I hate when it’s been so long since I’ve taken a photograph or posted to my blog that taking a photograph or posting to my blog feels foreign. But that’s the situation I find myself in, and so I’m starting with this.
It’s been a tremendously long time since I’ve had a day off from my day job. My parents were here for five days in the middle of July, and I did take time off for that, but it didn’t feel like a vacation. Otherwise, I’ve worked every day since late June, I think. I’ve lost track.
On the one hand, this is an awful thing: I need time off not only to take photographs but also to do the little things that I have to do to keep this operation running, like cleaning the house and getting the car washed and exercising my dog and myself. On the other hand, though, being this busy when you’re a freelancer in a floundering economy really isn’t something to complain about. I’m now officially booked solid with work through the last week in January, with the exception of time off for the holidays, and I’ve made sure to set aside the weekends and vowed not to let them go.
I’m in the process, right now, of choosing images for Critical Mass, and I feel more confident entering this year than I did when I entered two years ago. Getting in to Review Santa Fe was a mental boost, and I’ve been in a couple shows recently that have made me very proud. So, I think my chances might be better than ever. And yet, still, in the end, it always feels like a bit of a crapshoot. I pay the fee, I upload the images, and then I try to forget that I did either of those things and not care too much whatever the result (
try being the operative word).
I’m also really, really excited about an idea for a new project that came to me yesterday. Well, I’ve had the idea for the project for a while now, but it sort of coalesced yesterday, after a series of happenstances. I’m in this infatuation phase where the project is perfect and always puts the toilet seat down and never drinks out of the milk carton. Eventually, the project will do both those things, and more, and I’ll either love it, or I’ll show it the way back to the 101, but for now, it’s all starry nights and jasmine, and I love that time in a project.
Enjoy these long days. There were neighbors throwing a football around in the middle of my street before sunset recently, and even though you could do that year-round here in California, it’s nice to see it done in the summertime.
Labels: Critical Mass, day job
