Random Stuff From My Week

Posted on July 4, 2023 by SusanG

As sometimes happens, well probably more often than I care for, I had a topic for this post. I started it. I rewrote it. I rewrote it again, and again. Each time it went a bit off the rails. So, I’ve abandoned it. After three tries, if that train doesn’t want to reach the station, it’s not going to. That means that instead, you get random things going on in my world.

I am on holiday from the day job. That does not mean I am on holiday somewhere interesting. Not this time. I’m doing the stay home thing, not that that is much different from being at the day job these days. It does mean that instead of having a schedule I need to keep and other work that takes up my time, I have the day, the schedule, and the time to do as I please. Because of that it can sometimes mean I find projects I didn’t know I had and get lost in those and find half a day gone.

Photo of cds on a stereo
Latest listening, much of which needs to be ripped.

One such project that could do that, and nearly did that at first has to do with my cd collection. My cd collection has begun to grow again in the last month or so adding to a problem I created the last time it grew. A few years ago, just before I started buying a lot of cd’s, I had managed to get everything I had ripped to digital on my computer. Then I bought a bunch of cd’s and didn’t rip them as I got them. Well, I did rip some because I put them on my phone at the time. But a lot I didn’t.

For those who might not know, ripping a cd is basically the process of using a program to copy the file and convert it to a format a media player can read, like .mp3, .mp4 or .wav.

Not having everything ripped hadn’t been much of an issue until recently. I got Air Pods to use with my iPad and iPhone and very quickly discovered that they resolve something that has been bugging me about the cd/record player I have. So first, yes, I have a cd/record player/radio. It is an all-in wonder. But as you might guess, it doesn’t have the best of sound output. It also has this really annoying “feature”. It has auto-attenuation when you plug in headphones. Basically, it won’t let you turn the volume up too loud, I guess for safety. I don’t like this feature. It can make it very difficult to zone in on a pitch, a phrase, or a part because to do that sometimes you have to turn up the volume enough to get to what you’re trying to hear. With my system, at a certain point, it feels like the more I turn it up, the softer it gets, or I turn it up and it turns it right back down. It’s really annoying. So far, my Air Pods have not done that.

Once I figured out that the Air Pods were going to make my listening better, I started using them when working in the art studio and I’m really loving it. It is a little weird if I sing along, and I do, but I don’t have anyone around to be disturbed by it, so I’m not worried about it. While listening this way, I have found that there is stuff I want to listen to that I can’t find on most of the streaming platforms that I pay for. Which is frustrating because I’d love to create a playlist with a bunch of that stuff. So, as you might have guessed, one of the projects I didn’t know I have is trying to catch up on the cd ripping. Which involves, identifying what didn’t get ripped, and ripping it to the computer. It’s going to take some time. I counted last night, and I have nearly 80 cd’s to rip, and some are two cd sets. I don’t expect to finish this while I’m on holiday. I have other things I want to do, and I don’t want to spend all that time sitting in front of a computer. I do that enough as it is. But I’ll chip away at it.

photo of stacks of music cds
Stacks of cd’s to rip

Most of the other projects I may work on this week I listed out last week. I don’t know about you but for me, when I realize I’m going to have time to do stuff, I will make a list of everything that I need to do, or could do since I’ll have a big chunk of time to do it all in. The list is usually longer than I will have time to finish. Though, this time I have managed to get a few of those items knocked out already. However, I haven’t tackled a couple of the ones that are bigger, or at least feel like they are. The nice thing is, there isn’t a room painting project on the list this time. Though…

Yes. It did occur to me to paint or repaint a room in my home. And it would have been a massive project because the room I had in mind is the office with two seven-foot bookshelves that are full. And now, several guitars, as well as an amplifier, not to mention the desk set up that would all have to be moved. Oh, the painting needs doing, And maybe this year, just not this week.

