Updates

This was an exceptionally stressful week at work, and I am here to remind everyone (and myself!), once again, to give everyone a little grace in our everyday lives this year of all years. Stress and uncertainty are endemic across personal and professional lives. People’s houses are literally on fire. My job has an office […]

This weekend is seed organizing and inventorying weekend. I had been pining for a card catalog for this effort, but of course those are financially out of reach. So instead spouse bought these modular knockoffs and assembled them into a tower. You do have to fold the seed packets, but same energy. This was also

Woke this morning thinking of my team at work and how the last six months has made us feel like a squad of soldiers trying to survive the AI wars. My next thought slotted a missing chunk of the new book into place. I have a protag with a squad, and now I have starting

Back when I was pandemic drinking, it didn’t click that alcohol was causing significant sleep disruptions, and it was the sleep disruption that was making me feel stupider and made it harder to concentrate. This is also a big part of why new parents feel stupider, btw. It’s the sleep deprivation. My paternal grandfather’s only

I am back at the day job today. I work in advertising, and it’s been… An exciting time to be in advertising, let me tell you. On the upside, it’s comforting to know that literally no one has any idea what is happening or what’s going on or what to do next. If they say

Had fun with composition in this one. This composition idea came from watching a lecture on composition and how to use light/shadow and framing to draw the eye around and around in a painting. So your eye moves around that lit circle that’s made out of the trees and the water. This Caravaggio does it

As a PR pro, we used to tell people to get ahead of various online controversies by making statements that refute them. It turns out this is the absolute worst way to respond to criticism or correct errors of any kind. Social media has made this worse. When you respond, it kick-starts issues again. 24/7

Taking online painting class today w/this artist, who I’ve found one of best oil painting TEACHERS – not just painters – on YouTube so far. Teaching is totally diff’t skill: you need to be able to explain WHY and HOW you are doing something. Tougher than it sounds. Having taught copywriting and fiction classes, I

Was watching an academic lecture on Caravaggio on YouTube (premium is so worth it) and found myself irrationally angry when people in the audience started asking questions. “I’m not here to listen to the comments section!!!” ? Also why I no longer argue with people online. They hijack your time. I remember when I first