Work Smarter Not Harder

Here in South Carolina it is beautiful.  The sun is shining, everyone is running around in shorts and untanned legs.  As much as I wanted to get the blog out and implement my book writing/drawing plan, I also wanted to garden.  I know, it's too early.  I have another couple weeks before I'm out of the danger of frost.   I just can't help myself, it's the story of my life really, knowing better but saying "fuck it" anyway.  I should be inside typing or scratching out a picture listening to music, but here I am doing this:

The herb garden

“I laced up my sneakers, but not with the intention to sneak around. I was just going to skulk for a bit, when out of the blue I discovered my green thumb and ended up doing a bit of gardening. I really had no idea I was such a badass until that moment.” 

― Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not FOR SALE

While I was out there, trying to decide if I should move the shit I planted last year to new locations or put the seeds in the ground when I see an escapee of the feathered kind.  I could not, for the life of me, figure out how the chickens were getting out.  Jesse, who was helping, says, "They're going under the fence" all matter of factly -after all this time.  "Really?  Shit."  I say shaking my head in disbelief as he tells me that I need to put a quarter in the swear jar.  (I thought they were flying over,  you know, being birds.)   Being good chicken wardens we devised a plan. The little guy, a purple bucket, a wagon and plan.  It's just what we needed.

                      

I was hauling rocks to line the run with, in the purple bucket, trudging up and down the hill, telling myself it was as good as a workout.  When I see Jesse, drop his purple bucket and get the wagon.  As I watched him fill it up with the biggest rocks he could carry, I thought ahh....work smarter not harder.  Then I watched as that heavy, rock filled wagon dragged my boy down the hill.  You gotta hand it to him -he held on.  I was just glad he ended up behind it, not under it and not crying.  He hopped up, filthy, "Did you see that, Mom?"  (Again, I relinquish my "Mom Of The Month" nomination.)  He was right though, with a slight change of operation -it was my job to bring the rock filled wagon down the hill and his to drag it empty, back up.  We make a good team. 

Remember when I said I was going to mail off the baby elephant pictures and order the mum notecards?  Yeah, I lied about that, 'cause Spring Break.  That is now the plan for Monday.  Being that my sister ordered more notecards I better get it done.  OH!!  AND I made my own business cards and I love them (thank you Vista Print).  I hand them out willy nilly now.  Starting Monday I'm also going to implement the work harder not smarter idea and the new workout program.  Not today.  Today is Thursday and Spring Break.  

Here is your song, 'cause it was my song when we left Lowe's with our seeds and plants, singing loud and proud.

      

Ridiculous.

"Take your self seriously.  You need to take yourself seriously as a writer and an artist."  I hear this all the time, and I try, but somewhere inside I feel like a goof ball.  As much as I do try to be serious, I do like to make people laugh, sometimes I do it to myself.

The other morning, while applying mascara, I lost control of the wand and somehow ended up with mascara on my face, a long streak in my hair and a nice schmearing in the sink.  I've been applying mascara for a lonnnnng time.  Too many to have wand control issues.  It was "start over" situation.  I couldn't help but look at my smudged up self in the mirror and say with a laugh, "F'ing ridiculous.  What in the hell....?"

Remember the cleaning service I was so excited about? (Just When You Think You Got It -from January) Well, apparently there was some sort of falling out and these people want to put me in the middle.  I do not play like this.  Both sides wanting to state their case, putting me in an awkward situation.  I had the one gal on the phone telling me not to answer my door -to the guy with the new hire lady.   I did a little, bumbling, salsa type move and decided to open the door anyway.  This is my house.  I am paying for this right?  This is ridiculous, they can both screw off.  

The new cleaning service promised that on the first cleaning, "...everything gets touched.  No surface gets passed by."  I'm half tempted to stand there naked and call it spa day.

Then my daughter accused me of being ridiculous.  Which is completely unfair as she did not witness the mascara mishap, the salsa move nor did I share my thoughts on combining cleaning day with spa day; I simply wanted to double check her homework.  Trying to explain the difference between being mom and being ridiculous proved futile.  

I did manage to get T-Rexy to the computer guy who is going to help me get it published.  It took ridiculously too long for me to get to this point, but let's not dwell.  I'm now calling it "progress".  I also managed to scan my baby elephant and sun picture so I can mail it off tomorrow.  I'm hoping to get the mum notecards ordered this week, otherwise I may have to use a sun.  Stay tuned.

