Art and Makeup

The tough times of being an artist typically occur when questions about your artwork crop up. Because it's never just a question. It becomes a statement of your ability to acheive your goals within this very difficult field. And I honestly don't think it has anything to do with Bea. I just get very defensive (usually without me knowing it at first, realizing it later, and not really being apologetic about it even after realizing it). I've spent so much of my life invested in this goal of becoming a successful artist that the idea of relegating it to a hobby just seems more than a bit depressing. But in the end, who do I really have to blame for my unsuccessful streak? I would say myself. And I really can't get angry when people have doubts as to whether or not I can make it happen. Now Barbara loves the idea of me being a successful artist, and wants to see it happen, but where we come into problems is that we have so much going on right now, what with planning a wedding, trying to move into a house, getting full custody of her son, and her graduating college in May (on top of full time jobs and general everyday stuff) that the art just has to take a back seat right now. And maybe that's for the best. It's a tough pill to swallow to say that maybe I just didn't do enough to promote myself or get my stuff out there, but sooner or later I'm either going to have to shit or get off the pot as they say. And the more I become a family man, the less it seems that I'm going to be able to be an art man. But the clock hasn't run out yet on that. And for all I know things will pick up once she's graduated and needs a project to work on. ;p

The one plus of this is that make up sex rocks. Just FYI.

Amish People and Wine

You haven't lived till you've seen two horse and buggy carriages duke it out like Nascar on a country road. I kid you not. Bea and I were driving to a little town called Lititz to see this awesome little chocolate factory (they actually make the chocolate that Hershey uses to make their candy) and on this back road, one horse drawn buggy was booking around another horse drawn buggy. I guess road rage can happen anywhere now. :) All in all it was a nice weekend away. We stayed from Thursday night through yesterday morning. Now for the unlearned, Lancaster, PA is the Mecca of Amish folk on the east coast. They still live the simple life. As long as the simple life involves selling their home made goods to stupid tourists for outrageously high prices. There is also shopping. Much shopping. And Eating!! Yes, capitalized type eating. If you don't run an all you can eat buffet, you're not going to last long in this town. And there are outlets out the ying yang. Nike, Ralph Lauren, Bose, you name it. Good stuff. You can find some real deals there (unless you're getting married to a bargain hunting fiend who thinks it's not all that because she saw a better sale 3 weeks ago). But, oddly enough, Lancaster has some other fun things to do as well. Wineries are all over the place out there. They don't make the standard wines as well as Cali or Europe can, but you can find a really nice mulled wine (wine you can serve hot) or fruit wines. Like peach, pear, cherry, etc. We were actually going to go to a chocolate, cheese, wine tasting festival yesterday, but the 200 inches of snow that got dumped on us kind of put the kibosh on all that. :) Anyway, we had a great time, lots of laughs (at both our expenses and some other people's) and saw some cool shows. Saw a play based off of a Henry James novel (must read some of his books if the stories are as good as this one) called "The Turning of the Screw" Very creepy, very well done. I was so surprised that a small playhouse could get such good actors. Also saw a really funny show during some dinner theatre the next night. The food sucked, but the play was fun. And then we knocked boots the rest of the weekend. Have pictures no less. :) Don't know what we'll ever do with them, but I guess it's part of the fun. We'll probably just delete them off the camera in a month or so. Right after I set up the website!! MWHAHAHAHA!!! (you know I'm kidding. :p )

Slow Down Already!!

OK! All Right!! I Get It! Life is fast paced and we all need to get things done, but damn! This is getting goofy. Luckily I've got the weekend away with Bea up in Lancaster starting tomorrow. Fun, sun (though bitter cold, may snow tonight), and she's paying for it. :p Sort of a birthday/Valentine's day gift. And her gift from me is lingerie. Which I guess means it's a gift for myself, but as long as she's happy with it, *cha-ching* Baby!! So. Things will be good this weekend. ;) Hope yours is too.

P.S. No more GTA3. Bea and I had a big blowout about what it means for society in general when we buy in to games like GTA. And while I would really like to play it, she makes some valid arguments on her end. So peace reigns once again in the Spalding/Ackley household. And I'm playing sesame street games. Rock on Grover!!! *sigh*