Yay, in case you didn't know from my last entry, I finished Painting One (for JJ_Roxors), Number Two (for GuitarsnGlasses), and Number Three (for Miss Koala) of the Four paintings I am trying to finish by...oh, I dunno, say Wednesday of this week?
I should NOT be on SG right now. I should be working on on the remaining beast, Number Four for Cineman, which frightens me because he wants it fucking huge for me (2 feet x 3 feet), and I'm intimidated by it. It's starting at me, being all massive. Someone help.
It didn't help that I was at work till 8:30 tonight, so I'm sorta burned out as soon as I get home, and sitting in a chair on the internet seems like such a more relaxing proposition.
**UPDATE: Holy Hell it's finally done. damn you giant painting. **
So, in other news, my brother has sublimonally convinced me to reconsider the worst fucking idea ever.
You might recall I am all concerned with cash because I took an expensive trip to SF in May and then had to fly to NY last week and am taking another trip this weekend to SF which proves to be 'spensive, and so I've been saving and doing as much extra scrounging (and painting) to try and get things sane again. So of course, my brother randomly suggested in the middle of it with no small amount of pressure that I take five days off on the SECOND week of July to drive a ridiculous road trip with him.
I want so badly to simply dismiss it as impossible, but part of me is holding onto the idea. First, he's stuck driving a pretty long trip one way from Detroit with his wife, whom he is dropping off in Denver (I don't know, it made sense when he told me). If I don't make any plans with him, he'll be doing that drive back by himself, which admittedly will suck a whole bunch.
His idea is that as long as he has a long drive, he could instead drive to meet me in LA and we could then drive Route 66 that whole week from LA to Detroit and I'd then fly back at the end of the weekend. This way he would have a relief driver, we'd get to take a scenic classic road trip and forge some kind of cliched memory we'd likely remember for a long long time, and I could learn to drive stick and drive his convertible new GT with him across a good part of America.
Thing is, Five days is a lot of time, even if there was a lot of notice and I hadn't just taken other trips. That's basically all my vacation left for the year, giving me less options for later in the year, and even with it being official vacation days, it's a stretch to get it OK'd.
There's an idea to try and find a compromise where maybe I can just take the mid-to-end of the week off and we can leave on Wed morning or Tue night, but that probably makes it necessary to make the drive so quickly that the point of the trip is lost. Alternatively, I could maybe fly and meet him somewhere, take a multi-day drive with him, and then fly back, but then the cost of the flights starts to get crazy on top of the ridiculousness of making all those arrangements and deciding if it is even worth it.
So, I think we left it with him crunching some numbers to see what does and doesn't make sense and what affects what with driving times, amount of time left for actually stopping and having fun, etc, and considering what might and might not make any individual plan worth it.
-I feel bad about it, and I'm not sure why, but I think it's probably just not worth even thinking about, and I'm going to pass on what could be a great experience just because it turns my life a little bit upside down and the timing is less than ideal. Every time I think about it I have a different thought. I don't know, I'm conflicted.
Dave
I should NOT be on SG right now. I should be working on on the remaining beast, Number Four for Cineman, which frightens me because he wants it fucking huge for me (2 feet x 3 feet), and I'm intimidated by it. It's starting at me, being all massive. Someone help.
It didn't help that I was at work till 8:30 tonight, so I'm sorta burned out as soon as I get home, and sitting in a chair on the internet seems like such a more relaxing proposition.
**UPDATE: Holy Hell it's finally done. damn you giant painting. **
So, in other news, my brother has sublimonally convinced me to reconsider the worst fucking idea ever.
You might recall I am all concerned with cash because I took an expensive trip to SF in May and then had to fly to NY last week and am taking another trip this weekend to SF which proves to be 'spensive, and so I've been saving and doing as much extra scrounging (and painting) to try and get things sane again. So of course, my brother randomly suggested in the middle of it with no small amount of pressure that I take five days off on the SECOND week of July to drive a ridiculous road trip with him.
I want so badly to simply dismiss it as impossible, but part of me is holding onto the idea. First, he's stuck driving a pretty long trip one way from Detroit with his wife, whom he is dropping off in Denver (I don't know, it made sense when he told me). If I don't make any plans with him, he'll be doing that drive back by himself, which admittedly will suck a whole bunch.
His idea is that as long as he has a long drive, he could instead drive to meet me in LA and we could then drive Route 66 that whole week from LA to Detroit and I'd then fly back at the end of the weekend. This way he would have a relief driver, we'd get to take a scenic classic road trip and forge some kind of cliched memory we'd likely remember for a long long time, and I could learn to drive stick and drive his convertible new GT with him across a good part of America.
