Strong Anything

I know, I know… It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated and I don’t even have a good excuse since I am still jobless and broke. In fairly irritating news, Alan did NOT end up getting that landscaping job because the owner decided to give one of his workers another chance before replacing him. Well, I guess the guy didn’t waste it because it’s been a while and Alan is still out of a job. Or rather, Alan is temporarily out of a job. He’ll have a job come November, after all, and that’s just over 80 days away.

On the other hand, I may have a job very soon. At least, I hope I will. I have two interviews this week. The first is on Wednesday at a daycare in Trumbull. They’re looking for a full-time toddler teacher and I think they may be excited to have me because I only filled out the application on Friday. The recruiter for the area called me at 1:16 and the director of the center called me less than 3 hours later to schedule an interview. That interview is on Wednesday morning, and the very next day I have an interview with a nature education program in New Haven for actually a variety of part-time positions that would add up to a decent income.  That’s the one I’m really excited about because what they’re doing seems valuable not only for the students involved but for the community as well. It’s a lot of working outside, teaching kids about nature and our responsibilities towards our environment and they even have a farm program that raises organic crops for sale at the local farmer’s market and raises livestock as well. The jobs combine a few after-school days plus their field-trip program for during the school day. As for the daycare… well, it’s what I’m good at, but I’m not sure just how thrilled I could be at the prospect of another full-time child care job. I know how burnt out I get sometimes. It’s funny though… In the online application for the daycare, it asks the reason for leaving the previous job and I finally caved and wrote "Center was in violation of state regulations and refused to alter situation when confronted" or something along those lines. LOL! And they’re the ones that call me right back!

So, it goes without saying that I’m feeling quite good about my future prospects right now. Alan even had an interview this morning at the AT&T store in the mall. So we’ll see how that turns out too.

I’ve also just about finished the pencil drawings for my Karma book and have begun painting in earnest. I did new illustrations for a couple pages, and I still have one or two that I’m not quite satisfied with and that need a new perspective. But what I’ve painted so far looks great. I’m very pleased with the style I’ve chosen to work with. In terms of form, it’s very similar to what I do with my figure drawings. Realism through the lens of the cartoon. Some features are exaggerated, but not out of all proportion. And I’m working with watercolors, which is really my comfort zone medium. I’ve added outlines in Sharpie however, something I haven’t done in several years. It gives it an interesting dimension because it reinforces the cartoon quality on the one hand, but simultaneously draws attention to the shading within each outlined area. I’m very please with the result because it means that features don’t get lost in wide stretches of color, a problem I’ve noticed frequently even in photos of long-haired cats. The Sharpie makes Karma’s furriness more distinct. And yes, I will post pictures eventually, but not yet. This is something I want published after all, not something I’m just doing for the hell of it, which makes it that much more important that they remain unavailable to the world at large.

Anyway, Alan will soon be back from Darien. I guess it’s just too damn hot to do much yardwork today. The first day over 90 all summer and it didn’t happen till mid-August. Not bad, really. I just hope it cools off for my interviews. Nothing worse than sweating in your good clothes and having your make-up melt off your face. Plus, I’m baking a cake Wednesday and having dinner in Waterbury with the in-laws on Thursday for Alan’s birthday… neither of which will be made any pleasanter by high’s in the 90’s. o_0 Anyway, off to chop up some lettuce for salad! Like I’m going to cook today??

~Liz