Instead, I’m going to make more art and play some guitar. That is my primary plan for the week. I’ve got a new stippling art piece I’m working on. I’d like to get it done, or mostly done by the end of the week. Amazingly, it’s possible. I used to think every stippling project would take forever, some do, and then I did one over a weekend. It was pretty much all I did that weekend, and I was fairly stiff and sore from sitting in one position for so long. By taking the week, I hope to not have that issue.

photo of a drawing of a cockatoo
The start of the next piece of art

Yes, you did read that play guitar is on the list of this week’s activities. I am back to being able to play more again. Yay. I’ve found a handful of songs I want to learn to play and sing so I’m working on those. None of them are new, though one is new to me. A couple of them are old songs that are great sing-along to songs. And I’ve been working on a more robust way of playing a song I already know. I’ve basically learned the intro and the main fill for it instead of just strumming. That’s a bit of a change for me.

It’s not that I never wanted to learn the intros, and the fills, and the lead guitar parts of a song. I just never took the time to figure it all out. I’d want to play a song right away so I’d find the most expeditious way to play it that would let me sound like I was playing the song. While right now, doing this means it takes longer to learn a song, I’m hopeful that as I do it more and learn more songs that I’ll get better at it, and I’ll be able to enhance songs I already know while new songs won’t take as much to learn. Not to mention, I might not need sheet music or video demos as often. That would be so cool. While I work on the new songs, I’m refreshing some songs I already know. Many of them I haven’t been playing for a year or two, even before I injured myself, and for some songs, I don’t have very good notes on how I was playing them.

Other stuff I have planned for the week include a little cooking, going to dinner with a friend, watching a couple of movies, deciding on the next piece of art after the one I’m working on now, and possibly some daytime Taekwondo. Not an especially exciting week off, and definitely not the excitement of the weeklong trip to Paris. Still, it’s time that is mine to do what I want and I am happy to have it. Now, I think I’ll get a workout in and see what I can get stuck into for today. Peace.

Posted in Art, Just Thoughts, Music, Other Stuff, Weekly Updates | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Random Stuff From My Week

Your Interview

Posted on June 26, 2023 by SusanG

A few weeks ago, an off-handed response to a text from a friend started a fun little adventure for me, and hopefully him. He texted about something, and I responded about a song I’d just listened to that I was excited and perplexed about. The song was ‘Banks of the Ohio’ but in German. I’ve been trying to learn German for many years, and I was excited about it because I understood a fair bit of what was being sung. Progress for me. I was perplexed because the original song in English was recorded back in the early 70’s. ‘Banks of the Ohio’ was one of the first hit-type songs for Olivia Newton-John. Or close to it.

I mentioned to my friend that it had to be in her back catalog someplace. And that I shouldn’t be surprised she’s recorded in German since her mother was German, the daughter of Max Born. He said something and I responded that I have a lot of not very useful information stuck in my head and that he loved Olivia Newton-John and liked fun information like that. Or something along those lines. I apparently took that as a challenge of sorts because I proceeded to lead him down the rabbit hole of what I could find or had previously found. It was a lot of fun. Thanks, Rick, for playing along.

Selfie in the art studio
Selfie in the art studio

As I was poking around finding all the cool stuff to send him, I watched a lot of live video and interviews. I’d been sorting through a few videos just before I went for a walk and as I was walking, I found myself having this interview conversation with myself, in my head, not out loud, people would think me very strange if I did that. Anyway. It got me to thinking. What would my, your interview be.

Play along with me for a moment.

What would you want to be being interviewed for? When you think about it, most people interviewed, except say eyewitness interviews, are usually being interviewed about something related to their job. Is that what you would want to be interviewed about? Maybe you are an amateur actor and you’re doing a play, or you’re directing the play. Maybe you’re an artist and starting to give lessons or go to art shows. Maybe you’re a musician who has been playing for years and you’re just starting to play performances. Maybe you collect something and have a lot of knowledge about it that you think is cool and you want to share. Maybe you’re an exercise or health guru or an activist or politician.

So. What would you want to be interviewed about?

