night playing my game. That’s right! I had the college student stamina back then to endure being up over 24 hours, take a short nap, and stay up another few hours…all to spend time with my dad and play a video game! WEEE!
But the best birthday was his 60th! It was the first time visiting my current home town, seeing their new house, and going to the local tavern. And the way Mom set it all up was amazing! Two weeks earlier we were all in NYC to watch a Yankees game for the last time in the old stadium. Dad with all three of his daughters, one of which lives in NM while I was living in GA, so he really didn’t expect to see either of us for his birthday. The boyfriend at the time and I drove up with the cats, cause Mom said we could, with the money she gave us to cover gas and food.
Before that, she had been emailing a close friend of Dad’s about coming up to visit, and he, the Giant Leprechaun, changed the title and format of the email to make it look like he was up and coming for a visit, kind of like a last minute decision. There’re plenty of Civil War battlefields to visit in the area, and he and Dad are into the history of it all, so it made sense. Dad was excited; he got to hang out with his buddy for his birthday. Passing the house in the car, GL parks it up the street and meanders into the yard…knocking on the door when he says Mom through the window. So he and Dad go to the tavern for a drink and don’t get home with his car until JUST after me and the bf start unloading ours of the cats and luggage. “What a surprise! What are you doing here? And you brought the mangy beasts?!” “Mom said we could!”
We were in the middle of talking about something in the living room…as we normally do…later that evening when the bf goes to put a can in the recyclable bin out back. As Dad has his back to the doorway, and the bf just so happens to be out back in time to let her in, Kermit quietly sneaks in with her newest baby...who is sleeping so he’s obviously not loud enough to draw Dad’s attention. She stands there for a minute or two before announcing her presence; to which Dad nearly has a heart attack! It surprised him so much to see my sister there, because she lives so far away! Again, Mom fronted the money for her plane ticket…just to have the three of us there for his 60th! Statler picked her up at the airport and let her borrow one of her cars to drive into town.
The following day, GL, bf, and Dad go walk Antietam Battlefield and later go to the tavern again for a beer and oysters. On and on Dad talks about this Beer Tasting Dinner that they occasionally have and how he’s never been to one but they sounded great, with good food and beer from all over the world. Five course meal cooked fresh with produce from the local farms and a different kind of beer to compliment each course. Oh! I can’t remember everything we had, but the dessert was my favorite! Flakey kind of pastry with cream and fruits! I wish I could have it again…
Low and behold, the next day, for Dad’s birthday, more people show up by surprise, and not only that…they’re there for a BEER TASTING DINNER Mom had arranged for the big day! He’s declared it the best birthday of his life. Mom really outdid herself this time around, with all the surprises and having his daughters there to share it with. Hee!
Happy Birthday, Dad! Can’t say today is going to be as good as two years ago, but I’m sure you’ll love it either way!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Phone Calls…
I have an extreme discomfort when it comes to talking on the phone. More so when I’m in a work/business situation where you’re forced to sound professional…but in my case, am not able to answer quick enough to satisfy the person on the other end. When it comes to friends and family, I can be a little more relaxed despite constantly getting interrupted, but with customers and operators from whatever utilities companies…the conversation is strenuous, uncomfortable, and rather frustrating.
What’s worse is when I’m in the middle of working on something I have a deadline for, and get interrupted by some survey call from such-n-such-a-company who are asking me questions that I can’t honestly answer because I haven’t been a customer with them long enough to know what the hell they’re talking about! “Can I just say 10 for the rest of these questions because I’m busy and hate taking surveys?” To which then...because I’m annoyed and frustrated in knowing that said person had no account information on me and thus asked me a bunch of stupid questions she could have answered herself if she just opened my file…I have to completely stop what I’m doing, piss, moan, and rant to myself while I pace throughout the house until I get completely fed up with it all…and wait until I can calm myself down again before picking up the brush and continuing with the project at hand.
