Blogger Blather

I started blogging for Skirt! magazine last week, but I seem to have come on-board while they are in the middle of a redesign.  The site has been offline a lot lately, and today when I was finally able to get in I saw that my profile info had been wiped out and I could no longer access my blog.  I’m not sure what’s up.  Maybe they hate my posts and yanked my account?  (I’m so controversial!)  I’m going to wait a couple of days to let them work out the kinks before I inquire into what’s happening.

Here’s the last post I was able to make there before it went lights out… “I’m in the mood to blog — to share/interact/build community. But I can’t access my account. I know that change/evolution/progress is good. But sometimes getting there is tedium. My mantra of the afternoon is “patience” and I will keep humming that to myself as I write my thoughts in Word and save them for another day.”

I’m worried that I’m becoming someone who thinks “art” needs to match your couch.

I used to write artist and art gallery profiles for Piedmont Review, and for a while I was an artist myself.  My first major at LSU was “Fine Art,” but once I realized there weren’t any cute, straight guys in the curriculum I changed out of it.  Okay, I know that’s dumb, but I had just graduated from an all-girls high school and I wanted boys in my classes.  Come on, I was 18  — what more do I need to say.

So, this past Saturday my friend Holly White who works for Art Papers magazine generously gave my broke ass a free ticket to their annual fundraiser.  She had several incredible photography pieces up for bid; plus, I saw a fab work by Robin Bernat.  So it was a class event, for sure, and the following comments in no way are meant to bash those who had art displayed.  They are meant to bash me and how ignorant I’ve become.

As soon as I entered the event I thought of my friend Tom Redmond who lives in Baton Rouge.  He and I attend art festivals in Louisiana and we often break-down how items are made and discuss how to recreate.  So, I texted him as follows (misspellings were kept on purpose — remember I was using a touchscreen):

String of correspondence starting on Feb 6, 2010 7:56 PM
LYNN TEXT
At a huge charity arr auction right now. Getting tons of inspiration. Wish you were here to help me decipher how some of this was created.

TOM TEXT
Take pix

LYNN TEXT
Gonna start sending by email. Hate being po’ and not being able to buy anything!

TOM TEXT
Barter with the artist

LYNN TEXT
They’re not here. Not booths. Silent auction you just write name and bid amount next to the piece you want. Fundrauser for Art Papers magazine. National fine art mag based out of Atlanta. My friend Holly works for them and got me a free ticket. $30 just to walk in the door.

LYNN EMAIL
RE: Fuggin computer printout
Sheet of computer paper with digital printout. I.e. A fuggin word doc printed on a shitty printer. High bid is $500. WTF?

TOM RESPONSE: it’s art & it’s for charity, you dime-store philanthropist!!

LYNN EMAIL
RE: Ha!
Stem glued to canvas and all painted white. About 3 inches. Current bid us $250. OMfrigginGawd.

TOM RESPONSE: (no reply)

LYNN EMAIL
RE: Paper
Cut paper! So cool in person. Can’t believe that noone has bid on it. Artist has another piece in same series with a bunch of bids.

TOM RESPONSE: (no reply)

LYNN EMAIL
RE: Lightbox
$400. Gotta figure out how to make this! Would be fun way to display stills from my movie.

TOM RESPONSE: easy enough.  photography stores carry them for looking at slides

LYNN EMAIL
RE: Omg!!!
Notebook fuckin tacked to the wall with a tag that you can buy at Office Depot. Right now the high bid is $2000.00 let me type that again TWO GRAND!!

TOM RESPONSE: but WHOSE is it???

LYNN EMAIL
RE: Huge notebook paper
Love this! Big piece of white paper. Craft punch on the sides. Words are marker. 23x 51 inches. Someone just bid 1500.00 on it!

TOM RESPONSE: now this is cool…

In Facebook, I’ve tagged some of my artist and photog friends who I thought might appreciate seeing the work.  I’m curious to know your take on the art pieces that stuck me for various reasons.  What do you think “art” is?