Thing is, Five days is a lot of time, even if there was a lot of notice and I hadn't just taken other trips. That's basically all my vacation left for the year, giving me less options for later in the year, and even with it being official vacation days, it's a stretch to get it OK'd.
There's an idea to try and find a compromise where maybe I can just take the mid-to-end of the week off and we can leave on Wed morning or Tue night, but that probably makes it necessary to make the drive so quickly that the point of the trip is lost. Alternatively, I could maybe fly and meet him somewhere, take a multi-day drive with him, and then fly back, but then the cost of the flights starts to get crazy on top of the ridiculousness of making all those arrangements and deciding if it is even worth it.
So, I think we left it with him crunching some numbers to see what does and doesn't make sense and what affects what with driving times, amount of time left for actually stopping and having fun, etc, and considering what might and might not make any individual plan worth it.
-I feel bad about it, and I'm not sure why, but I think it's probably just not worth even thinking about, and I'm going to pass on what could be a great experience just because it turns my life a little bit upside down and the timing is less than ideal. Every time I think about it I have a different thought. I don't know, I'm conflicted.
Dave
Wee, finished Painting One (for JJ_Roxors) of the Four paintings I am trying to finish by mid-next week. Gonna be a loooong weekend with no money-spending or out-going.
**UPDATE: finished Number Two for GuitarsnGlasses. ** I am really happy with it.
**UPDATE 2: finished Number Three for Miss Koala. **
Still planning to work all tomorrow on the remaining beast:
#4 for Cineman
So don't tempt me with your evil fun-having, money-spending, leaving-the-house-requiring plans this weekend, you maniacal bastards.
Ooooh Yay, Look what arrived in the mail today:
I'm reading it at work instead of painfully trying to find something productive to do. So far it makes me oh so very happy.
May you all be touched by his noodley appendage, RAmen.
-Hopefully I'll be getting out of work early today, and can resume the paintin'sanity early for the weekend. I think I might actually be passing on going out for a free lunch (and probably drinks) out with the boss to go home and paint all night. I might be losing it, but margaritas can't possibly help me get to work.
Dave
**UPDATE: finished Number Two for GuitarsnGlasses. ** I am really happy with it.
**UPDATE 2: finished Number Three for Miss Koala. **
Still planning to work all tomorrow on the remaining beast:
#4 for Cineman
So don't tempt me with your evil fun-having, money-spending, leaving-the-house-requiring plans this weekend, you maniacal bastards.
Ooooh Yay, Look what arrived in the mail today:
I'm reading it at work instead of painfully trying to find something productive to do. So far it makes me oh so very happy.
May you all be touched by his noodley appendage, RAmen.
-Hopefully I'll be getting out of work early today, and can resume the paintin'sanity early for the weekend. I think I might actually be passing on going out for a free lunch (and probably drinks) out with the boss to go home and paint all night. I might be losing it, but margaritas can't possibly help me get to work.
Dave
Wee, finished One of the Four paintings I am trying to finish by mid-next week. Gonna be a loooong weekend with no money-spending or out-going.
And now, last night's Job rant:
Blyech.
I should either be sleeping or working, and I'm doing neither. I'm starting to feel sleepy, though, so I think I'll try to make that happen earlier than usual instead of getting into the work I should reallly be doing, since I've got a thing to do in the morning earlier than usual.
I think I might finally be serious about wanting to leave my job, it just makes me sort of miserable to be there lately. Granted, that's mostly because it's been so slow but we're trying to keep busy and the things I have to do all day are just painful reminders of the fact that I'm not busy doing the usual work I'd be up to. I also get this sense of impending doom about the situation in general. The company is notorious for having these hills and crescents of work, and we just came off of an insane hill and it's sort of an industry-wide slowish time, but all kinds of things point to more and more reason to believe things are getting wierd. It's also difficult to cover for the fact that one of your bosses just doesn't give a shit when I'm starting to not really care myself. If I was really involved in making the projects I was working on, I could see being excited, but I don't feel like I am.
While I was in NY this weekend getting way to drunk with my brother at a wedding, I started yammering about leaving and getting a job with a certain company I have a connection to (a Network that makes Cartoons, perhaps) through the work I'm doing now, and talking flippantly about the change in location I suspect that company would most likely require. I should have quit talking, because he wouldn't shut up about it, and kept reminding me that I was so serious about it and seemed so fed up, and it's been lingering heavilly in my mind since.