And people wonder why I don’t like deadlines…or talking on the phone for that matter! It’s enough to make me determined never to sign up with and Bell/BellSouth related phone landlines ever again! Why? Because every week they’d call wanting me to change my plan…saying that this new and improved one with all these features I have no need or use for is so much better, for just a couple dollars more than what I’m paying now. “I don’t need long distance. I have a cell phone for that.” or the ever popular “Why would I need to make international calls? I don’t know anyone outside of the country. Are you going to give me your number so I can call you when it’s most inconvenient?” One night, after having put up with the calls for a month, I tiredly consented to whatever plan the guy from India was trying to sell to me…granted, I couldn’t understand a word he was saying because the only two relatives I have from India speak far better English than any operator I’ve spoken to. I thought it was done and over with…whatever long distance or international calls would generally be free since neither I or my roommates would be making such calls…I hung up the phone, and hoped to move on with my evening. Not even a minute later the guy calls back. “You didn’t pick which country y-“…to which I went ballistic on him. In between a variety of cuss words un-creatively used as nouns, verbs, and adjectives, I told him that all I wanted was a landline for local calls and the security system. I didn’t need voicemail, caller ID, long distance or international calls, and wished that the phone company would get it through their thick skulls that every time they call about changing my plan, that it’s a form of HARRASSMENT, and I was about ready to quit my service with them and sue their asses if this kept up. Poor guy…I think I shook him up some, because his broken English wavered as he profusely apologized and promised to never call the number ever again.
I know I should have been more civil…but even during the times I had been more so, they still called back. Is really blowing up the only way of getting operators to leave you alone? I think it would have been nice if they had reimbursed me on my bill for the inconvenience, but a part of me believes that those phone calls really aren’t being recorded for customer satisfaction. If they were, then they would have surely stopped calling after the first time around.
So what project was I working on that got so needlessly interrupted? A call for artists to submit paintings of anything historic concerning Chambersburg, PA. My interest in this project: Zilch. Dad took me around the historic areas he knew about the city, and I occasionally stopped him when I thought I had an interesting shot. I chose a photo out of five or six, and started on the preliminary work for it. And the more I looked at it, and the more I inked in the lines and with more frustrations that kept on piling up throughout the week started cluttering my head…I tore the paper from the block and stormed out of the house to clear my head. Took some nice pictures along a road that heads out into the farm land…but I’m still frustrated, and still have no interest in painting anything. Sorry Dad, it’s just not happening this time around. You just can’t feel good about doing something you were never thrilled about doing to begin with, and trying to force yourself to make something good out of that negative feeling only adds more to the frustration. Not a good idea considering how I’m trying to stay positive and upbeat!
But after some careful consideration, talking with a friend over another project for my CafePress shops, and doing some major price comparisons, I found that my first shop…is robbing me of any possible profits I could be making, and robbing my customers of money that they could be saving. Did that make any sense to you? Basically, after comparing some prices for specific items that are available in the first shop, I realized that I could sell them in my second shop at a cheaper price than the first…and still make a fair profit. So, I started out with the mugs, bags…other little accessories and such, pulling out the cheaper versions of one or two items, and putting them up for sale in my second shop. Over time, I’ll be adding more to the second shop, including a wider variety of shirts (there’s so much more than what they’re offering in the first shop) at the prices I am able to lower for you. And once I get these specific commissions done for the shop, I’ll be adding another section for people to find their requested image in, amongst a variety of products I thought they’d look good on.
So go check out the changes! Maybe now there’s something you’ve been meaning to buy, but didn’t want to pay for at the first shop’s prices!
http://www.cafepress.com/CerynitisD
Oh, and to add some more randomness to this entry…along with something actually visual to look at ( I would have had some videos up, but they were too fuzzy to see what anything really was), I was given the pleasure seeing my friendly neighborhood spider play with one of his late evening meals. The area is apparently SWARMING with spiders, and I’ve got too many for comfort residing within the walls of my house. Luckily, the one who was spinning his stinkbug dinner around is on the outside of my hall window, and so I wasn’t getting the willies when I was capturing him on video. Just watch…the spider is all like “I spin you right round, baby, right round. Like a record, baby, right round round round…” And Mr. Stinkbug is still kicking and wriggling and all like “Nooooo! I don’t want to be spun right round round round!”
