News from the Trenches...

Time is flying by and it's not necessarily because I'm having fun. Most of my time recently has been spent in a funk. I'm in a rut. No, more like a trench. I've tried not to spread this around, because really, it doesn't do anything. I'd rather be positive and focused on making things, but it's difficult.

The biggest source of my funk is, of course, the issue with the banks and Yury the Ukrainian. It is taking a tremendous amount of effort to get things straightened out. The most I can do is to wait. I have to wait for pending charges to post, for customer service to pick up, for new cards to arrive, for money to go out, for money to go in... it is just frustrating... waiting.

I don't know if it's a result of all the scowling faces and gritted teeth of late, but one of my teeth in the back needs plucking. The nerve is exposed and it makes eating an ordeal. My tooth cracked years ago on the day Reagan died. Coincidentally I cracked it on a jelly bean. I should have gotten it fixed then, but I didn't have time then. I was always too busy. I can't ignore it anymore though, but now a trip to the dentist isn't in the budget and I don't have dental insurance. Sure, the tooth hurts, but what really hurts is the foreknowledge that if something serious were to happen, I'd be up the creek without a paddle.

I guess that's the price one pays for the freedom of a freelancer.

On Saturday I take off for Asheville. I am worried that I won't get everything finished that I had planned to, but I guess you just have to make allowances. I am only human. I can only do so much without wearing myself out. And as I've recently discovered, I'm more fragile than I thought. One false move and I could tumble this precariously stacked house of cards.

After a few days in Asheville spent with the babies, packing for the shows and hopefully doing some bronze and copper clay pressings, Greg and I are driving across country to Tucson. It's the only way we can get everything we need for the shows there without having to spend a fortune on shipping and worrying that something might not show up. It'll be good to get away for awhile, step back and just lose myself in the pace of the shows. I'm looking forward to the warmer weather, shopping, and spending time with my creative friends who I only get to see a handful of times a year. While there, we'll be featuring the work of some excellent people who can't make it this year, like Kelly Russell, Off Center Productions, and Heather Wynn. I'm excited about these additions to our table. I think the work of all of these artists goes marvelously with Green Girl Studios merchandise. While in Tucson, I'm also hoping to meet up with Ellen Steiber, author of A Rumor of Gems. I became acquainted with her work while I was doing research for one of my articles on gemlore and faeries. Hopefully we'll get to sit down and meet face to face.

Back to work for me. There is still yet a mountain of work to do before I can go and I've still got a couple more hours of solid work before rest.