And so, with that in mind, I basically told my boss that I really really wanted to be at the session we scheduled tomorrow for people from this company, and not stuck back at the office while she's off not caring about the project or the work. When I'm doing all the work to get these people's project done while she's out of the office and trying her best to get done with it with as little care or thought as possible, there's nothing I resent more than being stuck back in the office answering the phone while they're actually in the studio getting it done, where I enjoy feeling like we're actually making something, and I get feedback from these guys. I also feel like it's sort of an intentional cock-block to get any closer with the guys who I have the connection to, since the less face time I get with them the easier it is for them to forget who it is who's getting all the work done, and would really like to work more closely with them. I dunno, maybe I've made too much out of it, and they're just being nice, but it's wierd when you hear people you haven't met before tell you that other people at their company speak highly of you and the work you were doing on other projects. Maybe they're just being nice guys.
-I don't know...I think I'll probably chicken out and stay put awhile for the sake of the (for now) safety of it, but if the opportunity arises, or if there's any good way to do it without shooting myself in the foot, I'd really love to get the word out there that I'm interested in working directly with them. I just hate this dissatisfaction, and it feels like it's come on so suddenly and strongly.
Dave
And now, last night's Job rant:
Blyech.
I should either be sleeping or working, and I'm doing neither. I'm starting to feel sleepy, though, so I think I'll try to make that happen earlier than usual instead of getting into the work I should reallly be doing, since I've got a thing to do in the morning earlier than usual.
I think I might finally be serious about wanting to leave my job, it just makes me sort of miserable to be there lately. Granted, that's mostly because it's been so slow but we're trying to keep busy and the things I have to do all day are just painful reminders of the fact that I'm not busy doing the usual work I'd be up to. I also get this sense of impending doom about the situation in general. The company is notorious for having these hills and crescents of work, and we just came off of an insane hill and it's sort of an industry-wide slowish time, but all kinds of things point to more and more reason to believe things are getting wierd. It's also difficult to cover for the fact that one of your bosses just doesn't give a shit when I'm starting to not really care myself. If I was really involved in making the projects I was working on, I could see being excited, but I don't feel like I am.
While I was in NY this weekend getting way to drunk with my brother at a wedding, I started yammering about leaving and getting a job with a certain company I have a connection to (a Network that makes Cartoons, perhaps) through the work I'm doing now, and talking flippantly about the change in location I suspect that company would most likely require. I should have quit talking, because he wouldn't shut up about it, and kept reminding me that I was so serious about it and seemed so fed up, and it's been lingering heavilly in my mind since.
And so, with that in mind, I basically told my boss that I really really wanted to be at the session we scheduled tomorrow for people from this company, and not stuck back at the office while she's off not caring about the project or the work. When I'm doing all the work to get these people's project done while she's out of the office and trying her best to get done with it with as little care or thought as possible, there's nothing I resent more than being stuck back in the office answering the phone while they're actually in the studio getting it done, where I enjoy feeling like we're actually making something, and I get feedback from these guys. I also feel like it's sort of an intentional cock-block to get any closer with the guys who I have the connection to, since the less face time I get with them the easier it is for them to forget who it is who's getting all the work done, and would really like to work more closely with them. I dunno, maybe I've made too much out of it, and they're just being nice, but it's wierd when you hear people you haven't met before tell you that other people at their company speak highly of you and the work you were doing on other projects. Maybe they're just being nice guys.
-I don't know...I think I'll probably chicken out and stay put awhile for the sake of the (for now) safety of it, but if the opportunity arises, or if there's any good way to do it without shooting myself in the foot, I'd really love to get the word out there that I'm interested in working directly with them. I just hate this dissatisfaction, and it feels like it's come on so suddenly and strongly.
Dave
So it turns out that 4.0 blogs can be updated/read with a smartphone.
In related news, i'm still taxiing on a plane that was supposed to take off 2 hours and 20 minutes ago.
the good news, they're (obviously) letting us use our cell phones while we wait for 50 more planes to take off. Also, I don't have any friends waiting to pick ne up at the airport.
-thankfully i'm on jetblue so i'm watching the Colbert Report while I type to kill time.
Dave
In related news, i'm still taxiing on a plane that was supposed to take off 2 hours and 20 minutes ago.
the good news, they're (obviously) letting us use our cell phones while we wait for 50 more planes to take off. Also, I don't have any friends waiting to pick ne up at the airport.
-thankfully i'm on jetblue so i'm watching the Colbert Report while I type to kill time.
Dave
**********UPDATE:*********
To top the best flight ever off, because I needed to pay to get my car out of the parking lot, I discovered my wallet was lost/stolen, along with my prescription sunglasses. I had to call the ever-valiant Surlyclown to come pay them so I could drive home. best flight ever. Also, my Social Security card was in there. So that's just fucking awesome.