But then the spider was all “Ok, I’m bored with this, and some freaky looking chick won’t stop watching me while I play with my food, so I’m gonna go over here and ignore you for a bit.” And I was all sad. Every so often I checked back to see how things were going. Either he was playing with his food again, or ignoring it completely.
Come morning, though…Mr. Stinkbug was decapitated…
What’s worse is when I’m in the middle of working on something I have a deadline for, and get interrupted by some survey call from such-n-such-a-company who are asking me questions that I can’t honestly answer because I haven’t been a customer with them long enough to know what the hell they’re talking about! “Can I just say 10 for the rest of these questions because I’m busy and hate taking surveys?” To which then...because I’m annoyed and frustrated in knowing that said person had no account information on me and thus asked me a bunch of stupid questions she could have answered herself if she just opened my file…I have to completely stop what I’m doing, piss, moan, and rant to myself while I pace throughout the house until I get completely fed up with it all…and wait until I can calm myself down again before picking up the brush and continuing with the project at hand.
And people wonder why I don’t like deadlines…or talking on the phone for that matter! It’s enough to make me determined never to sign up with and Bell/BellSouth related phone landlines ever again! Why? Because every week they’d call wanting me to change my plan…saying that this new and improved one with all these features I have no need or use for is so much better, for just a couple dollars more than what I’m paying now. “I don’t need long distance. I have a cell phone for that.” or the ever popular “Why would I need to make international calls? I don’t know anyone outside of the country. Are you going to give me your number so I can call you when it’s most inconvenient?” One night, after having put up with the calls for a month, I tiredly consented to whatever plan the guy from India was trying to sell to me…granted, I couldn’t understand a word he was saying because the only two relatives I have from India speak far better English than any operator I’ve spoken to. I thought it was done and over with…whatever long distance or international calls would generally be free since neither I or my roommates would be making such calls…I hung up the phone, and hoped to move on with my evening. Not even a minute later the guy calls back. “You didn’t pick which country y-“…to which I went ballistic on him. In between a variety of cuss words un-creatively used as nouns, verbs, and adjectives, I told him that all I wanted was a landline for local calls and the security system. I didn’t need voicemail, caller ID, long distance or international calls, and wished that the phone company would get it through their thick skulls that every time they call about changing my plan, that it’s a form of HARRASSMENT, and I was about ready to quit my service with them and sue their asses if this kept up. Poor guy…I think I shook him up some, because his broken English wavered as he profusely apologized and promised to never call the number ever again.
I know I should have been more civil…but even during the times I had been more so, they still called back. Is really blowing up the only way of getting operators to leave you alone? I think it would have been nice if they had reimbursed me on my bill for the inconvenience, but a part of me believes that those phone calls really aren’t being recorded for customer satisfaction. If they were, then they would have surely stopped calling after the first time around.
So what project was I working on that got so needlessly interrupted? A call for artists to submit paintings of anything historic concerning Chambersburg, PA. My interest in this project: Zilch. Dad took me around the historic areas he knew about the city, and I occasionally stopped him when I thought I had an interesting shot. I chose a photo out of five or six, and started on the preliminary work for it. And the more I looked at it, and the more I inked in the lines and with more frustrations that kept on piling up throughout the week started cluttering my head…I tore the paper from the block and stormed out of the house to clear my head. Took some nice pictures along a road that heads out into the farm land…but I’m still frustrated, and still have no interest in painting anything. Sorry Dad, it’s just not happening this time around. You just can’t feel good about doing something you were never thrilled about doing to begin with, and trying to force yourself to make something good out of that negative feeling only adds more to the frustration. Not a good idea considering how I’m trying to stay positive and upbeat!
