Where have I been?

I did start the new year off right and then things went downhill from them. Okay, not actually downhill -- more like my normal chaos and weird life. For the last few days, things got in the way of writing this blog. On the 2nd, a huge storm hit southern California. Some of the storm managed to get thru the passes and we had a bit of rain. (I live in a desert so rain is very unusual!) Well, with rain comes problems. Usually, it's the moisture getting in the phone lines and creating major static (until the lines dry out). This time, the electricity went out. So for most of the afternoon and evening, there was no power. That isn't so bad in the summer, but in winter, there's no light and it starts to get cold. On the 3rd, there was the Penn St/Florida St football game which went on and on and on. On the 4th, there was the Rose Bowl. I suppose football games are the best excuse, but it's all I got. So, here I finally am.

I would have liked to get some art done today, but I had to run down to Indio and Palm Desert (about 40 miles away) to buy parrot food. Yucca Valley is a small town. While it does have a small pet store, the store doesn't carry the brand of parrot food my parrot prefers. Prefers! Well, it's the only brand he will eat, so I had to go down the hill. (I'm at 3600 ft of elevation and Indio is at about 300 ft -- so it's referred to as "Down below".)

This is just a perfect example of how my days get eaten up by non-art things. I would love to have 5 days in a row where I don't have to take time off during the day to do 'stuff'. A friend told me that I just need to get better organized, and that's probably true. But there's still problems. For example, since I sell artwork on eBay, I have to go to the post office to ship it. For some things, I have extra postage here, so all I have to do it pack it, stamp it, and then put a note in the mailbox for the mailman to stop for a package. But then for insured, or odd sized, or overseas packages, it's a trip to the post office. I've considered putting "I ship on Wednesdays and Fridays only" in my auction listings, but that seems a bit off putting. I'm not sure I would bit on an item that's aid that?! Actually, this time management issue is a major problem and one that I'm trying to do something about. That's why I write this blog at night -- theoretically AFTER I have worked all day on art.

Speaking of time, I had better answer a few emails and then make some supper.