Vacational Activities

I decided to free myself of a day job the week last for some random tasks and chores and to catch up on various aspects of life at hand, and though my intentions were good and my aspirations higher than could be imagined, I left feeling only exhausted, stressed and quite unaccomplished.

Not that I didn’t do anything, mind. I mean, I gave my entire yard a makeover for one, trucking five loads of wooden detritus to the transfer station (and picking up a punching bag I get to look forward to hanging). I also reorganized some things that had fallen by the wayside, painted and repaired a built-in cabinet, re-polyurethaned the kitchen floor after it’d been scratched and chipped to shit, and a few others things I just can’t happen to remember this moment but I’m certain were completed. Oh, I also fractured a toe and got covered head to knee in poison ivy/oak somehow or another. Still itches.

My vacation technically ended on Sunday, though it truly came to a halt sometime Friday afternoon, as I had to pick up my son and take him to the doctor and was otherwise occupied over the weekend. So, I only had about four and a half eight hour days baby-free to accomplish everything I’d scribbled onto my two-sided post-it. I suppose I really shouldn’t feel all that bad about not getting them all checked off.

These four, though—them not being done? It irks me to no end.

• Finish the first pass of The Nobodies for print
  
• Finish the chapter head imagery for The Nobodies
• Finalize all imagery for the Children’s Book
• Look up agents for the Children’s Book

I have worked on them. I can say that at least. Why, on the Friday my vacation began alone I drew the corrected version of the last page of the Children’s Book. You may recall I’d said these were done months ago, and they were, but here’s the thing—take a look at the picture below or to the side of this or wherever I decide to drop it in. That’s the original, never-before-seen drawing, and if you look beyond that quite lovely detail, the proportions are way out of whack. I mean, the kid’s about the size of the hot dog stand and towers over the door on the left-hand side. Not sure what I was thinking there. Anyway, the new version is entirely corrected, if now not as detailed because the frame has been narrowed. Still, better to have less in the background than a Honey, I Blew Up the Kid moment, right? I wonder what Rick Moranis has been up to lately.

The other night, I mocked up the first of the chapter head images for The Nobodies too. This I’m doing entirely digitally—a first for me. The process is a bit different, and takes some getting used to, but so far, so good. That first is about done, but not ready to share just yet, and I plan on doing the others this week or so. Maybe I’ll be able to go on about them more next time.

I also did finish that first pass through the book for print, just not before the vacation ended. I ended up lumping off about 5,000 words I felt weren’t needed, and will probably have more surgically removed on the next pass. Who knows.

What I do know, is that it’s sexy. Yes, quite a sexy book. And getting sexier all the time. Really, you could put it in some thigh-high fishnets and it’d show you a dang good time, I tell you. Or maybe some silky boy shorts if that’s more your thing. Whatever you feel like doing. Just play nice.