But after some careful consideration, talking with a friend over another project for my CafePress shops, and doing some major price comparisons, I found that my first shop…is robbing me of any possible profits I could be making, and robbing my customers of money that they could be saving. Did that make any sense to you? Basically, after comparing some prices for specific items that are available in the first shop, I realized that I could sell them in my second shop at a cheaper price than the first…and still make a fair profit. So, I started out with the mugs, bags…other little accessories and such, pulling out the cheaper versions of one or two items, and putting them up for sale in my second shop. Over time, I’ll be adding more to the second shop, including a wider variety of shirts (there’s so much more than what they’re offering in the first shop) at the prices I am able to lower for you. And once I get these specific commissions done for the shop, I’ll be adding another section for people to find their requested image in, amongst a variety of products I thought they’d look good on.
So go check out the changes! Maybe now there’s something you’ve been meaning to buy, but didn’t want to pay for at the first shop’s prices!
http://www.cafepress.com/CerynitisD
Oh, and to add some more randomness to this entry…along with something actually visual to look at ( I would have had some videos up, but they were too fuzzy to see what anything really was), I was given the pleasure seeing my friendly neighborhood spider play with one of his late evening meals. The area is apparently SWARMING with spiders, and I’ve got too many for comfort residing within the walls of my house. Luckily, the one who was spinning his stinkbug dinner around is on the outside of my hall window, and so I wasn’t getting the willies when I was capturing him on video. Just watch…the spider is all like “I spin you right round, baby, right round. Like a record, baby, right round round round…” And Mr. Stinkbug is still kicking and wriggling and all like “Nooooo! I don’t want to be spun right round round round!”
But then the spider was all “Ok, I’m bored with this, and some freaky looking chick won’t stop watching me while I play with my food, so I’m gonna go over here and ignore you for a bit.” And I was all sad. Every so often I checked back to see how things were going. Either he was playing with his food again, or ignoring it completely.
Come morning, though…Mr. Stinkbug was decapitated…
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Life is a Mirror-
-if you frown at it, it frowns back; if you smile at it, it returns the greeting.
I received this little bit of sagely advice from a fortune cookie I had one morning. Strangely enough, it’s the type of advice I’ve been trying to give a friend of mine every time he comes to me depressed. And I understand a lot of what he gets upset over, because I’ve traveled a similar road myself; but I haven’t found the right way of telling him that it will be ok, and when he gets older it won’t be as bad as he thinks. So he’ll go on believing I don’t understand him just because despite all the stress, uneasiness, and depression I’ve gone through during the first half of this year I’ve managed to remain…upbeat.
I would have to say some of it is due to being around a rather supportive family, and the fact that I was able to see some friends. No…not just some friends, but more like extremely important friends to me. I don’t think I would have managed so well through my high school and early college years if it weren’t for their inspirational support. So in a way, in being able to see them for just the brief time that I have, I was able to pull through the first half of this year better than I expected. You guys know who you are, and if you ever get around to reading this, know that I love you with all of my heart, and am eternally grateful that you’re a part of my life.
And I am trying to be a bit more upbeat about it all; moping about how bad it is really doesn’t get me anywhere I want to be. I’m sure during the more stressful back to school times I wasn’t as ‘cheerful’ as I could have been with the customers from my last job, but I find myself smiling most of the time at my new job as I’m greeting them. I’m still getting to know my managers and co-workers, but thus far what little quirks I have seem worthy of a good humored joke to them; and I’ve proven myself at being quick and efficient during my first morning after truck day…managing to unload more loads than the one guy that works there, while finding where things go better than a girl that’s been there a month longer than I have. Not bad, considering how little of the layout I knew just then. I still get lost on certain items, because they’re placed somewhere different than where you would think to find them…but I’ll muster through it in the end. Oh! I also feel very official now that I have my very own box cutter! Complete with a clip to attach it to my pants and a cord to keep it from being separated or lost from the case! I was so delighted to receive it! Really! I WAS! I made myself laugh at the thought of it!
