Plan snags

I hate snags. In keeping with my usual non-method method, I have been working on a totally different, non-office-art related plan today: the kayak. I finally got up the courage to go down to the shop and sign up for their demo day coming up. I hate cold calling people and I hate going in to talk to strangers, and this kind of interaction is definitely there for me. I like kayaking but know nothing about it, and it is tough to put myself in the "do-de-do I know nuttin" clueless position while shopping at a place that clearly caters to people who are already experts in the sport, especially when I want to ask a lot of questions and not really move on to purchase making yet.

Anyway: the snag. In direct opposition to what I had been told by somebody else at the college, my roof is not compatible with kayak roof racks and the salesperson walked me through one of their trailer setups. Hmm. Ugh. I am a risk-averse, even timid person; I don't like this idea of driving around with something very long dragging behind me and dealing with parking and otherwise maneuvering a trailer. The basic trailer the person was showing me was also about twice as expensive as the most expensive lift-assist roof rack I have found. There are some pluses to a trailer, namely not having to lift the kayak up very far, but many many drawbacks. And where would I store this thing at my apartment ---- in the office inside? While I might be able to pull that off for the kayak itself (I don't have secure space outside out of the sun), I don't think that is even possible with a trailer.

This puts me back around to my other plans: maybe I should replace my car before going any further with the kayak plan, or move to a house. Both of those plans, realistically, are gonna take me a couple years to actually implement, considering how slow I move and make decisions and save money. Harrumph. But then that means much less kayaking, no spontaneity to the kayaking, and I'm gonna have to shell out a lot of money to rent something by the day before later buying something. Grumble. Maybe I'm gonna have to not put any money into my office art in order to get my other plans together. Arrgh! I hate snags. And decisions. Decision snags on all fronts.

If it's worth planning, it's worth over-planning

And if it's worth over-planning, at some point it will just be so much work that I give up, say, "ehh, I'll do it later!" and take a nap instead. Plus, I am so indecisive when it comes to making plans or designing something.

Here, I'll let you see my latest procrastination project:

I had an idea for what art I wanted on the walls of my office. Many ideas, actually. Too many ideas to choose. And I was also worried about how to place the art and make a nice pleasing soothing pattern on the wall above my computer. I did not want to just buy some art and then try to plan around it, but I couldn't find any sort of online program that would let me lay out pictures and sizing for me, so I dragged my heels for a long time, first on measuring the wall space in my office and then on actually drawing something that would let me play with spacing and proportion.

My first idea was to support some local or student artist and actually have, you know, ART in my office. You'll remember that I love art and did a bunch with it in my dissertation and was all interdisciplinary and hoo-hah. If only I had talent at the visual arts, I totally would have been an artist. But I can't draw for shit, as you will see if you enlarge the pics and look at my representation of my monitor and pencil cup.

But then when I was looking around at our art department and the local art instructors (they do not have styles I like as room decoration, btw) I got clued in to a local artist who actually teaches at the closest four-year college (which, you realize, is hours and hours' drive away. "Local" gets a very different definition from me when talking about here). And I loooooove his aesthetic and the colors and the crisp clean style. And that reminded me of a photographer who works out of Gradschooland whose stuff I had liked, and when I found his pro website I was totally hooked and changed my mind back again to something completely different. And holy hell supporting real artists and buying real art and having it in real frames is going to get fucking expensive real fast.

And then I thought, well, what if I just googled and pinterested stuff I like? (I'll give you a hint: I am looking at landscapes.) So I found that on this site various artists will contract out their original paintings, but also they will make a high quality reproduction of their work and sell the copies for a fraction of the cost. One of the images I was drawn to on this site originally sold for 7,000, but I could buy a matted and framed print of it for about 60 or an art print for 20. At that rate, I could support someone who is making a living as an artist but is not well known, have something that not just anybody finds in the big-box stores, and save enough money to make some sort of gallery wall in my office.

 Of course, then I went back to the local state-school person and clicked around on the website and decided that I should totally change my focus again, not to the original printings he had done, but to this other gorgeous stuff. Maybe I could buy a couple things from this iconic series and then surround them with little stuff from the fineart website?

But wait, if I did buy two of them and have them framed (gasp cough omg that is a lot of money!) would they even fit in my space?

