Sunday, September 21, 2008

Welcome to the Mac World!!

After years of wishing for a Mac, I finally bit the bullet and bought one yesterday. Let me tell you, life is good right now.

Yes, there is always stress and confusion when one gets a new computer, transferring data over, re-building favorite links and various other settings, and that becomes even more complicated when shifting operating systems. But I simply don't care - I am so happy with this new machine, that I will jump through hoops backwards and upside down.

It's a Sunday morning, I've got a heap of paperwork on my desk to get through, but I have the rolls royce of computers to help me out.

Like I said, life is good. Very good.
Kim
ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com
www.turtledovedesigns.com 


Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Holy smokes, but am I behind here. I'll give you a glimpse of what today has been like, and it's just a sampling of the prior 6 weeks I've gone without posting here.

First thing this morning I dueled with the CD drive on my laptop, which suddenly decided it didn't want to burn the images I needed for my 10am meeting. Debated tossing the laptop through my front window, but decided that would create too much additional work. Brought the damned beast with me to the meeting, and transferred the images to a flash drive.

Discovered the basement had flooded during the prior evening's/early morning rains. Emptied the entire contents of the towel closet onto the basement floor, and left a voice mail message for my husband.

Spent the latter half of the morning with a great crew at the Sterling Heights (Michigan) City Hall, accepting their honor of Artist of the Month. (I should add that my early morning also included an atypical combing of the hair and painting of the face, in preparation for the camera.) Filmed a little chat about the story behind my art, and spent a nice chunk of time with two charming and enthusiastic reporters (thank you Cortney and Deanna).

Visited a brand new Salvation Army that was on my commute home. Scored several items that will star in still life paintings of their own, along with the bargain of the day, a vintage wool peacoat for $16!

Checked in with a local electronics store to research the feasibility of tossing the (Windows) laptop through my front window and purchasing a Mac. Highly feasible.

Raced home to prep for a painting demo and presentation this evening. Drafted an outline, chose my reference materials, packed up a mini-retrospective of works, and whipped through a quick demo in the studio.

Participated in a teleconference on marketing and promotions. Discovered I really had no clue about how to "sell" my work to the rest of the world, but walked away with some concrete ideas on how to bridge that gap.

Welcomed children coming home from school. Reviewed backpack materials, shoved snacks down their throats, rushed them through a wardrobe change, and shuttled them off to soccer practices.

Threw dinner together, set the oven timer, loaded the car, and headed off to the demo, trying not to pull over and vomit along the way (due to nerves, not the flu!).

(Quite unexpectedly) sailed through my presentation, created a lovely demo painting while sounding articulate, and literally basked in the positive after-comments. Made it home safely, despite walking on clouds (in the dark), to find everyone in bed (and -BONUS - smelling clean!).

Tossed the final load of wet towels into the washer (bless you, Rick, for mopping up the basement and starting the laundry and packing lunches), warmed up some dinner, poured a glass of wine in this silent house, pulled in emails, and checked my to-do list. It included a long overdue entry on updating my studio blog.

Which leads me to here. The dregs of a glass of wine, and a good book calling my name.

Goodnight!