I received this little bit of sagely advice from a fortune cookie I had one morning. Strangely enough, it’s the type of advice I’ve been trying to give a friend of mine every time he comes to me depressed. And I understand a lot of what he gets upset over, because I’ve traveled a similar road myself; but I haven’t found the right way of telling him that it will be ok, and when he gets older it won’t be as bad as he thinks. So he’ll go on believing I don’t understand him just because despite all the stress, uneasiness, and depression I’ve gone through during the first half of this year I’ve managed to remain…upbeat.
I would have to say some of it is due to being around a rather supportive family, and the fact that I was able to see some friends. No…not just some friends, but more like extremely important friends to me. I don’t think I would have managed so well through my high school and early college years if it weren’t for their inspirational support. So in a way, in being able to see them for just the brief time that I have, I was able to pull through the first half of this year better than I expected. You guys know who you are, and if you ever get around to reading this, know that I love you with all of my heart, and am eternally grateful that you’re a part of my life.
And I am trying to be a bit more upbeat about it all; moping about how bad it is really doesn’t get me anywhere I want to be. I’m sure during the more stressful back to school times I wasn’t as ‘cheerful’ as I could have been with the customers from my last job, but I find myself smiling most of the time at my new job as I’m greeting them. I’m still getting to know my managers and co-workers, but thus far what little quirks I have seem worthy of a good humored joke to them; and I’ve proven myself at being quick and efficient during my first morning after truck day…managing to unload more loads than the one guy that works there, while finding where things go better than a girl that’s been there a month longer than I have. Not bad, considering how little of the layout I knew just then. I still get lost on certain items, because they’re placed somewhere different than where you would think to find them…but I’ll muster through it in the end. Oh! I also feel very official now that I have my very own box cutter! Complete with a clip to attach it to my pants and a cord to keep it from being separated or lost from the case! I was so delighted to receive it! Really! I WAS! I made myself laugh at the thought of it!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
A Long Awaited Return…
I was expecting to be back on after my birthday, maybe a week or so afterwards when things with the new how were falling through. But the bank got its act together, and low and behold, another couple of weeks blew right by me and landed me moving again. I swear, once I turned 30 everything came crashing down on me; new house, new job, now new internet and the prospect of new projects from two different writers. My prints, windows, and merchandise might not be selling well at the shows (though I was excited to sell my beloved dragon throw pillow to a young girl who seemed quite smitten with it, how giddy with joy I was at the thought of it having a good home! ), but the idea of other people liking the various styles I have to offer to put a visual aspect to their stories gives me hope; hope that maybe my Illustration and Sequential degrees will actually be appreciated.
My cat is still coping with the move, having stayed with my parents and their two cats for so long, filled with empty promises of a place of her own only to finally be fulfilled. The only problem she finds is that she’s completely alone when I’m away at work, or out doing something. She pines for attention and affection when I get home, purring ceaselessly, and rushing up the stairs in hopes that I’ll follow her to the bathroom to turn on the faucet. That’s a habit that really needs to be broken.
And so I look back in the past few weeks to see what I’ve done. Artistically, I’m working on three designs for my sister and a few friends to put up on my second CafePress shop.
http://www.cafepress.com/CerynitisD
I know that I will be constantly updating and rearranging this shop for a long while…as right now it is split into three different sections, soon to be four different sections, which will eventually be split into their own sections as I organize the types of images and artwork I put up on there. All in all, I hope it makes it all the easier for people to find what they want and understand the concept behind the images I put up there. Or…it could just turn out to be futile and nobody buys anything in the end. Either way, I’ll continue on with my own progress.