Next. What questions would you want to be asked? There are some standard interview questions that you would be asked. Things like ‘how did you get started?’ What sparked your interest. Who or what was your early influence. How did you find out about it. Those would be pretty standard how we find out about you and your interview topic. You might even get a question about why it’s important. That question would come up if you are being interviewed about something you’re advocating for or against, so if you are being interviewed for your environmental activism, or your political activism, or any other sort of activism for that matter. It could even come up if you’re talking about history. It’s a good question to consider regardless. But those are standard questions. Is there a question you would want to be asked? Something you think gets missed in the standard stuff.

Now, let’s pretend you’ve been well-known for a while. So, you’re a celebrity in your area so people start asking more probing, not surface questions. Not the how did you get into this, or what was it like working with, questions. Now they want to know about your life. You’re private life. How you feel about love, if you have a love interest, what you like to do when you’re not doing what you’re well-known for. What would you want to be asked? What would you not want to be asked? What would you be willing to answer even if you preferred you weren’t asked the question. How open would you be willing to be? Would you be all out there and open for any question? Would you be evasive? What about the question of ‘guilty pleasure’? Would you, could you answer that?

Guitars on a shelf and an electric keyboard in my living room
Music in the living room

I used to like the ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’ interviews because of the questions asked at the end. I forget what the segment was, but it was great. One of the questions was ‘what’s your favorite curse word’. I think he even asked, ‘and why’. I still remember what and how Barbara Streisand answered. Will your interview, or some part of your interview stick in someone’s head?

So, you’re now a celebrity and you’re going to be interviewed. Where? Are you being interviewed remotely, are you on some morning show, some talk show in a studio with a studio audience? Is this an interview for some magazine show and they are interviewing you on set of something? Back stage? Are you inviting them into your home? Where would you want to be interviewed?

What sort of an interviewee would you be? Are you stiff and uncomfortable? Are you difficult and reluctant to answer? Do you answer but with very short answers, so the interviewer has to work hard to fill a ten-minute segment. Or are you relaxed and easy going? Willing to answer just about anything and give a little more to the answer than just ‘yes’, ‘no’, or the date of the event? Are you really talkative and the interviewer has to work to get an additional question asked? Are you shy or embarrassed about being interviewed?

Which leads to, who sets the tone? You’re going to be interviewed. You’re well-known, even a celebrity. How do you approach the interview? Do you set the tone? How do you greet the interviewer and team? Do you give a curt nod, a handshake? A brief embrace, and a kiss? A pat on the back or shoulder? Just a ‘hello’? Do you make it clear they are on your turf so to speak, even if it’s in their studio? Are you gracious and welcoming? Are you combative? Do you make the interviewer and their team feel comfortable and at ease? Or do you intimidate them and keep them on their toes?

We’ve had our fun imagining being interviewed and what we want to be asked, how we would handle it, how we would make the interview team feel. What else would you want for your interview? What else is important for you for your interview?

Most people that we see being interviewed don’t have that much say in their interview set up. Some do. And in some situations. But if you’re going on the ‘Tonight Show’ you know the set and set up and that’s not going to change. At best you might get a stipulation or assurance that you won’t be asked about something. That doesn’t really guarantee that you won’t be asked about it. How would you handle that? Would you get up and walk out? Would you look at them with disdain and clam up? Would you politely decline to answer the question?

There are countless other things got consider as part of your interview for sure. For now, though I have one last set of things for you to think about for your interview. Who would you want to be interviewed by? Would you be comfortable with your friends or family seeing your interview? Would your friends or family learn something about you from the interview they didn’t know, or you didn’t want them to know?

Overgrown apothos plant on a stool
My Apothos, Phil, needed a haircut.

I was going to ask you ‘why’ as well. Why would you want to be interviewed about the particular topic or event? Why would you respond the way you choose? All of those things. I’m not going to ask that, but maybe you should ask yourself, as I should ask myself.

I really didn’t start the walk thinking of how the idea of imagining your interview would be an exercise in self-reflection, and I didn’t start this post with that thought. But there it is. If you really sit down and play the game, come up with the questions, the setting, the scenario, I think we get to learn a lot about ourselves. Things like what is important to us. Did your interview start one way and pivot to something else that you suddenly realized you’re really passionate about? Maybe we learned how we think we are or how we want to be. Maybe we learned how we want to be treated. One last experiment. If your interview was antagonistic, set up a non-antagonistic interview for yourself. And if your interview was pleasant and non-antagonistic and docile, setup an aggressive, or antagonistic interview. How do you handle the other? And what else did you learn?

