When your whole life is changed!
I can’t even believe that I’ve not written in over a month. So much has happened I don’t even know where to start! I think I’ll pick up from the last entry…
“I’m a blonde now.” Well, that stayed for about a month. I visited the family hoping for them to freak out and demand that I change it back, only to find that they LOVED it. Go figure. After I returned, I put Manic Panic Vampire Red on it. It ended up magenta, which wouldn’t be so bad, had it covered all of it, but only the bleached parts took, so it was half magenta. I put flamey red over it the next day. The upside is that I now know the limits of what my hair can take before it gets damaged. Michelle still has the magenta pix, and I’ll post them when I get them.
“Nick and I may have a shot at a very large, very lucrative web job.” The job has yet to materialize, even after 2 days of doing comps for the buttpipe who was so interested AND said he’d pay for the comp work. At least the freaking design has not ended up on his site. The comps are here for any of you who want to know if I’m any good. I try to make silk purses out of sow’s ears for these people…
In that same vein, I have just done a job for another marketing company whose website was a real retina burner. I put 14.5 hours into this one, at a mere $35 an hour. The guy knows that I’ll not continue to work for that rate, but I want to get my foot in the door. Look at the heinous original and then my less heinous redesign. It’s a crappy site, but it’s $507.50 more than I had 3 days ago! :-)
“I have so much to do that I’m in procrastinate mode.” Still am, a little, but things have settled into a more productive rhythm. Nick and I are still very involved, but we manage to get a little done. This weekend has been extremely productive since I don’t have him to distract me — but I’m missing him badly now. It’s been 3 days and I’m starting to ache a little. Wow, I can’t believe I just wrote that. Even stranger, I can’t believe I even FEEL that. Isn’t love a strange and cunning beast?
A big thing happened last week: Poetry.com sent me a letter informing me that I’ve been selected as a semi-finalist in the poetry competition and asking me for copyright permissions to print the poem. (!) I don’t even know if this is a legitimate big deal or just a marketing ploy, but in any case, I feel validated and rather stunned to get such recognition. My poem Languorous Solitude will be published in a hardcover coffee table book and I’m in the running for the $1000 prize. Nick was here when I opened the letter and it was cool to share that moment with the person who inspired me in the first place. Of course I called Andy, who was in Chicago that weekend, about 10 minutes after I got over the shock. You can find me at the Poetry website just by searching for the title of the poem.
I’ve also begun a p/t job at Michael’s, an artsy-craftsy supply store. The pay is good for retail, but the asswipe manager has made it into a 5 day a week job and I may have to quit tomorrow unless he will stick to our agreement of 3 or 4 days maximum. I really don’t mind the work, and it’s good to have some cash coming in ALL the time, instead of every now and then, but 8-2 M-F is NOT a part time job in my book, especially since he said that 3 days a week would be fine at the interview. I can’t work for $7 an hour at the expense of my web work and support clients that pay me 5 to 11 times that per hour. I guess Nick and I will have to shop quickly to take advantage of my 25% discount before I dump them!
Wow, I just realized that I’ve been keeping this journal for almost a YEAR! I really cannot believe it’s been a year. My stars, where does the time go? I can’t wait to see where we all end up a year from now…