New layout, etc By Catherine on 11/28/2007 09:31:00 AM
Isn't the new layout fabulous? I love it! While the last layout was really pretty, it was hard to read and not bright enough for me. I got a lot more design input on this one too-- I'm slowly but surely learning how to maintain this site all by myself. Also trees: my latest collage design is a really neat tree motif slash universe lady. I'll definitely post pictures when it's closer to done.It's really time to start being a bit more serious in life. I know what I love, and I know what I need to do to be successful at it-- right now it's just a matter of getting it all set up so that I can keep going. Really that could have been done over the luxurious 5-day Thanksgiving break from work, but I chose instead to make huge headway with Christmas/Hanukkah presents, which will, in actuality, be for the benefit of said seriousness. Now I'm all but done and have significant time approaching (while the Dr. Duo and family are away in Egypt) to finally organize my photos, set up the "projects" section (collages, jewelry, utilitarian art, etc), and get back down to work on my novel.
Ohhh yeah! Catherine is writing a novel! You all forgot, didn't you? Well, I didn't, in fact I was at the point of opening the word doc 6 times a day and brimming with tears, because I could not seem to get a thing done. I took that stupid camp job to have time to write, but ended up exhausted and devoid of motivation. Finally, four months and four hundred boxes of tissues later, I've managed to get something going again. This includes massive edits and multiple drafts, but circular progress is better than no progress at all. And I figure it will only be circular progress for a bit longer, then all my hemming and hawing for the last quarter-year will be done with and I'll be able to just slam it out. All I care about, for the moment, is getting it all out on paper so I can begin the REALLY hard part: editing.
You won't see it here though-- I shall not be plagiarized by the Internet.
I've got a lot to do, but you know what? It's finally stuff that I want to do, not that I'm contractually or otherwise obligated to do. It's a good feeling, to finally be in a place where I can make things happen and I'm not feeling so overwhelmed and un-creative, it can finally happen. GO. ME.
Labels: dreams, freedom, working through the block, writing
Good, I hope they implode under their own hedonistic hubris. By Catherine on 10/03/2007 07:07:00 AM
Check out who's losing money over their settlement lawsuits:The RIAA's four-year-old lawsuit campaign is costing the music industry millions of dollars and is a big money-loser for the record labels.
Well, good, I hope they've sued themselves out of business. There were at least 25 kids from UMass served with papers citing filesharing violations, but what I don't think the RIAA realizes is that if they made the product affordable, accessible, and widely available (like, say, for DOWNLOAD) their problem would go away. As it is, I will never, EVER buy another CD again. And I didn't even get sued.
I wonder why they think the iTunes Music Store phenomenon has taken off so well. I bought John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band: Live Peace In Toronto for $7.99 on iTunes, where it's something like $17.99 in Strawberrie's or Newbury Comics. Could it be, perhaps, that people are willing to spend their money if it's a matter of instant gratification? Spending less? Having a huge variety of individual songs, import singles, and rare B-sides at your fingertips? It's baffling, really, I can't understand why record sales are down.
Oh, yeah, and FUCK YOU RIAA.
For more information, check out:
The RIAA vs. John Doe: a layperson's guide to filesharing lawsuits
Recording Industry vs. The People
Labels: anger, filesharing, freedom, hatred, hubris, implosion, litigious assholes, music, RIAA, unfunny
Summer begins By Catherine on 5/29/2007 07:08:00 AM
When the pools start opening up, and the grills can be smelled from the sidewalks in my little suburban enclave, and the cat starts trying to get outside every time the door is opened, I know summer is here. It was a grill and birthday weekend, complete with too many hotdogs and lots of Stellas. I feel like a vacation all over again.School (work) is done on 6/15, and on 6/25 I will start my 5th summer as a camp counselor-- in case you didn't know, it's the best job EVER and I'd do it all year round if there was a program like that. There really is nothing more satisfying than being outdoors and playing with children. It's tempting to stay with teaching for just that reason-- summers off, freedom (plus, the benefits are fantastic, I don't think I could afford them otherwise.) Summer makes me want to purge myself of everything unnatural, to sell my possessions and live outdoors and cook over a fire. I forget about things like makeup and hairspray, can wear the same thing to work every day (because, hey, we ALL wear the same thing to work every day), don't worry about freckles or french manicures or moisturizer... Basically, summer symbolizes for me a return to how I like myself best-- simple, free, unworried. I know it's not really like that, and I'm probably somehow doing myself a great emotional injustice in saddling summer with all this meaning, but the long days and sunshine make reality a bit easier to ignore.
I think now would be a good time to start the process of weeding out what I want for myself from what is expected of me. It's also a good time to downsize on "stuff", as I know I own too many THINGS, and want to be rid of some of them. Clothes that don't fit, knick-knacks, paperwork that should be shredded or burned, a million pillows from my dorm-room years... there aren't enough words.
Labels: freedom, friends, summer