I have been thankful for the part time work I’ve picked up, as thus far it’s given me plenty of days off to attempt to work around the house, go visiting with family, and work the First Fridays…thus far. The hours seem to be pretty descent, and if they keep up as they are I should be able to scrape by with what I make. Means I probably won’t be saving much money for my candle venture, but I suppose that’s what tax returns are for. If they’re anything like what I got back from the past couple of years, it’ll be seven years before I get the money saved up for my candle business; that really disheartens me as I was hoping to get started on it sooner before I start losing hope on the idea again.
I was saddened even more when I came to the realization that, except for my favorite librarian who checks up when he remembers to and a girl I role play with when I remind her to, none of my friends really read my blog. They don’t look for the art, don’t read my updates on my personal life…nothing in my feeble attempt to try and keep in touch with them. If it’s not on FaceBook, then I guess it’s not worth looking at…? I hate thinking like that, believing that my friends don’t care for me because I’m not chasing after the latest and greatest fad…which to me, FaceBook and MySpace are just that…one more thing to get needlessly excited about only for it to get ignored later one by Twitter or the next best thing that has yet to come. LiveJournal turned out that way back in the day, right? Even my librarian admitted he doesn’t keep up with that as much as he used to. So I kind of have to wonder if it’ll be worth joining up with it in hopes to reacquaint myself with my friends again…or if it’s just a trap to be easily found by others I have no desire in getting to know all over again. For whatever reason, I really enjoyed the idea that I can manage to disappear, as I found out when my high school couldn’t find me to send my 10 year reunion invite, and my ex-comic partner thought I had disappeared from the face of the earth…just because I stopped playing all the expensive games that she required everyone to play in order to keep in touch with her.
Ah well…it was bound to happen. I knew it would happen, actually. Life goes on as you venture out on your separate ways, and the people you once cared about get pushed to the wayside as you create new friendships…caring more and more about them until the time comes where even those relationships become less and less active as well. It makes me wonder what new bonds I’ll make here in town, though at the moment I can feel the bond between family strengthening now. After living with Statler and helping her prepare for the quarter auctions, she keeps me up to date with when such events are in hopes that I can help her some more with them, arranging gift baskets and such. I need to get her to come into town sometime and take her to Hobby Lobby…I think she’ll find a lot of what she’s looking for there. She also wants me around as we both learn how to run her tea business, in preparation for when I open my candle business; filing and keeping up with taxes and such…
Kermit and her crew might be temporarily moving into the area for her husband’s job, which means the little Muppets will be closer to our parents. This in turn makes my dad EXTREMELY happy, because he misses having his daughters so close to him. However, Kermit also has plans for me in helping to tutor her kids in the various forms of art. First and foremost, I need to teach them how to draw. My eldest nephew showed interest when he asked how long it would take him to be as good as I, and my niece is already taking after her namesake in leaps and bounds. I’m excited for them, honestly…and already have an idea of where to start…first by teaching my sister how to draw. This will surely be an amusing experience to add to all the rest…but at least I’ll actually be contributing something good to the kids.
All in all…I think this is a good start into my thirties. It’s fresh, it’s new…which was what I was hoping for, and as long as I keep a positive outlook on what may happen…then surely I’ll be rewarded with nothing but good memories. Actually, if you think about it…it rained on my birthday; and though walking through town on that day stirred up a lot of sadness in my heart, I believe that it helped to wash away the old and prepare me for the new. I’ve got nowhere else to go now but forward.
My cat is still coping with the move, having stayed with my parents and their two cats for so long, filled with empty promises of a place of her own only to finally be fulfilled. The only problem she finds is that she’s completely alone when I’m away at work, or out doing something. She pines for attention and affection when I get home, purring ceaselessly, and rushing up the stairs in hopes that I’ll follow her to the bathroom to turn on the faucet. That’s a habit that really needs to be broken.