If you are wondering if I’ve done this myself. Not yet in this form. While I was on the trip for the day job one of the activities, they gave us was to interview one of our colleagues and then introduce them in the group meeting. So, not only did I get to “interview” one of my colleagues, but I also got to be interviewed. I’m not sure I did that great of a job interviewing my colleague because I didn’t really handle it that way. He happened to be sitting across the table from me. But the colleague who interviewed me, we made time to sit down so he could ask me questions. It was an interesting experience. And it did touch on some of the things I’ve presented you in this experiment. It didn’t offer quite the self-reflection that doing this on your own might. Though, it did still teach me a little about how to be interviewed.

I hope you had fun playing along. And thanks again Rick for letting me dig that hole for you. I found a secondary path or two that I expect will be playing a part in things I’m working on. I’ll be sharing more on those things as they come up. For now, don’t forget to check out the new art store. I’ve got a link up so you can get to it easily. I’ll be adding more pieces to it so if you want to stay in the know, you can join the mailing list there. Have fun with your interview. Peace.

Posted in General Commentary, Just Thoughts, Other Stuff, Weekly Updates | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Your Interview

Announcement Time!

Posted on June 20, 2023 by SusanG

I’m excited! It’s time for the big announcement.

Are you ready?!

Susan Michelle Artist is open!

For a while now I’ve been thinking of finding a way to make my art more available to people who might be interested. An opportunity came my way and I decided to take it and open my online art store. You can check it out at the link above.

Currently there is a small selection of works, a couple of stippling pieces, a watercolor, and a pastel painting, that you can purchase as prints, or even tote bags.

There will be more soon.

I have two watercolor pieces I’m working on now. One is just nearly complete and the other is not quite half complete. I expect to be releasing the first one sometime in the next week or so.

When you visit the store, be sure to sign up for the mailing list so you know when I release those new pieces, and any future pieces. Oh. And check your spam folder in case the email ends up there.

This is a big step for me and I’m super excited about it. Please check it out. And return often to see the new stuff.

Posted in Art, Other Stuff, Product Announcements | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Announcement Time!

Environment and Demand

Posted on June 13, 2023 by SusanG

Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s along with the big hair, big shoulder pads, leg warmers, and neon, followed by grunge rock, there was a resurgence of environmental awareness. I say resurgence because the environmental movement was really launched in in 1962 with Rachel Carson’s book ‘Silent Spring’. Followed by the first Earth Day on 22nd of April 1970. The resurgence was partly fueled, I’m guessing, buy the realization that there was this gaping hole in the planet’s ozone layer. Not really a good thing if you want to keep damaging ultraviolet radiation out. Why would you want to do this? Well, it damages crops, leads to an increase in skin cancer, and an increase in cataract rates, according to the EPA website. Because I grew up during this time, I knew the hole was bad and it was because of radiation and skin cancer. I even knew that it was being caused, or we were told it was caused by chlorofluorocarbons. But it’s been a long time, so I looked it up.

photograph of a cafe style coffee mug supporting surfrider foundation making waves

I have a friend who lives in Australia and at one point I think we talked about how they had become a bit more environmentally conscious due to being closer to that ozone hole. And it makes sense. The sun seems much more intense there so if it’s already intense and blinding then that hole sitting over or near you well, it was probably a little disturbing. And yes, the sun is more intense there. My sunglasses were not near dark enough at times when I was there. And for that matter my friends were telling me that their daughters get sunburned in Australia but can go to someplace like Greece and they don’t get burnt.

