Tuesday, January 25: Week 26

We live in a world of such profound beauty and ugliness, and so much of it goes unnoticed, just because we have to turn our heads away to drive. I mention this only because, with the recent snow, I've gotten more sensitized to how our surroundings can change so completely in so little time. A branch that looked simply dead and pining for spring, takes on magical traits that accentuate the true shape and nature of the branch, not hidden beneath fecund leaves. I saw a young woman at the gym of such breathtaking beauty, that even the spartan context of her environment and clothing, couldn't dull the small glory of her being. I don't know what I'm waxing poetic about, I have much to do, and need to get to it. So, say ten "Hail Mary's" and go in peace.

Friday, January 21-Sunday January 23: Week 25

Okay, so I've gone missing a few days, believe me you haven't missed anything. It snowed, my Ford Ranger (a.k.a. DeathSled 2000) and I got very stuck, I saw a lot of friends, I ate like a farm animal, I pretty much wasted a lot of time on Sunday staring vacantly at the t.v. as the spectacle of Championship Football washed over me.

On a serious note, I've been having difficulty with the novel, I think I know why (I'm simply trying to do too many things, and the sheer volume is causing lack of focus). I'm pulling back a bit, and have prioritized in descending order, my three "biggies". Week one (now) focus on health, week two health and novel, week three health, novel, art. I need to find whatever weaknesses that exist in each approach I'm taking to design a more productive and "synergistic" life. Too complicated to get into here, but I'll keep you posted

Thursday, January 20: Week 25

There was no excuse for this day, I just got wrapped up in a novel early in the day, and then was playing catch up the rest. It's about 6:15 and I'm going to start on my novel now to see if I can stay on my weekly targets. Dang! Well, as long as I'm in the game, all is not lost so here I go....

Wednesday, January 19: Week 25

The real question is, "can I be any more stupid?", because I got into quite a pickle today. Through inattention, I allowed a small laundry problem to develop into a full-scale, ain't got no socks situation and when I went to the ceramic moose vase that houses my vital quarter stash, found I was a few loads short of target. Anyway, I got up a little late, dawdled a bit and the next thing I knew it was 9:00 am and it had begun snowing, of which I was quite dismissive, because it looked pretty weak. And it was just sheer laziness that caused it to be 10:00 am before I found I was wanting in the quarter department, and the snow was coming pretty hard. I nicknamed my little Ford Ranger "Deathsled 2000" some time ago due to it's poor performance in the snow, and today it lived up to its name. Mind you, I'm not talking about traversing vast stretches of tundra here, the whole trip comprised about 4 miles, but on my way back from the bank with my shiny silver booty I ran into trouble. I live in an area that appears to have pulled off the impossible, in that in almost every direction you go you're going uphill. So I'm coming up a particularly steep hill, feeling bad for the guy about 100 feet ahead of me whose wheels are spinning impotently, when I notice he's got FOUR wheels spinning, at the precise moment I pulled abreast of him I too began to move horizontal to my vertical target. To make a long story short, I had to weasel backward down the hill (on a major highway, I don't recommend it), finally found a place to turn out, then went in search of a close to downhill trip home. All in all, the whole adventure took about three hours out of the day. Then I got all good samaritan, and decided to shovel the neighborhood to make arriving home a little less annoying for all my neighbors who remain wage slaves, and was reminded once again why I never want to be a manual laborer again.

Whatever, it was a fun day, but a bad day. Had to shift my scheduled workout till tomorrow, got nothing done on the novel, and ate like some kind of trapped animal. Whatever, I'm still getting back into all this, and it only snows infrequently around here so I wanted to take advantage, sue me.

Tuesday, January 18: Week 25

Okay, here's the deal, it's taking me about 5 hours to hit the 1500 word mark. Which would be fine, if that was five hours of relentless creativity, but frankly I'm finding my mind wandering. My bottom line is, getting back from the gym at 5:00 or 6:00 pretty much means any evening visual art ain't gonna' happen. I'm pretty sure I can knock out the 1500 in three hours if I just get my head into a zone of focus, but I'm jotting this down here, my public forum of boast and shame, so I won't forget this in a week.

The benefit of the shorter production time (as long as I'm not sacrificing quality), is that coupled with the 2.5ish hours associated with the workout, I'd be looking at about 4 hours of good drawing / painting time in the evening. And if you could see the truly hideous female figure study I did last night, you'd know old Uncle Greg needs some serious time on the boards to get back to where I need to be in terms of skills. I have an ambitious slate of creation for the rest of my little odyssey, and I want no regrets.

So, I'll let you know if I'm able to pull any jedi mind tricks on myself to stop being such a fidgety nancy, and see if I can kick this whole gamble into the next gear.

Monday, January 17: Week 25

Good first day back in the saddle, had a great lift, hit my target for the novel and am looking forward to continuing a painting I started before my recent bout of employment.

I heard the playwright who created "Angels in America" among other pieces on "Studio 360" yesterday, and he made an interesting point about human transformation and how it's portrayed in the media. His point was that human transformation is difficult and arduously slow (his example was that some people fight their entire lives to stop chewing their nails), and at a certain level the representation of profound evolution over a two hour period is just dishonest. I think he's being a little sensitive, but his overall point is well taken, that when everything you see shows people "turning their lives around" in a blink, it instills a certain neuroses (if not psychosis) in the culture at large. It was an interesting point, sort of apropos of nothing, just thought I'd jot it down in case I need it in future.

Wish I had a model tonight, working from a photo again, and it's like eating a Swanson's Hungry Man dinner vs. some well prepared Thai or other tasty delight. Oh well, life's brutal torment continues.

See ya' tomorrow

Sunday, January 16: Week 25

Good God! It's been 10 weeks since I've updated this thing, I had no idea, just goes to show you how crazy the consulting I just finished was. Well, ol' Uncle G. is back in the saddle, and if I can avoid any further bouts of employment, will be here for the duration of the Odyssey. During these past ten weeks (with the exception of this past week, which was just plain lazy, but believe me I needed some sloth time) I've been consulting for an unnamed financial services firm. Which reminded me, with great clarity, why I quit consulting in the first place. It's not the work (although there's something materially wrong with 12-16 hour days), it's that after all the work, all the savage analysis, clients usually can't stomach change and just sort of shrug and keep doing things as they have in the past. Whatever. I enjoyed working with the folks on my team, and I was able to learn all I ever want to know about enterprise portals, which isn't the same rush you get from a good kiss or decent drawing, but I don't make coin from either.

Enough, must banish corporate-think from my lexicon, and create anew. The past week has been a bodacious pleasure of writing and drawing, reconnecting with the novel and preparing my body for the brutality of this years workout schedule. My last three month exercise routine was cut short by the job, so I've decided to start it over, I like the movements as well as the combination of exercises. I find myself at a crossroads, I put so much emphasis on strength training that my weight loss gets lost in the shuffle, and frankly I need it more than being able to pick up a truck so that will be my main focus until I've reached my loss goals.

Man, could this post be more grindingly dull? I'll cut it short to spare you any further boredom, I should be back in the groove in a day or two. Consulting tends to make me strangely guarded, and it appears to be lingering, must get my head back to artboy grandiosity so I can be properly pompous.