And so I look back in the past few weeks to see what I’ve done. Artistically, I’m working on three designs for my sister and a few friends to put up on my second CafePress shop.
http://www.cafepress.com/CerynitisD
I know that I will be constantly updating and rearranging this shop for a long while…as right now it is split into three different sections, soon to be four different sections, which will eventually be split into their own sections as I organize the types of images and artwork I put up on there. All in all, I hope it makes it all the easier for people to find what they want and understand the concept behind the images I put up there. Or…it could just turn out to be futile and nobody buys anything in the end. Either way, I’ll continue on with my own progress.
I have been thankful for the part time work I’ve picked up, as thus far it’s given me plenty of days off to attempt to work around the house, go visiting with family, and work the First Fridays…thus far. The hours seem to be pretty descent, and if they keep up as they are I should be able to scrape by with what I make. Means I probably won’t be saving much money for my candle venture, but I suppose that’s what tax returns are for. If they’re anything like what I got back from the past couple of years, it’ll be seven years before I get the money saved up for my candle business; that really disheartens me as I was hoping to get started on it sooner before I start losing hope on the idea again.
I was saddened even more when I came to the realization that, except for my favorite librarian who checks up when he remembers to and a girl I role play with when I remind her to, none of my friends really read my blog. They don’t look for the art, don’t read my updates on my personal life…nothing in my feeble attempt to try and keep in touch with them. If it’s not on FaceBook, then I guess it’s not worth looking at…? I hate thinking like that, believing that my friends don’t care for me because I’m not chasing after the latest and greatest fad…which to me, FaceBook and MySpace are just that…one more thing to get needlessly excited about only for it to get ignored later one by Twitter or the next best thing that has yet to come. LiveJournal turned out that way back in the day, right? Even my librarian admitted he doesn’t keep up with that as much as he used to. So I kind of have to wonder if it’ll be worth joining up with it in hopes to reacquaint myself with my friends again…or if it’s just a trap to be easily found by others I have no desire in getting to know all over again. For whatever reason, I really enjoyed the idea that I can manage to disappear, as I found out when my high school couldn’t find me to send my 10 year reunion invite, and my ex-comic partner thought I had disappeared from the face of the earth…just because I stopped playing all the expensive games that she required everyone to play in order to keep in touch with her.
Ah well…it was bound to happen. I knew it would happen, actually. Life goes on as you venture out on your separate ways, and the people you once cared about get pushed to the wayside as you create new friendships…caring more and more about them until the time comes where even those relationships become less and less active as well. It makes me wonder what new bonds I’ll make here in town, though at the moment I can feel the bond between family strengthening now. After living with Statler and helping her prepare for the quarter auctions, she keeps me up to date with when such events are in hopes that I can help her some more with them, arranging gift baskets and such. I need to get her to come into town sometime and take her to Hobby Lobby…I think she’ll find a lot of what she’s looking for there. She also wants me around as we both learn how to run her tea business, in preparation for when I open my candle business; filing and keeping up with taxes and such…
Kermit and her crew might be temporarily moving into the area for her husband’s job, which means the little Muppets will be closer to our parents. This in turn makes my dad EXTREMELY happy, because he misses having his daughters so close to him. However, Kermit also has plans for me in helping to tutor her kids in the various forms of art. First and foremost, I need to teach them how to draw. My eldest nephew showed interest when he asked how long it would take him to be as good as I, and my niece is already taking after her namesake in leaps and bounds. I’m excited for them, honestly…and already have an idea of where to start…first by teaching my sister how to draw. This will surely be an amusing experience to add to all the rest…but at least I’ll actually be contributing something good to the kids.
All in all…I think this is a good start into my thirties. It’s fresh, it’s new…which was what I was hoping for, and as long as I keep a positive outlook on what may happen…then surely I’ll be rewarded with nothing but good memories. Actually, if you think about it…it rained on my birthday; and though walking through town on that day stirred up a lot of sadness in my heart, I believe that it helped to wash away the old and prepare me for the new. I’ve got nowhere else to go now but forward.
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