Inn of the Wandering Dragon

The other half finally got on board with the whole spring cleaning concept this weekend. With his help we tackled other areas of the house. I feel pretty good about what we accomplished. We are finally down to one last room, and here is where everything gets muddy, - the studio.

I grudgingly came to the conclusion we would have to set up some sort of computer desk for him. As he sprawls out on the floor playing his computer games he is literally underfoot regardless of whether I am working on the computer (tripping over his feet) or at the easel (trying not to kick him in the head). In addition a third of my books and resorce materials have been completely blocked off for months with the rest being simply difficult to get at unless you are a contortion artist. To sum up the experience in one word - aggravation.

Of course my tiny home is already filled to the max. Do you remember my drowning in clutter comment? So in order for anything to come in, something else has to be taken out and a whole lot of stuff has to be moved. This is a touchy subject for me because I do not appreciate someone else telling me how to set up my studio. Besides that, the only 'storage' space I am allowed is basically full so even if I packed up a bunch of stuff (as he is fond of suggesting) where would said boxes go? They would sit piled on the floor in the room. What is the point of that?

In this case three bookshelves and a table had to move and an old desk had to leave. A smaller bookshelf has been moved to the new desk as an impromtu hutch so the materials previously in that shelf need a new home. Plus the boxes under the old desk are now in the middle of the floor. The worktable is covered and unreachable. Art supplies are buried beyond reach. Numerous breakable fragile items are in full reach of a less than delicate cat (and boyfriend).

I wanted to be able to go through everything first and purge the worn out / unwanted. This way I would then know what space I have to rearrange everything in. This way the clutter could have been taken care of. But in order to get his stuff taken care of I now have a giant mess of stuff stacked and piled through one half of the room. I am very much frustrated because this just feels like a giant step backwards. There is a large amount of work to be done to sort through and put everything away. And with the next two weekends already spoken for (family commitments) it means I will be slowly chipping away at it in the evenings for the next month at least.

Some stuff will be culled, some will be packed away. Somewhere in all of this I need to make the art cards I mentioned before. In the meantime the other half gets to be a happy video game zombie. Right now I have a hard time feeling that all this aggravation is worthwhile.

Well my friends are getting everything ready for the release of their first album. They have launched a page on mypace which includes a few tracks from the upcomming CD. Have a listen, there is some beautiful layering of instrumental, vocals and some sampling.
Today they aired an interview with a local radio station in Toulouse to promote their hard work. I have yet to hear how that went. Prior to the interview the proverbial butterflies were fluttering fast and furious! They were debating whether or not to perform live on air. I am excited for them and I really hope everything went well.

To check out the music, go to http://www.myspace.com/lesondelarose

Last month I signed up for a couple of themed ATC swaps, then other stuff happened and I basically forgot about them until this weekend. What had seemed like such an intriging idea at the time is definately less than stellar now. Trying to create something that I am satisfied with when I am not in any way interested in doing it is a big challenge to say the least! But I made the commitment and therefore I must follow through.

The first swap is due next week, the second is still 3 weeks away so I burned the midnight oil to complete the required cards for the first. I did not take any pictures of the new cards bacause in truth I'm just not crazy about how they turned out. Compositionaly, they are good. Design and excecution are sound. Visually they are pretty, and fit well with the theme. Technically they are good overall and I know the people on the receiving end of the swap are going to enjoy them. But they do not have my heart invested in them and so I do not think they are good enough for me.

They are in the mail on the way to the swap host who will in turn send them on to new homes. Personally, I am ready to forget them and move on. Hopefully the cards for the next swap will turn out better.

I spent most of yesterday in the kitchen preparing for my detox.
I created a vegetable & fish soup - not too heavy, tasty although the other half claims it needs more salt. (that is what soup crackers are for!)
Next on the list was a baked spicy chicken and vegetables. I am a big fan of one pot kind of cooking so the idea of throwing everything in the roasting pan and letting it bake together suits me fine. Unfortunately I should have added two steps: raise the rack in the oven and add a bit of water in the bottom. There is a large mass of charred blackness lining the pan. (ouch!) It is currently soaking in soapy water and I hope to get it clean in the morning. I did salvage most of the food and no, it does not smell or taste burned, go figure.
Finally a chicken curry with saffron rice. I have been informed I should make this by the boatload - I guess the boyfriend likes it. I like it but I am thinking I would like to change something for next time, I just haven't figured out what.