Goings ons...

I've been productive...in a job sense- not so much in an art sense.

As I mentioned a few Friday's ago, in this post, "I need a little mind numbing pain found in the monotony of a desk job, in order to find the pleasure in my creativity". While I'm not to the point that I feel comfortable enough with what I'm doing to let my mind wander for very long, I do have moments through out the day that do get the creative energy going.

I'm just going to put it out there, instead of hiding...I'm working as a temp loan processor at a Brokerage firm. For those that may not know (probably don't care either), I was a loan processor ten years ago, right out of college. The experience wasn't the best and I never would have imagined that I would be doing it again, but the place is good; the people are extremely nice and helpful, and the day goes by so quickly that I feel amazed when five o'clock hits.

The best part about the job is the view...I wish I had a picture to show you. Imagine a view from a second story window that has a one story building in front of it, only a few trees separate the parking lots...Then sprawling from one edge of the window frame to the other (across the entire wall of windows) is the mountains. Occasionally those mountains showcase amazingly puffy white clouds hovering just above the tops and growing enormously throughout the day (They are part of The Angeles National Forest...Mt. Gleason; Mt. Lukens, etc).

That's my view.

At least it has been for the last 2 1/2 weeks.

We'll see if it becomes a permanent gig or not. I'm just enjoying learning how this whole loan processing thing goes again (it's amazing what a brain can retain and forget in ten years). It's definitely getting me prepared for the day that I buy a house...learning what to do and what not to do and what's normally required in order for a loan to fund...all that fun stuff.

Fingers crossed I carve out a little time from reading and sleeping to work on the drawing of my niece, this weekend.

Hope you all have a great weekend!  

Dora

I'm pretty ashamed that it has taken me so long to complete this drawing. I believe I've moved three times since I was asked to draw it...I don't even live in the same state as I did when it was given to me. I swear that doesn't normally happen. And even though this is for someone who is like family, that's no excuse.

This is actually a drawing of Gonzo's grandma. His aunt asked me to draw it, which I was more than happy to complete...but with moves, the file I was keeping it in so it wouldn't get bent, was misplaced. I didn't find it until I unpacked a box a week ago, and immediately finished the hair (which I'm still not sure I'm very happy with- but the photo I was working from made it look like a dark black helmet instead of actual hair...I wasn't comfortable making it as dark as the photo had it)- the rest of the drawing has been done for close to a year now, if not over a year.

Anyway. I still have a long over do drawing of my niece to complete for my mom, but I'm kind of sort of working a normal full time schedule lately, so I haven't found the time. As soon as that's done I'll post it up. 

More ranting, less art-ing

We've officially spent one whole week in our new place. It's gloriously quiet. I think I might be in love with it.

The week was spent barely unpacking anything. The spare room has so many boxes in it, it's not even funny (but that does mean I get to park my car in the garage!). There's still a bunch of clothes that are packed in suit cases that haven't been unpacked from the move. I entertained a guest briefly on Tuesday; got my car registered in the state of CA on Friday and set up an interview with a temp agency.

That's right, folks-I'm looking for a J.O.B.

Not that I haven't enjoyed my "early retirement" (as my former co-workers called it), but I miss a steady stream of cash flow, and mingling with other people on a regular basis (even if they will end up driving me crazy, eventually). It's really the cash flow...I need to pay down some debt that I have incurred over the last few months, and no offense to the talented artists who have figured it out, but my stuff isn't paying the bills. 

I'll still be knitting and drawing in between "assignments" for the temp agency, but I've just got to get a better schedule going for myself to make this whole CA thing work.

As for the car registration experience here in good-ole CA? Well it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. I didn't go to the DMV. There is a DMV Vehicle Registration Experts on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in LA that does registrations, title transfers, etc. They don't do CA driver's licenses, but anything pertaining to your car they do, and they walk you through EVERYTHING, so you get the most bang for your buck. Best customer service experience I've had, anywhere, since I've been in CA. I got my license plates and registrations before I left the building and my car is now California ready...which means I'll probably be getting honked at a whole lot more (why is everyone so up-tight when they drive here? I thought it was supposed to be a relaxing, go with the flow, type of place?). Total time spent at the DMV Vehicle Registration Experts? I got there around 11:45am (after driving around for 15 minutes looking for parking...street parking, don't park at the Post Office), there were two guys ahead of me. Waited about 10 minutes (if that) before I was speaking with John-the registration expert. Since he had to do a VIN inspection on my car it took a whopping 3 minutes extra, but I was out of there before 12:30pm. Even with an appointment at the DMV it would have taken close to an hour and a half to two hours, from what I've heard.

No fun pictures this time, guys...sorry!

The Move

I've been a little busy the last few weeks. Gonzo and I finally moved out of the bad apartment situation and into a house rental a few miles to the north.

It was a painful process, to say the least. For those that don't know, or for the curious- I have degenerative disk disease, which basically means I have arthritis in my spine-which was diagnosed about 6 years ago and it has only gotten worse, pain wise, over time. Am I 75? No I'm 33, I've been having back problems since I was 26. So for me to physically move anything is next to impossible if it weighs more than 10lbs. Well, that's not entirely true. I can move things that weigh more than 10lbs, I just can't bend over to pick them up. So this move involved Gonzo lifting items to place in my hands while I remained in a standing position.

I gained several bruises, and yeah, my back is in some pain- but Gonzo and myself managed to move all our furniture and personal belongings to our new place, in 3 days. Sure, most of our belongings are stored in a garage for the moment, but by the end of this week most of them should be put up in the house.

The important part is we are out of the worst apartment I have ever lived in. Since 2001 I have moved 10 times. There was only one apartment that I lived in that I was in a hurry to move out of, and it was for no other reason than it was section 8 housing and I really wanted to move to a really cute place closer to where I worked. In all of the places I lived in Dallas, TX- I never experienced the kind of crap that went on at the place in Glendale, CA.

I could go into detail, but I already posted a Yelp review with a 1 star rating, because I couldn't leave a zero star review. Just be cautious if you ever want to live in Glendale, CA. Pay attention to all reviews you can find about places or landlords, don't ever think "Oh, it can't be as bad as they say", because, quite frankly, it can be-and it can be worse than what is stated.

The cactus photo at the top of this post is a plant that is at the house we are renting. It's so peaceful and awesome here! Maybe soon, I'll have some cactus drawings or paintings up here.