Back in August I posted a 2009 goal update — basically it outlined my 3 goals for the year and how I was doing toward accomplishing them.  At that point I had 2 down and only 1 to go…

Well, here we are, 3 days until the end of 2009 and I still have one New Year’s resolution that isn’t done — to finish one of my unfinished writing projects.  Give me some motivation and cheer me on to finish my screenplay or the first draft of my sock puppet book in the next 72 hours.

Go Lynn, go Lynn, go…

I was really busy with $$$-making work on Monday and Tuesday, but deadlines are done and today is pretty open. I haven’t been able to work on my manuscript for almost a week, so I was excited to dig in. I little while ago I opened the Word file and then… nothing.  I didn’t know what to do next.  Since I’m not telling a linear story — it’s a self-help spoof — I wasn’t sure if I should work on editing what I’ve already written or go forward — whatever forward is…

I’m still waiting on the “real” self-help book I ordered from Amazon and that I plan to satirize the hell out of.  That’s my excuse for being stuck… I want to use that book as a model and since I don’t have it yet, I’m having trouble putting my framework in place.

Maybe if I got out of my bathrobe I could walk down to the mailbox and see if it was here yet.

I’ve been feeding some stray cats in Baton Rouge for the last year.  After one dropped a litter of kittens on my doorstep I decided I needed to trap them so they could be spayed and neutered.  I was too overwhelmed to do it on my own, so I contacted an organization in Baton Rouge for help.  Four of the cats (pictured below) were trapped and brought to LSU Vet School last week.  The gray tabby bite someone at the vet’s office, so he has been quarantined.  I checked on him today and this is the reply I received:

The grey tabby is doing great, but, man, is he a bad one.  He has pulled so much dirt into his kennel that it’s about 1″ thick on his floor.  He’s even got roots from the ground in there.  He dumps over his food/water dishes, his litter box, his box with bed.  It’s just such a mess in there every day.  I had to put food/water dishes that attach to the side of the kennel so he’d have food/water.  I’ve had only one other cat that was this bad.  He wants out!!!  Animal control has to come over to check him before he is released (I think just one more day) and I hate for them to see his kennel.  Anyway, I’m glad that I could help.  Animal control at first wanted him kept at a vet, but I insisted that he stay with me, where I’m sure he is happier, even though he is not happy at all.

The little monster described above is all the way to the right in the photo.  He’s the only boy of the bunch and I guess he’s pissed that his manly bits got snipped.

It’s amazing how little you really need.  For the last year I’ve been paying bills on two residences using an income that’s about 1/4 of what it used to be.

I own a house in Baton Rouge, and that’s my primary residence; but I also have an apartment in Atlanta because that’s where my clients are located.

To be able to afford the dual city lifestyle (which I have out of necessity since there is no work for my profession in Baton Rouge) I cut out everything I didn’t need.  Let me state that again — need.  As my mother used to always say — “you should separate your wants from your needs.”  And that’s what I did.

The first thing to go was having my hair colored at the salon.  That saved me about $60 a month.

Next, I ‘bundled” my Baton Rouge services so I have cable, internet, and home phone (which I need for my monitored burglar alarm) all from Cox.  But at my Atlanta apartment I don’t have any of those things.  I get “air” channels on an old TV using an analog/digital adapter (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.), I nab free wifi wherever I can get it, and I use my iPhone for just about everything else.

For books, I frequent the library, download free ebooks, or borrow from friends.

Movies are the same — library, download, or borrow.

For lunch and dinner, I don’t do take-out anymore.  If I’m going to eat at home I cook so I can save my money for meals out with friends.

I haven’t bought clothes in a year (maybe two).  Okay, maybe I have gotten a new shirt (or something) if I find a great piece on the 75% clearance rack, but in general I’m recycling what I have (and taking hand-me-downs from my sisters).

It sounds awful, doesn’t it?

