She Sells Hermit Shells

Am I in a rut? I'm not feeling too motivated lately — motivated, that is, to do anything productive that could earn me money. I could be in a rut. Hopefully not. Rather, I think I'm just a little extra lazy, due in part to some of the stress of life. I never was one to maintain constant levels of energy or activity. I like being "out there" for a few days, sometimes I can even manage a whole week, then retreating back into my shell for a period. People always wonder why I disappear; one friend used to call me and say "Sorry to hear you've fallen off the edge of the Earth... when you find your way back into the atmosphere gimme a call." I always appreciated that she understood. Chalk my hermit habit up to being an eccentric artist.

Speaking of being active, I was incredibly so the other day. I had a client meeting at 11a, which went wonderfully. Yes, the same client I've been working with a lot lately. We're getting serious with her biz, discussing really upping her advertising efforts and doing some PR, which all begins with establishing a solid business plan (or at least, some goals — other than profit) and finding the most beneficial target market. Fun stuff. It's nice to be doing some work for pay.

Then as I was leaving there and walking downtown to the bank, Sugar called and said she had some time and asked if I wanted to get together. So I turned around, as her work office was right next door to where I'd just been having coffee. We walked downtown and had tasty organic pizza and people watched. We talked a lot about how much more important real life knowledge and experience in graphic and web design (or any field) is, compared to silly things like certificates and diplomas. I kid you not, I have heard stories of college graduates leaving with their Graphic Design diploma and not knowing the difference between spot and process color. !!!

On our way out of the pizza place, I saw Star and decided to go talk to her. She was a little down and I offered to wander around with her if she wanted the company. We walked down to a little coffeehouse where the cute barista never asked us to pay for our coffees, and he kept bringing us fresh water. He even sat down and chatted for a bit; I love friendly baristas that do their job well.

By the time I had made it home that evening, it was just beginning to rain. I finished up the day eating delicious Chinese food delivery, courtesy of the housemate. They forgot my chopsticks, and that only convinces me that I need to go out and buy my own. I ended up a very stuffed, slightly caffeinated kitten that evening. And I was exhausted, but it was worth it. Rarely have I had the opportunity to be so social, but it was just flowing together so well. Mainly it's nice to have free time and be flexible.

So for today I think I'm going to end up continuing work on a few random site projects, and possibly work on redesigning my own biz site. I'm moving away from retail and trying to refocus on graphic and web design, so I think I'll really need to put some serious geekiness into the redesign. Maybe I'll be good and wash the dishes today too, instead of spending the day alternating between taking baths and masturbating. ;)