Drama!

• January 26th, 2006 • 3 Comments • studio 4A •

Oh dear.

The apartment complex I currently live in put up a notice today about parking stickers they are issuing. (Good news! The lots are overcrowded when kids have parties.) The BAD news is the little addendum they added at the bottom:

Garages are for operable vehicles only. If you are currently using your garage for anything other than parking you operable vehicle, please accept this as a notice to clean it out by February 19, 2006.

Nooooooo! This is obviously terrible: my garage studio (while filled with many useful objects) does not contain my “operable vehicle,” or anything that could be considered one. I ran down to the front office to beg for an exclusion as soon as the note was posted on my door. One of the ladies is incredibly nice, and said that she had thought of me when the announcement was typed out. She offered several solutions, but ultimately the decision rests upon the manager. It helps that there are several long-time residents that have used their garage for a shop or storage and will be mighty upset if they have to give up their garages. Sadly all I can do at this point is wait for the lady I spoke with to talk with the manager and tell me what’s up.

My whole day was just pooped upon. I was going to go down to the studio and give it a good tidying and set-up for several new projects, but no! Now I have to worry about the very survival of my studio space. What the hell will I do with all the equipment down there if a bad decision comes down the line? I don’t know; I’ll just stick with that ol’ saying: prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

Calligraphy: foiled!

• January 2nd, 2006 • 1 Comments • reading, type •

I don’t think I have ever been so frustrated trying to self-teach something. Recently I purchased a book on calligraphy so I could figure out how to make my letters a bit more respectable. I pulled out my little flat-tipped markers, and some ink nibs and got to work. The book showed how many strokes each letter was to have, what direction I was supposed to pull the pen and what angle to hold the pen at. After about half an hour of ink spits, wiggly ascenders/descenders and outright stupid-looking letters, I figured out the problem.

I’m left-handed.

Honestly! It dawned on me that I had just spend fifteen dollars on a book that was instantly useless. I’m somewhat ambidextrous, but trying out my right hand didn’t really help matters any; plus my brain started to hurt. I feel like there should’ve been a big disclaimer on the front of the book that said, “WARNING: FOR RIGHT-HANDED PERSONS ONLY.” Despite the fifteen buck setback, I at least have a very valuable question to ask should I ever wish to take a calligraphy course. “Do you teach lefties?”