**************ANOTHER UPDATE************
Actually, this one is good news. Got a call from Jetblue this morning and the cleaning crew did find my wallet on the flight last night. This is fabulously great, as it means that it was not stolen and I don't have to replace everything, but I must admit I'm a little pissed. I noticed it was missing right after I came off the plane, and I asked the guy from the cleaning crew there to look for me since I wasn't allowed back on the plane. When he said he 'didn't find nothing', I re-searched myself and asked that they look one more time before I walk away, and asked if I could wait to see if the cleaning crew found anything on their full look through the plane, and was told they'd already looked through it.
I'm really happy that the cleaning crew did in fact find the wallet in their sweep, but It bugs the shit out of me that this guy wouldn't let me really talk to them and lied to me about them being done just to get rid of me. To save himself that one little inconvenience, he inconvenienced me and about 4 other people in the process very late at night and caused quite a bit of un-needed panic. I'll forget about it as soon as I actually have my wallet back in hand, but I'm still quite pissed off.
********************************************
Taking off tonight to go home to NY for a wedding, haven't even packed yet.
Stayed up almost all last night working on drawing and painting stuff for fine folks:
#1 for JJ_R0x0rZ
#2 for GuitarsnGlasses
#3 for Cineman
#4 for Koala
Hoping to get all four paintings finished before June 30th so I can have that extra cash for a trip 4th of July weekend. That will be tough. I don't want to tell anyone not to ask me to make them anything else, but if you do, I won't be able to do anything on it until mid-July.
Hope I'll have some time to rest in the next 24 hours, as I've apparantly got to go to a bachelor party for the groom (the bride is the one who's really my old friend, I don't know this guy that well) to go tomorrow night. That'll be wierd and the last thing I need to be is asleep through it.
-At least I'll be exhausted enough to sleep on the plane. gotta love the red-eye.
Dave
Stayed up almost all last night working on drawing and painting stuff for fine folks:
#1 for JJ_R0x0rZ
#2 for GuitarsnGlasses
#3 for Cineman
#4 for Koala
Hoping to get all four paintings finished before June 30th so I can have that extra cash for a trip 4th of July weekend. That will be tough. I don't want to tell anyone not to ask me to make them anything else, but if you do, I won't be able to do anything on it until mid-July.
Hope I'll have some time to rest in the next 24 hours, as I've apparantly got to go to a bachelor party for the groom (the bride is the one who's really my old friend, I don't know this guy that well) to go tomorrow night. That'll be wierd and the last thing I need to be is asleep through it.
-At least I'll be exhausted enough to sleep on the plane. gotta love the red-eye.
Dave
Well that weekend didn't exactly go as planned.
-must draw, must not spend money...
Dave
-must draw, must not spend money...
Dave
It turns out that when things are slow, so I make an effort to put more on my plate, when things eventually naturally return from being less slow, suddenly I have this big shitload of stuff on my plate.
-One of these days I will have to learn to relax and just hang out and drink water between the courses, I guess.
Dave
PS: That doesn't mean I don't Still want you to commission a painting, if you haven't.
PPS: ...Because I do.
-One of these days I will have to learn to relax and just hang out and drink water between the courses, I guess.
Dave
PS: That doesn't mean I don't Still want you to commission a painting, if you haven't.
PPS: ...Because I do.
Pst...Hey. You. yes, you.
Commission- a- painting, dammit.
I both require and enjoy 'the monies.'
-All the cool kids are doing it, it's fun and affordable, and it is 100% money-back guaranteed* to make you much more attractive to the opposite (or same, whichever you prefer) sex.
Dave
*in no way consitutes an actual guarantee
Commission- a- painting, dammit.
I both require and enjoy 'the monies.'
-All the cool kids are doing it, it's fun and affordable, and it is 100% money-back guaranteed* to make you much more attractive to the opposite (or same, whichever you prefer) sex.
Dave
*in no way consitutes an actual guarantee
I've got to save up for a trip in July, and I think I'm about to ramp up another painting spree.
Which essentially means I'll be whoring for commissions, and possibly thinking about ideas for a larger series to show.
-So yeah. start saving a few bucks, because I'll be wanting to take said bucks in exchange for pictures of fuzzy and/or scaley things with big funny eyes and teeth.
Dave
Which essentially means I'll be whoring for commissions, and possibly thinking about ideas for a larger series to show.
-So yeah. start saving a few bucks, because I'll be wanting to take said bucks in exchange for pictures of fuzzy and/or scaley things with big funny eyes and teeth.
Dave
