Sidetracked Charley

The taxes were filed electronically this year by the accountant who does my taxes yearly. It always strikes me about this time that I pay a lot to have my taxes done when I make so little money. How much simpler my financial life would be if I just took my Social Security check and ran. But I argue I cannot live on SS alone. Who can these days. Two years without a raise while prices they don't seem to track in the inflation index just keep going up and up and up. I look at what I make on my rental vs what it costs to keep it rentable and I wonder why. I look at the cost of supplies for art which is not currently selling, not to mention fair fees gambling on an improved market by summer and again question the decisions I make. Last year it did come out on the plus side for both ventures, but it would have to be way more profitable to make the effort seem worth it. But I try not to judge a book by its cover or a year by the first quarter. For an artist the first quarter is all o...

Bridge to Nowhere? Facebook has been full of glitches and viruses for several weeks. Today it took our rather successful and quite fun little photographic group, Picture Picks, and reduced the members from 131 to 12. It won't let us communicate with any of the 131 to let them know what is going on. Since we have a new event running we opened it for ease in posting whether Facebook thinks you are a member or not. It has gotten me wondering why I am a member of Facebook. Seems the last couple weeks friends have left or been bounced off because of viruses and malware. Facebook continues to not vet any of its applications and oddly people seem to continue to play them and spread the disease. And lately posts seem to be all about "repost this if you agree." I hated chain letters as a child, hated chain e-mails as an adult, and loath this repost thing that is going on. So the question is to stay or not stay. If FB would allow it I would keep my fanpage and delete my pro...

First it was the toothache and then a general sort of malaise. It took a friend on another blog telling of her woes to let my soul know I have been depressed. Work awaits in the studio but it has not gotten beyond sketches on the canvases. The house is a mess even if I have tied the studio so I could mat and frame my photographs for an exhibit. It isn't as if I have done nothing but everything I do seems to require such effort and seems so quickly to need redone. Like the kitchen. I wish when depressed I would not eat but I keep thinking there is something I can cook that will cheer me up. Actually the hamburger on flat bread was quite good last night while crying through the movie Secretariat. But the calendar says it is spring even if the weather doesn't quite. Summer fairs loom not all that far away and there are paintings to paint. I need to get back to my exercise regime so ambitiously begun before the offending toothache that made movement painful. There are things a...

The smoke alarm in the studio (that is the white dot at the top) decided it needed a new battery today. It is per building codes within a foot of my peaked ceiling at 14 and a half feet. I have a great, but very heavy, ladder that will reach that distance and when painting the studio used it in its teepee form to get the upper reaches of the walls. But since finishing the studio I have moved in studio cabinets and made it a great deal more difficult to get to the offending alarm. Don't you utterly hate that sound they make? My fur kids hated it even more and acted rather more than me and in fact acted as if there was a major thunderstorm going on. They clung to my feet while panting while I tried to figure out an attack that would work. The ladder does extend straight and would reach but it is very heavy and with my luck of late I saw broken lights or broken legs. So I went to get my neighbor to at least spot the ladder. Us two old ladies managed to lift it into position but I...

I used to adore roller coasters. I was not that overly fond of amusement parks in general and spurned totally certain rides that I found not fun in the least, but I adored roller coasters. And one day with my sister rode the Orient Express over ten times. But I like my life more like its a Small, Small World at Disneyland. Okay, maybe not that calm. At the moment, however, a few rounds of safe and predictable would be quite nice. I can generally see how unsettled my life is by my choices in entertainment. This week I have been re-watching A Touch of Frost and Cagney and Lacey via Netflix streaming video. I am re-reading a James Lee Burke book Pegasus Descending and playing Bejeweled Twist more than I generally allow. It has been a bumpy ride lately with the washed cell phone, the toothache and extraction, waiting for yea or nay from several shows applied for, and the ups and downs of spring weather to just mention a few things. The toothache had definitely disturbed my sleep and...

It was a strange day yesterday, the Ides of March. I could blame it on the tooth ache and infection it caused as well as sleep deficit, but it was somehow larger than that. I found myself awake in the predawn and reviewing the seemingly disconnected vignettes. My dentist is in Questa where my now deceased ex-husband and I once lived. I called Dr. Jameson first but he could not see me till Thursday and my toothache did not make me a patient person. So I made an appointment with Dr. Brown in Red River. He takes Jameson's overflow and has come highly recommended by several friends that find him being 20 minutes closer a definite plus. I am not overfly fond of dentists but once I find one I can trust I am excessively loyal so I began the day with a sense of betrayal. Very fitting for the Ides of March. The 40 minute drive over Bob Cat pass into Red River had a surreal aspect to it which could have been the unseasonable spring weather, returning to a town I used to know intimately,...

Japanese Tsunami Some weeks just don't go as planned. I knew I was going to be busy with a couple pet sitting jobs but I imagined being able to get a lot done between runs and walks and feeds. I could blame it on energy level or that there was just not enough time to sit down and get involved with a drawing lt alone the beginning layouts of paint. But realistically my mind had not wanted to pet sit and paint. And then came the earthquake. Followed by the tsunami. And of course keeping up with last minute developments on the potential nuclear melt down of three reactors damaged by the quake. Okay, I admit it but I am a natural disaster junkie. I find the workings of our earth awe inspiring and constantly educational. I don't merely read the reports but research everything about the storm or the quake or the eruption or the wave. I took geology in college but we have learned so very much since then. And the Internet seems to have it all. The question is where do I go to ta...

It is early days in March and spring in the mountains is a fickle thing - here today and gone tomorrow but there are certain warning signs like the urge to sweep out the cave. I seem to be caught up in decluttering my spaces and putting some level of organization into my life. Being an artist with a very creative mind I cannot guarantee just how long this mood will last. But I am hoping until at least gardening season. The Aspens are blooming. No photo. They are not pretty during this spring trend of theirs. They just make your eyes water, throat scratchy and nose runny if you are allergic to them which I am. Spring winds seem to cooperate with the spreading of their pollen. No haven is safe from them. And it is Spring break - the last hurrah of winter tourist season. So while I have this desire to leave my cave all the strange people in town make me want to rush back into it very quickly. Some locals escape entirely which means I am busy with my pet sitting business at the moment...

No, not a new amusement ride. This photo was taken after an earthquake in New Zealand in September. Sidetracked Charley has often featured photos of rails and bridges and trains. This one seemed very appropriate to have in by blog images file. I downloaded and forgot about it until today when I was searching for an image for my blog on March, the month. The lion and the lamb (in like one and out like the other) has been done. There is something always so unsettling about March. You are thrilled it is no longer February which can be so depressing but March can be so unpredictable. It isn't quite spring but it is also no longer winter. And I get lured into believing the outdoors is going to be wonderful but then retreat inside because of the wind. Supposedly the wind creates positive ions which have a negative effect on mind and body. Yesterday I began looking for my proportion wheel so I could change sizes on some drawings and know what size stretcher bars I would need. I wanted ...