Caught Napping Once Again!

Hiya, my friends!  I hope all is well with you these days … I thought I would update you on what’s happening with me, especially since I haven’t done more than post a few gifts and commissions from friends and other artists this year.  I know that we just finished up the first month of the year, but I feel like I have let myself down a bit.  Let me explain. 

First off, my challenge to myself is not going well at all.  I did manage to do two roughs which are little more than just sketches, one of a backside of Caitlynn Wildfire and her battle-axe at attention and the other is Israfel looking out of a window.  Nothing detailed, just roughs and certainly not worth posting.  Of late I have been seriously exhausted to say the least.  I have been getting to work around 6 am and staying until 6 pm.  That means I’m up for two hours before work and then it’s another two hours before bed to make sure I get eight hours for sleep.  Now, I work those hours from Monday to Thursday with Fridays being more of a wild card, being at least five hours, and that puts me to being at least a 50-hour workweek.  So, that leaves me with Friday evenings after a good nap to get things done.  The weekends are maybe where it might be best to get things rolling.  With it being Super Bowl weekend, I might give that a try.

Secondly, I have gone back to keeping myself on a healthier diet.  While I don’t starve myself or deprive myself of what I’d like to have, I try to stay within a reasonable range.  More vegetables and a few fruits, mostly the granny smith apples which are about the size of a fist or smaller, makes up a good bit of the bulk with tuna being the main meat.  I have been mixing it up with spinach and green beans to go along with peas and carrots and sometimes some good beans for a bit more protein, which has done me some good in the past.  Also I’m also trying to stay away from the soda too, which can be a seriously damage to anyone’s diet.  Personally, I believe that diet sodas are like light cigarettes in the fact that you figure you aren’t consuming as much bad for yourself, so you tell yourself that having another doesn’t hurt.  That maybe true, but I’m going with the simple thought: “If I don’t buy any, I don’t drink any, so I don’t make things harder for myself.”  Also, being able to bring my own lunch keeps me conscious of what I’m eating and also keeps me at the office so the bosses are happier too.

And finally, I have managed to not only pay off my Christmas and holiday expenses rather easily, but to start restoring my savings reserves after the hurricane that I have had to deal with.  Oh, I need to be careful with my money for the next couple of months, but I am certainly not hurting for cash.  The bills are easily paid for these days.  But I also want to be ready for any other curves that life might throw at me.  With my forethought in keeping plenty of water and food at the apartment, I was able to get through the hurricane without any problems.  It also helped that the apartment is out of the flood plain and not surrounded by too many tall trees.

Personally, I consider myself very fortunate these days that I’m so blessed, much better than a few decades back.  It’s hard to believe that it’s been over two decades since I arrived here in Savannah to go to SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) and over a decade since I moved out of the trailer and into the apartment.  No longer am I the starving artist that I was back in 1998-2000, but now a rather happy and fun-loving artist/writer.

Gang, my advice to you is to improve your life in the fact changing what you can and want to change, making sure that you are prepared to handle the curves that life tosses at you, and then help those around you who you can help.  If you cannot do that last one, that’s fine, but try to be the person who people look to for that good and noble person that you can be.

Love and Kisses,
Loonia