Today was family day, with the Californians in town. I cooked up a whole food, plant based feast of ragu and spaghetti, spicy buffalo wings, steamed veggies, cheesy sauce, oatmeal cookies. All simple pleasures for a simply lovely day. Tonight we’ll be visiting them at the the Airbnb they’re staying staying in.
It felt great to give my family copies of my two books. It was an awesome day.
It looks like my contract work will be expanding in the fall, with more work than ever. That’s a good thing, as it means I’ll have a solid income, but it all comes with a punch in the gut warning — all of the contract employees may not be given work, depending on what the high-level managers decide fits in the budget. This back and forth rush for being employed to being laid off has been going on for the last ten years, and I’ve got a plan B that will keep a roof over my head. Call me crazy, but I believe that I will someday replace all of the contract work with the income I make from drawing cute animals.
The future looks bright to a cockeyed optimist.
Nacho and I are thinking of you, all of you, known and unknown. May you be happy and content. May you be safe, protected, and free from inner and outer harm. May you be healthy to the greatest degree possible, and may you experience ease of living.
The Winter Solstice is a big day in your family. It means each day will bring a few minutes more daylight, and before long it will be Spring and we’ll be enjoying our morning tea in the backyard in our shirtsleeves. Until then, we’ve got cold weather gear to keep us warm.
Willie the Pomeranian is back at home with us. He’s alert, and a little subdued. He’s be eating special rations to get some food into him, but he’s not eating his regular food yet. He’s taking two medications and probiotics to help allay some of the side effects of antibiotics. He seems spunky, but I’m cautiously reserved. The doctor is, too — she gave me her number in case I need to text her over the weekend.
I’m also preparing for a big influx of clients on Monday…about 70 fresh faces will be joining the project for the intensive 8-week challenge. It’s going to be more hectic than usual for the next two months. I don’t expect to spend significant time on my book during that time, but after the second week of December I’ll be on a six-week break from my contract job. I’m hoping that I can miraculously complete my third book in that brief spell of calm between the storms.
There’s a lightning storm heading for Southern Oregon. We’ve been warned to pack our bags and be prepared to evacuate on a moment’s notice. Ashland is 99% trees, and a fire here would be devastating. We’ve got a few changes of clothing, food for the dogs, a couple of laptops and backup drives, some important documents, and that it.
I look around the house and see that everything we’re leaving behind is replaceable. I’m hoping that luck is with us— all of use in town — and that we’ll be able to relax later tonight after the storm passes and enjoy some TV.
Later, gator.
Today was the first day of work at my part-time job. All went smoothly, but only a fraction of the expected customers checked in — there are always late comers who don’t quite understand that the program doesn’t have any slack time. Once everyone is here, it will be chaos until I can get everyone acclimated. It’s go, go, go from day one.
I was able to work on page 14, the drowning page, and also add in page 15, which means that I’m about one third of the way through the book. I hope I can maintain a good pace even though I’ll be spending six hours a day on my part-time job. If I start to feel burned out, I’ll lower my expectations for the next couple of months.
Today I started working on pages three and four. They will be a two page spread with lots of animals strolling by, some of them semi-realistic and others humanized. The giraffes are not humanized, but now that think about it, they would look great wearing denim jeans and white t-shirts and their long necks shooting up into the sky. I looked at a lot of references today and I can say one thing for sure: giraffes are lovely animals and doting parents. It strikes me that most animals are better parents than the crazy homo sapiens species.
The best birthday party yet
Today was my birthday, and it was the best yet. In truth, every birthday is the best it can be. My little boy is wearing his lovely faux jaguar onesie, and I’m about to devour that slice of almond poppy seed cake. My loving partner surprised me — we’d agreed on no gifts — with a gift! She gave me an awesome book about John Singer Sargent, who happens to be my current obsession and inspiration. The cover picture is Sargent’s Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, which is my current favorite painting. My goal is, one day, after moving to Japan, to go to the Tate Museum in London and stand in front of this picture..
On the children’s picture book front, I’m working on the eBook. I’ve discovered that I need to create an eBook layout specifically for the eBook. The print layout has inner margins that are required for print books. Note to future self: create two layouts for the next book: one for print and one for the eBook.
With just a bit more tweaking I’ll be done with this picture. I’m undecided whether to eliminate the background altogether or leave it as it is. One thing I will do is place a solid background beneath his silhouette where the brown background is bleeding through. Other than that, I like it. I feel really good working on this picture.
This picture need some highlights. I’m struggling with Krita — all of the keyboard shortcuts are neither like Photoshop nor Clip Studio Paint.
My chores today were laundry (check) and cooking (check). There’s not much to say about doing laundry, but I always enjoy doing it. I usually spend my time studying Japanese, surfing the web, watching videos, sketching, or reading. Today I started reading David Chang’s Eat a Peach: A Memoir.
After doing laundry I cooked up a big batch of wfpb (whole food, plant based) queso dip, the recipe for which came from The Jaroudi Family’s Youtube channel. Simple and delicious.