But, it’s not.  I wish I wasn’t so restricted with my spending, but honestly, I really appreciate little gifts I’m given.  A friend who offers to treat at lunch.  My sister passing along makeup she got as a free gift, but that’s not her shade.   Neighbors who let me dig through the items they’re putting at the curb so I can furnish my Atlanta apartment — I got a coffee table, butcher block kitchen cart, and various kitchen items that way.

Anyway, you get the idea of what life has been like.  This year has actually been better financially than last year, however I’m still living hand to mouth.  But I’m okay with that.  I don’t know why, but I feel like the experience has made me a more empathetic and thankful person.

Okay, I have to be honest — I’m not very honest with myself.  Honestly.

Here’s what happened.  On August 31 I posted the following tweet:  “I will finish the first draft of my thriller screenplay this week. (Someone hold me to this statement.)”

Well, here we are, 3 weeks later, and no first draft.

My excuse?  “I know too much.”  Really, that’s the excuse I’ve been handing to myself and the people who asked about my progress.  I blamed my lack of follow-through on the fact that “once I started digging in to what I had written I discovered problems with story structure, character motivation, and tone.”

I also told myself that I didn’t want to push and finish the first draft just to say I had it done because I wouldn’t be doing myself any favors to rush and crap something out.

Which all sounds fine until I add that I’m not rushing since this is a screenplay I started over 2 years ago.

What to do? What to do?

I can’t seem to motivate, guilt, or in any way bribe myself into finishing any of the large writing projects I’ve started in the last 3 years.

While I was away, my favorite Atlanta wifi work spot, Perk Coffee in Glenwood Park, changed its name to Drip.  Does anyone else see this as a branding blunder?

PERK - consumers think “perky, upbeat, lively”

DRIP - consumers think “dull, downward, falling”

My bags are packed, all errands have been checked off my list, and the house is clean (kind of) — so I’m ready to make the city-switch and head back to Atlanta on Monday.

I don’t look forward to the 540 mile drive, but having Satellite Radio makes the time tick away as quickly as 8 hours can pass.

I’ll be returning to Atlanta about as broke as I was when I left; so, I’ve been gathering info on fun and free/cheap events happening in the coming month.

Let me know if anyone reading this wants to meet up for one of these outings:

BLOOD CAR gets the MST3K treatment
only $15
Fri., August 28, 2009 @ 8:10pm
Relapse Theater,  380 14th street
More info here (you may have to be connected to Cineprov! on FB to view the link…)

Summer Shade Festival
Free — bring beer money
Sat., August 29 – Sun., August 30, 2009
Grant Park
Check out all the amazing artists who will be showcased

Decatur Book Festival
Free — bring book money
Fri., September 4 – Sun., September 6, 2009
The Square in Downtown Decatur
www.decaturbookfestival.com

My friend, author Hollis Gillespie, is one of the DBF audience favorites every year and I’m sure her 2009 appearance will not disappoint.  She’s scheduled to speak on Saturday at 12:30 and at 4:30 — and you know I’ll be there for both events.

Lynch Mob
only $9 — the price of a movie ticket
Opens Fri., September 18, 2009
Carmike Cinemas
List of theaters screening Lynch Mob — who’s up for a little road trip?

Scott Stamper and his cohorts have been working on this horror movie gem for several years.  All their diligence will finally pay off when their film opens nationwide.  I can’t wait to see it!

East Atlanta Strut
Free — bring money to buy schtuff!
Sat., September 19, 2009
East Atlanta Village
More info

Hollis has a booth at the fest, so I’ll be her carnival barker sidekick helping her sell books and other TRAILER TRASHED memorabilia.

Wow, 2009 is about 2/3’s gone.

At the beginning of the year, I made 3 New Year’s goals.  (See the original post here.)

