"Guy with the tree in his head" 2010

The challenge was to catch an image that in one minute before or after would not exist. I looked over from my car, and snapped the photo just as the light had changed. I didn't even see this for what it was at the time. It is weird, and great at the same time. I had spent the entire day looking for an opportunity like this and found it just a couple of miles from home.

When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.

Theodore Roosevelt

Now if I am pretty sure I can do something, especially Design and Illustration work, some Photography then I will indeed say yes and just get to work. But if I don't, well that is a different story.

Recently, I came face to face the something that I know I will never tackle as a full blown aspect of being a Graphic Designer. I don't do Web Design. After taking the class two times I have decided to stay with what I do best. I am not going to create a masterful Web page for myself. I am putting my work into an online portfolio service. I am going to draw, design, make great images and illustrations. I am going to leave the Web Design to the people who love to do it. I understand it, but do it as part of my job? No, I just don't want to spend the time to learn it to the degree that I do it well. There are so many people out there who love it and who will do a great job. 

Me,  I draw well, am great with color and design. I can work big or small. I am competent with Adobe Suite. I can do what needs to be done to get a piece Where it needs to go. I can use all sorts of creative techniques and work with many different materials. And within that context I can do just about anything. Or I can figure it out. 

Missed my Sunday

Sometimes life gets in the way of the best laid plans.
The only deadline is the one I give myself.
Mark Thomas 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/deadline.html#mt0UbEplh2cCfV7Y.99 

I had to look up Mark Thomas. One misses much of contemporary culture when one does not have TV. Never-the-less life goes on. There is a reason I missed my Sunday post. 

Thursday night at work I managed to lodge a peanut in a broken tooth. When I flossed it out I broke the last barrier between the tooth and the root. Anyone who has been through this before knows what happened next. I spent the night with my cheek on various ice packs, using ice chips to reduce the pain, and drinking a lot of cold water. And yes, I took every pain relieving substance in the house. Friday morning I texted my boss, that I would not be in and why, then trotted off the the dental clinic at the County. I knew walking in the door that the only option was to pull it. By this point the pain is very bad, and I am almost in tears. While I was waiting to be seen I watched Forrest Gump. What a great movie. Smart people showing movies with humor. 

Long story short- Appointment for Monday morning to have the tooth pulled, a large bottle of penicillin, and instructions to take acetaminophen for the pain. I went home, took the drugs texted my boss again that I would be in for my shift on Saturday. Then I went to bed, with my cheek on an ice pack. I was expecting the drugs to do their thing. Sure enough, by Friday evening I was good to go. 

Work was work, and Sunday was a day to make sure I was ready for what ever happened on Monday.  I changed my sheets. Everything is better with fresh sheets. I made a pot of garbanzo's. Soft, nutritious.  Then I went out and planted a bed of beets. And did other chores in the vegetable garden that needed to be done. I have a rather active bunch of raccoons that live on the property, and since I use worm castings in all my beds, I am careful to surround each one with a short fence of chicken wire. I have come out and seen little digs around the bottom of the fences. 

That night I did chores, got the trash out and up on the levee. Cleaned up and went to bed. I will confess I took a little more BP medication than normal. I didn't want to be told they could not do the surgery. I have had a lot of dental work done, too many Novocain shots. To me they hurt like hell. I have had some less than great experiences in the dentists chair, and it always starts with some dentist telling me that jell will make the shot not hurt. 

Monday morning I got up and took another does of BP medication. No salt, no caffeine, lots of water for 24 hours. My landlord, Fred, gave me a ride over. We sat in the car and talked about ways to relax before I went in, which helped a lot.  He waited while they did the procedure. They told me an hour. For once a doctor listen to me. He was putting the gel on and I told him he might want to do the first shot a bit farther back. So he did. That first one hurt a lot, they always do. The subsequent ones not so much. When I told him that it wears off quickly with me he tested the tooth before he started pulling on it, and gave me more. Then, although it took a lot of effort he just pulled the tooth out. He said there was only a membrane separating it from my sinuses and to watch blowing my nose and coughing for a week. They squirted it with anti-sceptic, packed it with gauze, gave me some script and out I went. NO follow up. Fred said it was just under an hour.  Fred and I went to Jack-in-the-Box while I waited for the Vicodin. By the time I got the drugs the novocain was wearing off, but the drugs kicked in eventually. I took a nap on an ice pack to reduce the swelling and have felt fine ever since. There is a bit of swelling but no bruising as far as I can tell. 

It wasn't the most positive experience to go through, but considering what it was, It was OK. 

Getting an audience is hard. Sustaining an audience is hard. It demands a consistency of thought, of purpose, and of action over a long period of time.
Bruce Springsteen 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/consistency.html#GaqhobBvoblMfghM.99 

Using consistency in a business Model.

http://www.youtube.com/user/marieforleo

Now I am working very hard at consistency. Or rather I am working at certain things that I have not been consistent about. The link is to Marie TV aka Marie Forleo. I believe she is going to be a superstar. She gets so many things, but one thing she gets and can communicate is the power of online business. Within that context, and within the context of business she talks at great length, and discusses the importance of consistency, She is the reason I took a look at what was not working and realized I need to be regular, and yes more consistent with my posts. Bruce Springsteen is just another voice.

So following that though I said I would fix the 'Cat in the Door' piece and repost it. I liked the darkness of the first one because I think it communicated mystery, and that sense of night I wanted. I am working on this between other projects.  It is still a work in progress.