Which leads us to my drawing adventures today:

I dunno. These must be very high ceilings, because I put the prints in and there is a lot of open space up by the top. Is that ok? Will that look weird? Should I put them up higher? But then I will have to crane my neck when looking at them while sitting. Do I put something else above? Gee, there's almost enough room to put two more items from the series in, and I am including mats and frames in that estimation:

But that looks weird too --- now there is a heavy area in the middle of the wall and all this weird blank space on the sides. They feel a bit crowded by the bookcase and filing cabinet.

No.

This way seems all out of proportion too.

I could try cutting out some smaller "pictures" and playing with some sort of gallery wall using one or two of the local dude's works as central anchors, but I am too tired tonight, especially after not just creating that drawing but a blog post about it. And you know what that means ---- it will probably be weeks or months before I get the itch to actually work on this again. Which is, I guess, good ---- I might have saved up enough money to make a purchase of something!

Except I am also doing this same plan/overplan/get-stymied-in-the-plan process on a kayak. And a car. And a house down payment. And, and, and...

Holy crap. I am so glad I am so indecisive.

At least I think I am.

Right?

Relaxation to commence in 3... 2... 1... ZZZZZZZZ!

Well I have returned from my teaching training and been initiated into SPIT (special program in teaching). Holy crap, that is going to be a lot of work. "You think the program is about teaching; after a few years you will be an event planner capable of catering weddings," joked the trainer at one point. Good thing I love throwing parties. Bad though that I hate schmoozing people and that is a large part of the job. I should probably make a massive to-do list and start planning. I should also clean this place; it's filthy. And stock up on food once again. Luckily I have bread and a drawer full of cheese. Unluckily, I have bread and a drawer full of cheese. I was so sure I could magically turn around my eating habits and exercise this summer, but I'm the same old person with the same old lack of willpower I've always been. This may require drastic steps. However, I'm the type of person who is incapable of deciding between options, so I might have a smorgasbord of drastic steps spread out all summer but not be able to choose what to do. Mmm, smorgasbord. Now I am hungry again. See? I'm incorrigable.

This morning so far I have sat out on my balcony enjoying the cooler morning weather, and watched a squirrel attempt to wrangle a pine cone larger than his body. I don't actually know if it is a male squirrel even; I am probably just trampling all over his/her gender. Anyway. First I saw the squirrel very high up in the tree, trying to get out to where the branches are spindly and bendy and point straight up. They were flexible enough that they would simply droop under his weight and flick him off and then sproing! up into their upright position again. This is where some huge pine cones are growing. The squirrel finally managed to get up there, braced spread-eagled across several of these whippy thin branches, and cautiously begin gnawing through part of the pine cone. You could almost read the thought process in his face when he realized that he was not going to be able to support the weight of that pine cone he had just loosed, and then whip! whomp! the cone slipped from his hands with the scrabbling sound of his claws and the resulting lightening of the load acted sort of like a slingshot ---- with the whippy branches being the elastic and the squirrel himself being the stone.

So the squirrel was partly flung, partly bounced, across part of the tree until he got to a branch strong enough to support his weight. Bounce, scrabble scrabble, bounce. Then he scrabbled his way down the tree, head first. I was impressed with his speed ---- after all, I don't climb down anything head first.

Am I boring you? This was my morning. For me, I find it relaxing and endlessly fascinating. This is how I survived so well in recreationally-backward places.

The next step in the squirrel's quest was to lug the enormous pine cone out of the brush it had landed in, but he couldn't get it very far, so he then gnawed it into pieces and carted the pieces up into somewhere in the other tree where I usually see him. Then he ate part of it, and now I don't see or hear him at all --- this immense labor must have tired him out, poor little guy. I am ready for a nap just watching him.

Hmm, I should have something more exciting to report, eh? I'm sure I will plan some adventures and get a little work done over the summer; right now I am reveling in the doing nothing phase.

Days of Sloth and Sluggardiness!

Hello. I have been reveling in the lack of things to do. Unfortunately, that means my house is a complete pig-sty, and I might not get it cleaned up before going off to my training session.

I have taken a couple hikes, and read a couple books (I will need to post a call for more book suggestions soon) and lazed around a lot. Haven't been out exploring the town much, so I still don't know enough about neighborhoods and what's around them to know where I might prefer to live instead of this place.

And that kinda sucks because I just got the notification that I need to sign a new lease on this place soon. Since I pretty much like this place and I like being lazy rather than dealing with packing and moving and it would be more expensive to do month-to-month here, I think I will go ahead and sign up again. What do you think?

I think I need to call a bunch of people and see about catsitting for while I am at the training, but first I will take a nap.