Starting a new year

In many ways, my year begins in September . . . not because of school, but because my birthday is in September. (It was a week ago.)

I started a new class year this month too. Richard isn't teaching the nude figure this term, so I'm in a portrait class. This is my first effort:

I've also recently finished revising the novel I've been working on the last six years. I'm having a few people read it, and then (unless I need to make more revisions), I'll start the whole process of trying to market it.

Working on that book again has made me realize that I miss writing fiction. So I need to give that some serious thought. I also have ideas for a non-fiction book and an educational product.  Now if I can just make the time . . .

Since I have so much other writing I want to do, I think that this is going to become pretty much an art blog where I can post what I'm working on . . . at least for the immediate future.

Ciao.

Another No

Well, the actor that was considering the role in Michael's project backed out without even saying how much money he wanted. We don't know why.

The good news is that our casting agent has suggested another creative approach to take to moving the project forward. It's another one of those things that I can't explain in detail because of the politics of the situation.


So on we go. As someone commented last time, this is life on the edge.


If nothing else, it keeps things interesting.

good news

Thank you for your prayers. My brother took a turn for the better last night and did not have to be admitted to the hospital. He still has some recovery to do, but he is improving.

prayers requested

Please pray for my brother. He has a staph infection in his leg that isn't responding to antibiotics. Because he is diabetic, healing tends to be slow, and there's a danger of gangrene / amputation.

Please keep him in your prayers. He's going through a difficult time in more ways than this.

Thanks.

The Squirrel in the Road

Some of you may remember that I was thinking of switching to my husband's doctor. Well, September rolled around and it was time for an annual check-up, so I made the appointment. Last Thursday, I went to see her for the first time, and she did a very extensive new patient interview.

And because of a pattern of various symptoms I have, she thought there was the possibility that I had two different auto-immune disorders.

Friday, I went to have five vials of blood drawn and then I waited, wondering if life as I knew it was about to change. I knew that I'd been very tired the last couple of years, but I thought it was just because of economic stress and juggling too many things. The blood tests would determine whether it was something more serious.

Wednesday, as I continued to wait for word, I needed to get out of the house. So I got on my bike and went to the cemetery across the road from our subdivision. It's an old cemetery with winding roads lined with enormous, craggy trees, and my neighbor and I like walking and biking there. But on Wednesday, I went alone and I biked around and around while listening to music.

On one particular section of the outer loop, a squirrel was sitting in the middle of the road as I approached. It saw me coming and skittered up the nearest tree.

On my second loop, the squirrel was there again. On my third loop, the road was empty, but on the fourth loop, the squirrel was back in the very same spot. (I think some food must have been dropped there and smashed on the pavement by passing tires.)

When I made him skitter away the third time, I started laughing and laughing. And I thought, This is how I'll cope if I'm seriously ill. I'll narrow my focus to what's directly in front of me, and I'll enjoy the little things in life.

Well, yesterday we received the results of my blood work, and everything looks good according to my doctor. I don't have any new chronic conditions after all.

But I'm thinking maybe I should remember the lesson of the squirrel in the road anyway and learn to manage my life just a little bit better.

film project update

We heard tonight that there is an actor who LIKES MICHAEL'S SCRIPT!!! It's not the same actor I posted about before--he decided he was too busy right now to take this on. This is someone else--whom I can't name because we're in a negotiation stage.

He said he likes the role. But there is a catch. He wants more money than we have budgeted. (This is what is considered a low-budget film, although the numbers are astronomical to me!) Sigh. The actor's agent is talking to him to get him to figure out how much he wants, and then we have to decide if we can meet his salary demand. (It will mean giving up some of our potential profits or increasing the amount we have to raise to make the film or deciding to have only one name actor instead of two.)

But whoo hoo! He's a name actor with a big following from TV, and he wants to play the role if we can pay him more. We're all in a dither. If we can make this work, it could be the big tipping point we need to make some headway on the project at last.