I read this great post by Ruthann Reid http://thewritepractice.com/screw-the-muse/
Say it with me, "I am a       writer/artist      !"  Fill in your blank.  Be positive.  Own it.

I'm going to leave you again with music.  You know when you hear a song and you find your self singing it all day? I actually sang that new Bieber song for an entire afternoon -and sometimes out loud.  Bieber.  I know, I'm relinquishing my cool card.  This guy, though, is pretty cool.  Kurt Vile.  Right?  Great name. 

“Don't wait for the muse. As I've said, he's a hardheaded guy who's not susceptible to a lot of creative fluttering. This isn't the Ouija board or the spirit-world we're talking about here, but just another job like laying pipe or driving long-haul trucks. Your job is to make sure the muse knows where you're going to be every day from nine 'til noon. or seven 'til three. If he does know, I assure you that sooner or later he'll start showing up.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Just keep on, despite everything.  Sometimes it's small baby steps while resembling a raccoon and and some times it goes better.  Just keep doing it.

Morals and sleep deprivation

I write this blog through sleep encrusted, blood shot eyes.  I could not, even with the help of store brand (Publix) Tylenol PM, get to sleep last night.   It is usually during the wee hours I try to solve problems (or even make them up).  One thing I spent a little time thinking on was the baby elephant I drew.

I finished it and the "...awesome sun" over the weekend, it felt great because I think she is going to love it.  It is exactly what she asked for -almost.  I ran into (or created?) a tricky moral situation.  The woman I drew this for sent me a picture via Facebook messenger as to what she wanted, so I drew it.  The original is an adorable baby elephant in watercolor.  I used colored pencil, made him bigger (and smaller) and turned him so he could look at the sun.  Thing is I can't put my name on it.  It's not like its T-Rexy or one of my suns, something I pulled out of my own head.  It's not a copy, but it's close, I think in the business it's called a "reference".  But still, I can't put my name on it.

The sun is obviously mine but the elephant feels like a store brand (me) vs the Tylenol (original).  I have done work like this before, a Care Bear once for a daycare,  the time I taught a 2nd grade class how to draw the pigeon of Mo Willems fame.


It feels a little wrong...but also a little right.  I'm still not sure what to think about it and I am way to tired to figure anything out today.  (I just went upstairs to switch out laundry and I made tea and came back to finish this blog; the laundry still unswitched.  Sleep deprivation sucks.)



“It is easy to decide on what is wrong to wear to a party, such as deep-sea diving equipment or a pair of large pillows, but deciding what is right is much trickier.”
― Lemony Snicket, The Slippery Slope

I decided she needed a collage

That finished -except for the thinking,  I decided to use the mum for the next set of notecards, being that I sold out of the other ones.  Let's send out an Hallelujah to the Lord.

I also ordered new business cards as I just hated the other ones.  I couldn't even hand them out except under extreme duress.

I laid there last night, blinking and thinking up the most ridiculous scenarios, fictitious victories and some actual real life shit, until 3 something.  I had the one random thought about managing my time better.  This was unfortunately between the home invasion scenario and the the UFO landing victory; so I didn't take myself very seriously.  

However, now I that am running on a weird caffeine high and trying to knock stuff off my "To Do" list, I'm thinking organizing my time better is actually something I need to do and immediately.  I really need to take my time during the day and treat this thing I'm doing as an actual job.  Maybe get out of the yoga pants except on yoga days, do my hair...  get T-Rexy published.  

Late, quick and a track

The blog post is late, which is absolutely fine because this happened:

A sun 

   
The baby elephant sketch               

I'm going to do one more in landscape with the sun and the elephant together

(and finish the others)

I love it when a friend of a friend says something like, "Can you draw one of your awesome suns and an elephant for my baby's room?"  Regarding the sun I was all, "Absolutely!" (right?) -and she said they were "Awesome".  The baby elephant, I asked her to send me what she was thinking and basically, there it is.  Stay tuned for finished product.  

The other thing I love is when my blog is late and people notice!  Right?  Granted these are the same people who I'd hide a body with, you know, if it came down to that, (and vice versa, fyi) but still, I'm taking it.  

Since this is late and I want to get back to drawing, I'm just going to leave you with my latest favorite band...