A few things brought this to mind this recently. I was reminded by email that it’s time to renew my Surfrider Foundation membership, that was one. Then, as I was doing swapping the music room into the art studio, I found a duplicate DVD of a concert and I had to play it to tell which one was the ‘bad’ DVD and which one was the good one so I could get rid of the bad one. It wasn’t the DVD itself that was the reminder it was who the concert was by. In my mind Olivia Newton-John, in addition to her cancer work, will always be associated with the environmental movement of the 1980’s and 1990’s. And then there was an article I read on the El Pais English site; it talks about a number of thresholds that according to scientists would have devastating effects if they were breached widely. One of the things the article does note is that we solved the ozone hole problem, pretty much at the last moment, but we solved it. And that makes me wonder, what happened? Not what happened that we solved it. What happened that we stopped.

What happened that that movement, that awareness lost momentum? We were concerned about not cutting down trees, about saving species of plants and animals, about protecting the rain forests, about the plight of dolphins and other sea creatures, about toxic waste, about hunger, and the plight of humans all over. What happened? Did we quit caring?

While it might feel like we did, I don’t think we actually quit caring. I think our care and concern for the only home we have right now became a victim to the almighty dollar and to demand. See demand has never been about meeting our needs as customers or even as people. Demand has always been about creating consumers. If it had been about meeting our needs as people, we’d have seen greater progress in sustainable living and health and clean air and clean water and social justice. Instead, we’ve seen life “improvements” in the form of making it “easier” for us to do more work in a shorter amount of time, so that companies don’t think they need to hire as many people to do the work as they used to. As an example. But those companies also need to see constant bottom-line growth in the form of profits. And so, they find ways to create demand of consumers.

photo of a white t-shirt for old environmental friendly type store called 'shop called Mango'

And we as people, that have now been dehumanized into consumers, aren’t getting our demands, desires, or needs met. But we are told we are. Or we’re told that if we just purchase this more thing or bigger thing it will solve everything. Because, if they distract us from our dissatisfaction and disappointment maybe we’ll forget about passing laws that make them more responsible, or even insisting they have more sustainable practices. Because if we make them make quality products that will last beyond their first use then we won’t buy as much of their stuff.

But. There again, they’ve manufactured or induced demand. We are told that if we are really concerned for the environment that we just need to recycle more, buy more expensive “enviro-friendly” products, buy a hybrid car, get solar panels, eat organic, recycle more, and on and on. So that’s what we’ve tried to do. Community recycling programs were started, and recycling was added to our trash pickup so we could feel like we were/are making a difference. Even though they were halfhearted and mostly ineffective or insufficient, recycling programs remain in the form of curbside pickup and recycle bins.

For so long, we were told we were the problem. We created all the trash and waste, and we weren’t taking advantage of the recycling programs as evidenced by the fact that only some miniscule percentage of plastic was being recycled. And yet because we are considered consumers used to create demand for product that we may or may not need but the corporations need us to purchase to make more and more money, we are encouraged to keep…consuming. Which by its very nature creates more waste. But it’s our fault that we aren’t recycling.

The truth is, while we should do our part and reuse or recycle what we can, even if we all did that for everything, the problem would still exist because we as customers and people were not the primary problem. As they say, you don’t repair the fence after the cows get out, or if you prefer, you can’t put toothpaste back in the tube. Or something like that. If you want to fix or prevent the problem, you have to start at the source. You don’t want to run out of toothpaste, you put the cap on it before it oozes out. You don’t want the cows to get out, you make sure the fence is in good shape before it’s breaks or falls down. You keep your house in order, so you don’t have to clean up the mess. You take care of things, so you don’t have to replace them. The difference is, while we can replace things, we can’t replace the Earth.

photo of the back of an old tank top that has a rain forest design and says 'The Rain Forest must not die - Sun Lover'

We are at the last minute, again. But unlike the ozone problem, this time we face multiple problems that we have to solve in this last minute. Sure, the most pressing is climate change. And yes, we know most of what has caused it. And no, it’s not a single class of chemical that we can make illegal to use and mandate it be immediately phased out. Even if it were, like with the ozone hole, it would still take time and we are at the last minute. Yes, we need to do our part. But our part isn’t rounding up the cows after they get out or trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube after it’s oozed all over the counter. Our part is helping to stop the problem at its source. Our part is to break the cycle of induced demand. Our part is to demand better. If they want our business, they need to do better business. And we need to insist on it. We need to show them we no longer have the appetite for just being sold the cheapest flashiest stuff that just breaks and gets replaced right away. We also have a part to play in showing lawmakers as well as corporations that we not only want the drastic change required, but we also have an appetite for it.

