Saturday, January 15, 2011
Our new motto...
"It should not be denied that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations. Absolute freedom. And the road has always led west."
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Yuletide Baby Photos
We caught a couple great shots of Orion during his first Yuletide season. We were even lucky enough to get a real snow storm the day after Christmas!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Where were we?
Or, more importantly, where are we NOW?
At the very moment we're all sitting in our living room. However, physical designations don't get you very far when considering the sublime, the cosmic, or the twisting twining paths of life.
It's finally January (though time isn't much better than place when discussing matters of great import). I'm unbelievably happy about the end of the holiday season, which is partially because I work in retail, partially because I'm broke, and partially because the season of 'peace on Earth and goodwill toward men' is anything but, at least most of the time.
I also took on too much during the holidays; no surprise there, as I have a tendency to want to do everything to the detriment of, well, everything. Perhaps having a six month old, working, and doing costumes for a play during the holidays was a bit overboard. It's hard to make decisions about these things sometimes. Obviously Orion & Russell are my first priority, but the balance of work vs. dream is a difficult one to strike. I want to bring in money to help support our family, and we're all dependent on me for health insurance, so my various forms of income are important on that score. I do the plays because it's a labor of love, and hopefully each experience will get me a little closer to my goal. I suppose the biggest problem is that I don't always know what that is.
I've begun to realize that it's not theatre. I love doing shows, but as a professional costumer I'd have no choice in what I worked on; most times I'd probably be happy just to have work. That being the case, there isn't really much sense in me going for an MFA in costume design. That makes my interest in the program at Haywood even more pronounced. If we're to be nomadic gypsy artist-types, there's a lot to recommend a crafts program. Yet we've made a decision (once again) to let that be the back-up 'plan B' in the greater scheme of things.
What we both want, more than anything at the moment, is to move somewhere new. As always, the West Coast like a siren calls us! Everything I hear about California and Oregon makes me want to get there yesterday. More music, more dancing, more outdoor sports, better weather, closer to the Burn, active Burner Community, etc. etc. amen. And there are Trader Joe's on every corner, so work for me just isn't a problem.
So what the hell is the problem??
The categorical answer could be: Fear of the Unknown
It's a big thing, to move to the West Coast. All the way across the continent, to a place that's more expensive, economically screwed, and liable to fall into the ocean at any moment. I was gazing at the U.S. map on our wall, at all that country we'd have to cross...
But I've done it before, on the Northern leg: Michigan - Washington state. It was beautiful. And I've driven from Sacramento, CA, to Black Rock City, NV, to Boulder, CO, to Chapel Hill, NC - which was admittedly a lot tougher than the straight route across the Northern reaches of the country. I can do it again.
But what about all our stuff, the pets, the two cars... not to mention the baby! Suddenly I'm motivated to get rid of things like never before. If we're not using it, out it goes! Realistically, we'll need less stuff for Orion as he gets a little bigger, so most of the purge is up to us. Then we could probably handle the drive with the two cars and a tow-behind U-Haul on the Jeep. So that's solved, too.
What we really need is to just do it - decide, and go - make our dreams come true! We already have friends out there, Trader Joe's comes with its own community support, and the Burners will help us find place to land - they may even help us find work and what not...
Russell is in the process of applying to Dominican University, and I'm of the opinion that he should cast a wider net and apply at a few places. There's a way for us here, we just have to find it.
And that's where we are, this first week of 2011; dreaming big and thinking of the months ahead. If I had me druthers, it would go like this: Wedding on June 11th, pack up and move out in July, Russell starts school in August, and we're settled enough to go to the Burn in September. Why not?
At the very moment we're all sitting in our living room. However, physical designations don't get you very far when considering the sublime, the cosmic, or the twisting twining paths of life.
It's finally January (though time isn't much better than place when discussing matters of great import). I'm unbelievably happy about the end of the holiday season, which is partially because I work in retail, partially because I'm broke, and partially because the season of 'peace on Earth and goodwill toward men' is anything but, at least most of the time.
I also took on too much during the holidays; no surprise there, as I have a tendency to want to do everything to the detriment of, well, everything. Perhaps having a six month old, working, and doing costumes for a play during the holidays was a bit overboard. It's hard to make decisions about these things sometimes. Obviously Orion & Russell are my first priority, but the balance of work vs. dream is a difficult one to strike. I want to bring in money to help support our family, and we're all dependent on me for health insurance, so my various forms of income are important on that score. I do the plays because it's a labor of love, and hopefully each experience will get me a little closer to my goal. I suppose the biggest problem is that I don't always know what that is.
I've begun to realize that it's not theatre. I love doing shows, but as a professional costumer I'd have no choice in what I worked on; most times I'd probably be happy just to have work. That being the case, there isn't really much sense in me going for an MFA in costume design. That makes my interest in the program at Haywood even more pronounced. If we're to be nomadic gypsy artist-types, there's a lot to recommend a crafts program. Yet we've made a decision (once again) to let that be the back-up 'plan B' in the greater scheme of things.
What we both want, more than anything at the moment, is to move somewhere new. As always, the West Coast like a siren calls us! Everything I hear about California and Oregon makes me want to get there yesterday. More music, more dancing, more outdoor sports, better weather, closer to the Burn, active Burner Community, etc. etc. amen. And there are Trader Joe's on every corner, so work for me just isn't a problem.
So what the hell is the problem??
The categorical answer could be: Fear of the Unknown
It's a big thing, to move to the West Coast. All the way across the continent, to a place that's more expensive, economically screwed, and liable to fall into the ocean at any moment. I was gazing at the U.S. map on our wall, at all that country we'd have to cross...
But I've done it before, on the Northern leg: Michigan - Washington state. It was beautiful. And I've driven from Sacramento, CA, to Black Rock City, NV, to Boulder, CO, to Chapel Hill, NC - which was admittedly a lot tougher than the straight route across the Northern reaches of the country. I can do it again.
But what about all our stuff, the pets, the two cars... not to mention the baby! Suddenly I'm motivated to get rid of things like never before. If we're not using it, out it goes! Realistically, we'll need less stuff for Orion as he gets a little bigger, so most of the purge is up to us. Then we could probably handle the drive with the two cars and a tow-behind U-Haul on the Jeep. So that's solved, too.
What we really need is to just do it - decide, and go - make our dreams come true! We already have friends out there, Trader Joe's comes with its own community support, and the Burners will help us find place to land - they may even help us find work and what not...
Russell is in the process of applying to Dominican University, and I'm of the opinion that he should cast a wider net and apply at a few places. There's a way for us here, we just have to find it.
And that's where we are, this first week of 2011; dreaming big and thinking of the months ahead. If I had me druthers, it would go like this: Wedding on June 11th, pack up and move out in July, Russell starts school in August, and we're settled enough to go to the Burn in September. Why not?
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