Let’s see how I’m doing…

1. Be published by a magazine that I have not appeared in before.  (DONE)
   I wrote a feature article for Oz magazine and it’s on newsstands now. Yeah.  One goal down.
2. Create a piece of art (in any media) that I am proud to display.  (DONE)
   I don’t know how proud I am of it, but I did paint a canvas a couple of months ago and it is on display in my kitchen.  (Check it out here.)
3. I couldn’t come up with a third goal on my own, so I asked for input.  Hollis suggested that I strive to “Have sex with a professional soccer player.”  Instead I opted to complete one of my poor abandoned screenplays or manuscripts.  So far, this is NOT DONE.

I’m still having a little trouble focusing on writing.  One day I’ll be gung ho, and the next day I’m ho hum.  But, I continue to try…

So, how are you doing with our New Year’s goals or resolutions?  Do you even remember what they are?

I had my high school reunion in July.  It was fun to see all the ladies (I went to an all girls school) and reminisce about our teenage years.

This is a pic from about a week before the reunion when several of my high school classmates got together at a local restaurant.  This is the closest I have to a reunion pic, so it’ll have to do.  (That’s me in the back row, left side.)

And no, that’s not Sarah Palin in the front row!

And here is a photo taken in Times Square during my recent trip to NYC.  I’m in the middle, standing with my sister and niece.  Do we look like tourists? (The answer is probably “yes” since we are visiting Times Square on a Monday night.)

Are you a writer with folders full of unfinished and/or unsold work?

A filmmaker with an unfunded project?  Boxes of footage that you never finished editing?

Or a creative freelancer who finds themselves squeezed by unemployed cube dwellers who are saturating your profession while they look for their next full time job?

Then welcome to my pity party!

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

Filmed with a Sony HDR-UX10 High Definition Handycam Camcorder using normal room lighting.  Audio captured with a Sony ECMHW1 Bluetooth Wireless Microphone.  (Am I the only one who thinks the audio sucks?  This is a new mic — maybe I’m not using it correctly.) 

Last week I spent a few days in New York City.  I asked my friend, Tom, what he wanted as a souvenir and he replied, “A photo of the Naked Cowboy.”

Even though I haven’t been to NYC in ages, I knew exactly who he meant.  For 10 years, Robert Burck (aka the Naked Cowboy), has been 100% focused on building his personal brand — and lining his grippies with cold hard cash.

He can be found strolling Times Square in his underwear and strumming a guitar.  Why would anyone do this?  Maybe because tourists love to take photos with him and he nets $1,000 in tips A DAY.

On July 20, Burck announced his candidacy for Mayor of NYC.  His campaign is founded on the mantra that, “No one knows how to do more with less than yours truly, and that’s the kind of thinking I plan on sharing with my fellow New Yorkers when you elect me.”

I’m sure Burck isn’t running for Mayor because he wants the job — he’d be taking a serious pay cut — instead, it’s a genius publicity stunt.  When I Google Naked+Cowboy+Mayor I get over 1,000 news stories from the last week.

What I took away from NYC and the Naked Cowboy is that persistence DOES pay off.  In fact, for Burck it paid off big last year when he received a hefty settlement from M&Ms after they used a candy likeness of him in a commercial without his permission.  Can’t you see the resemblance?

I’ve been operating on a “cash only” basis for over a year so I can better monitor my spending.  I do still have credit cards (1 AmEx and 3 Visas) but I only use them if I absolutely have to.  “Have to” meaning online purchases, buying plane tickets, etc…  Daily expenses like groceries, gas, restaurants, etc… are all handled with cash.

So, today I had to decide between taking $40 out of my NYC travel fund to get a mani/pedi, or doing it myself.

“Myself” ended up winning. (Or losing — depending on how you look at it.)

No matter how hard I try, it doesn’t look as nice when I do it…

It’s just not the same when you rub your own feet.

This isn’t as drastic as some of the other cuts I’ve tried in the last couple of years, but once again I let my stylist, Laura, do what she wanted with my hair.  This is what she came up with:

What do you think?

I’m heading to NYC for vacation in a few days and I needed something that said “Manhattan modern.”