Making the changes needed to keep our planet livable is not going to be easy. It will require a lot of paradigms shifting. In some case it may look like ‘going backwards’ as older, sustainable methods are revisited and revived. We will resist, as we have been for many years. But we are at the last minute. And while I’m not keen to go back to the big hair and neon of the 1980’s or even the grunge of the 1990’s we could really stand to bring back whatever it was that let us band together to fix the hole in the ozone.

After the post about health care as an induced demand I really thought I was done with the topic of induced demand. But when I read about how many acres of the Amazon Rainforest has been cut down in the last few years just for cattle farming, I realized that the environmental movement had been a victim of it as well. Even if it is a demand/movement that has been unintentionally induced. And then I realized that what happened to that environmental movement of my youth was that it had been appropriated and turned into a demand that we don’t realize is a demand. Remember, when I said that the question was who was making money off us? Well, if we don’t have waste, pollution, a climate crisis, we don’t have a market for the clean-up, we don’t have a market for things that make the air less polluted, we don’t have a market for renewables. The crisis maybe was the result of short-sightedness, but it has turned into a manufactured demand that we perhaps could have avoided.

I’ve been working in the art studio more since I moved things around and I’ve got exciting news about the art store that I’ll be sharing this week. I’ll be posting it here and on Instagram and Facebook soon. I look forward to sharing it with you. Until then, peace.

Some links on this site are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission from purchases made using the link(s).
Posted in A story, General Commentary, Other Stuff, Weekly Updates | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Environment and Demand

Cleaning Time Again

Posted on June 6, 2023 by SusanG

It’s been as they say ‘a hot minute’ since I did some serious cleaning. Particularly on my balcony. Living in the Carolinas and in a condo, it’s not easy to keep the outside space that I have clean. And I confess, though I tried to clean it some last year, I didn’t use it much after that, so it was needing a bit more help.

I found a real need for my balcony the first year of the pandemic lock downs, but I didn’t get around to doing anything about it until the end of the summer. But once I did, I totally enjoyed it and made good use of it. Even through the next summer. Then, like happens so much of the time in life, I got away from it. Except for this one tree that I have.

Photo of a small avocado tree, sapling, in a pot.

My tree is an Avocado tree that my dad started from seed. He is very good at this. Several years ago, now, he gifted it to me on one of my parents’ visits. I had it inside for a while until he got big enough that it seemed like he would be better off outside. The tree has name, and it is: Groot. Then a few years after that he gifted me another one because as it turns out they have gender, and you need one of each to get avocados. Supposedly. This second tree was called: George. Anyway, I love the shape of Groot’s leaves. And yes, even though they were both avocado trees the leaves of Groot and George were different. Um, George didn’t make it by the way.

For that matter, Groot has been a freaking miracle. I have inadvertently killed him off at least three times because of cold. Or not enough water, or more likely both. The first time, I just didn’t know. The second time I had tried to protect him from the cold but was unsuccessful, and figured out that part of it was that I hadn’t watered enough during the winter. So last year, I thought he’d be ok tucked into a corner with a cover and plenty of water. Truth is, I think I had become antipathic about my balcony and plants. I didn’t use the balcony at all last summer even after having someone out to remove the wasp nest. Even so, I still mourned the plight of Groot.

