the ongoing saga of my job 3 Comments

Freelance Work

It occurs to me that I haven’t had particularly good luck in the past with securing paid freelance gigs. I’ve only had one real paying freelance job, which was so undercharged it may as well have been pro bono, and I had one potential client gasp in horror at my price and hire me on as part-time office help instead.

Hopefully my upcoming client meeting goes more smoothly…
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ruminations

In A Funky Mood

I’m in one of those weird quiet moods. Kind of melancholy, I guess. Kind of lonely, maybe, and kind of bored. I can feel my face setting into a perpetual scowl for some reason. I feel like I’m missing something, or like I’ve thought of something I regret, though I can’t think of what it would be.

There’s no good reason for me to be all blah tonight. I have an appointment set up to meet with a certain gentleman about a potential extra-curricular design gig, so tally up one for the Go Me column. But I ate too much sugar today, and I’m sure it affected my blood sugar levels all day; I felt so tired, and still do. It’s messing with my energy level in a bad way.

If I could just make myself get UP and DO something, I know I’d feel better. Not reading a book, mind you—something like putting my clothes away, or maybe watering my poor thirsty houseplants, or going through a box of stored crap, or even just doing some jumping jacks or something. The trick is managing to get myself started.

I hate it when I get all like this. Meh.

randomness

So Much To Do…

I hate it when I have a list of things I want or need to do, but none of them sound appealing. I could and/or should be doing any of the following:

  • practicing my mellophone and memorizing music
  • finishing my dot book for Sunday’s LSM drill rehearsal
  • finishing/fixing the halter top I’ve been making for Mom
  • posting questions on the t-shirt surgery LJ community
  • fixing the straps on my Drum Corps Unplugged tank (somehow)
  • putting away my clean clothes
  • watering my houseplants
  • washing dishes
  • exercising (maybe with my Yoga For Dummies DVD)
  • working on the LSM site redesign

Instead? I’ve looked up the chords for “Fix You” off of Coldplay’s new album X & Y, and played that through on keyboard and guitar a few times; read a few chapters of All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, and generally laid around and been a slug. I can’t get excited or motivated to do much else.

I hate that. *sigh*

sewing 4 Comments

XXL tee –> tank surgery

I got it in my head tonight that I wanted to do a t-shirt surgery, and make my “Drum Corps Unplugged” shirt into a tank top. See, I always liked the design of the back better than the front, anyway, so I figured I’d shrink it to fit and make it something I might actually wear, instead of something just taking up space in the closet.

I think this one was more successful than my previous two surgeries because a.) I measured correctly, both the fabric and my body; and b.) I only had to sew in straight lines. 🙂 Still, though, it didn’t turn out exactly according to plan: I had a brain fart while I was cutting the straps, and made them narrower than I had intended, and I failed to note that my hips are bigger than my tits, making the shirt fit kind of tight and funny in places, and causing the straps to become fashion suggestions rather than anything that actually holds the shirt on.

I may wear this to tomorrow night’s drum corps show with Donna, or I may save it to wear to next Sunday’s drill camp up in St. Clair Shores MI. Or maybe it’ll be an around-the-house shirt. I’m not sure how comfortable I’d be wearing it in public, mainly because of the fit around the waist, and the straps that seem to be afraid of heights.

I’m definitely improving, though. 😀

randomness 2 Comments

Ideas About Schnuthie-Raising

I should probably wait until I have the time and attention to devote to a full-blown entry on this, but I really wanted to comment about child-rearing while it was fresh in my mind.

Nobody get the wrong idea. We’re not trying for kids yet. Still, that doesn’t stop Aaron and me from discussing our potential child-rearing tips and tricks. For instance:

  • As a child, I don’t think I was spanked/punished enough. Aaron feels he may have been spanked a little too much. Between us, I think we’ll have a happy medium.
  • Empty threats are useless. Back when my cousin was little, and my aunt would start counting to three, my cousin would shout back, “No counting! Stop counting!” The other day, I heard a neighbor counting to their kid, trying to get the brat to come inside. In neither case did actual spankings occur at “three” — come to think of it, neither parent ever actually *got* to three. My own mother was known to get to “two and three-quarters” quite often.
  • Respect is mutual. If Junior tells us the truth and doesn’t give us reason to doubt him, we won’t rifle through his belongings while he’s gone, looking for weed or booze or porn.
  • Positive reinforcement good. Distraction good. Constant yelling and smacking bad.
  • Sugary snacks bad. Soda-pop bad. Fast food bad.
  • TV bad. We’ve seen and read about how exposing young children to television on a regular basis can actually contribute to Attention Deficit Disorder by affecting how the brain develops in the early years. The fast-changing scenes and quick cuts that are so popular in editing can cause a child’s brain to develop in such a way that it expects such things, and is physically unable to concentrate for long periods of time. (If you doubt me on this, I can go Google the study later.) Our progeny will not be allowed to watch television until the age of two.

I know there’s a lot more that Aaron and I have discussed, and I feel it’s healthier to discuss it *now* than to wait until we’ve had Junior and we’re exhausted from all-nighters with the hellian. That will be no time to make important decisions about how to raise our child.

Of course, all plans are subject to change. 🙂