It has been crazy around these parts lately. Tons of good things have happened along with a few sad things too. I celebrated another year of life and let me just toot my horn saying it’s been another year of being smoke free. I watched as my oldest turned another year older and is doing amazing in school, I could not be prouder as a parent. I watched as my youngest found out that school starts this year, trying to contain the excitement is like trying to keep a cat from the nip; near impossible. I also watched as a long time friend learned the joy of having their first-born and what becomes of a man who is sleep deprived (even if he refuses to admit it). I guess I have been a watcher lately, seems fitting to a wall flower.
I was totally spoiled like a princess a week before my birthday and ended up going on an insane shopping spree to gather all the paint supplies I needed to get started on my newest hobby. So far I have one painting down and six ideas for the next. One set will be a 2 canvas piece and I know it’s going to take forever to get sketched out. I ended up liking the idea of sketching most of the fine lines before I start painting to get an idea of what I want, where I want it.
There is also a B&W that I owe someone but that is going to take a bit of time to think up. I tend to spend a ton of time reorganizing in it my mind before I actually sit down and make anything pretty happen on the canvas. I have thought about a few of these for weeks now. The last will be a single set of 16-inch x 20-inch that I have & it’s going to be all about a friend that our geek community lost two days before my birthday.
It’s sad that someone can pass any day let alone on Valentines but if you knew the person we lost you would understand the dark inside humor about it as well. There will be no untruths told here; when I received the news I could barely contain myself. I closed the office door and just sat down and cried like I never thought I would before. I could barely handle trying to work (and write for a living) let along attempt to blog anything that was even remotely sensible. At the time I remember realizing I am now at that age when we lose our friends, normally when you are in your early 30’s things like this do not happen.
It was very hard to think of the pain his family went through, especially his parents being a parent myself. I could never in my wildest nightmares imagine what they have gone through in the past few weeks. After thinking about it I have decided this will be the next piece that comes off the easel. While I think we are still randomly being haunted by our friend, hopefully he does not look over my shoulder until the work is complete.
Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them. – George Eliot
45 days full of everything from the good to bad and still moving forward. Moving back does nothing to better the situation or your own mentality.