I mourned the death of the plant, and my antipathy. I felt so bad that I had ‘let’ this plant die. And then a month or so ago, I looked out at my dirty balcony covered in pollen and pollution from the near by state highway and saw this growth peaking up. Groot had somehow survived and was growing once again. I was thrilled and quite relieved. It’s a plant, right. So, what’s the big deal.

photo of 3 guitars on a shelf of books and an electronic keyboard on a stand on the floor next to the shelf, and a music stand

It makes me think of how we’ve reacted or responded to the plight of our planet. For a time, it seemed like we might be able to get behind a kinder, gentler world that cared about the animals and the people and then it seemed to have disappeared. I wondered for a while what had happened to that. Had we just quit caring? And I then I realized two things, we haven’t quit caring, we may have become somewhat antipathic to the situation due to being overwhelmed by the enormity of it, and the environmental movement had been co-opped in the name of capitalism and induced and manufactured demand. And it pisses me off. So, I’m probably going to have to write a post about that soon.

But for the moment we’re talking about cleaning season. In the northern hemisphere it’s ‘spring cleaning’ time. A fun catchy phrase to sell more cleaning products and convince people to buy stuff to ‘freshen up’ their homes. It likely had a more practical meaning at one time. The other evening, I was watching a concert on video and realized, I needed to clean off the balcony because the weather was so nice, I should have been sitting out there sipping a beverage listening to music and reading or writing instead of sitting inside. But. My balcony was really dirty. Really dirty.

photo of several guitar cases lined up on a low shelf along a wall with an orange amplifier, pedal board, music stand, and guitar stand

I had just taken the previous weekend to do some serious cleaning inside. No. I didn’t get the whole place scrubbed down. Just one room really. I had to be done and it has certainly solved a problem for me.

See, as I started thinking about how I’d like to be making more art and perhaps selling some of it in one form or another, I realized something. I had given a whole room to the music and just this tiny little corner, in the room that has become the office, to my art and the art needs more space than the guitars. I also need more light.

The room that has been the music room for 11 years has great light. And I love that room. I do. I enjoy just sitting in it. But I wasn’t enjoying being at my art desk in my office, so I wasn’t getting any work done. The solution was obvious, but a big job. The music room, much like my balcony, had been somewhat neglected of the last year so there was much cleaning to do in addition to moving things around. It took me two days, to get things shifted around and to find new places for some things. Or at least comfortable temporary places. I’m pleased with the results. And yes, the guitars are still on the wall. I think they will stay there. They are as much a part of me as my art, and I pull inspiration from music to create my art so it’s appropriate that they stay.

I love the room still. Maybe even a little more right now. I’ve spent a fair bit of time in there since the shift. And it’s resulted in a new piece of art that will be going up in the new store soon.

photo of a wasp nest in a corner of the ceiling over a door

I’ve moved the guitars into the office and even set the amplifier and pedal board up so that I can play. Now, I have an art studio instead of a music room and that’s exactly what it needs to be right now.

And now I even have a clean balcony. As I really enjoy sitting outside and relaxing with a beverage and a book or while writing my posts, I felt it would be worth spending a morning cleaning it up. Making the chairs clean enough to sit on and the table clean so that the sweaty tea glass doesn’t create a muddy puddle. All the dead plants got cleaned out and the deck swept up. The wasps have already moved in. They arrived a month or two ago. I’m not fond of them. I’m allergic to them and they scare the crap out of me. But I refuse to use stuff to kill them anymore. Though it would be really nice if they wouldn’t build their nest right over my door. And since that’s what they do, and I don’t want to kill them, at some point in the next month or so, I’ll probably call someone to come knock down the nest. But for now, I’m sitting on my clean balcony, with the wasps and Groot, while I write this. And thoroughly enjoying it.

photo of small art studio with two easels with artwork in progress, an art desk with papers on it and paints in the foreground

I’ll be going back into the art studio in a little bit. I finished the piece I was working on. Or I’m pretty sure I have. I usually let them sit a few days before I make that final determination. I’ve got a few more things in mind to start on so I’ll start sorting through that. And see what comes of it. I’ve got some pictures from the trip to Paris that I think will make interesting pieces and my sister just sent me a fun one that I’m looking at and there are even a few pictures from the Australia trip a few years ago that I’m thinking of using.

And you did read that right. There’s a new art store coming. I’ll be adding it to this site and posting about it quite soon. Until then. Peace.

Posted in Art, General Commentary, Music, Other Stuff, Weekly Updates | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Cleaning Time Again