Ups and Downs

It's Sunday evening, several days since my last post. I feel guilty and frustrated all at once.

Up: The mosaic book is nearly complete and everything about it has gone better than imagined. I am planning on using the pristine dust jacket too. I'll turn it inside out and made a "new" cover for it. I have two or three leads for the proper cellophane cover, like those in fancy bookshops and antiquarian stores.

Down: The "Life Everlasting" book is simply falling apart. I knew it wasn't a good selection for an altered book. I knew the pages were weak and too fragile. I knew the binding was in poor condition. With every action, I'm forced to fix two additional problems. I'm still fighting with it--hoping that it will have some "everlasting" quality!

Up: I learned about a specialty paper called "Sheer Heaven". Information from the Altered Book site took me to a website that sold this amazing product. IT WORKS TO PERFECTION! I printed over seventy digitally enhanced 3 x 5 images (four to a page) and have transferred them with total success. (Okay, they went into the "Life Everlasting" book. The images were spiritual ones, especially gravestones and church details from West Virginia; Varna, Bulgaria; Moscow; Birmingham, England; and Washington, DC. I am truly thrilled with these transfers!

Down: Vista Lights. This annual November event has a show in our gallery. It is a show of the artists who rent space in the facility, including me. I have no interest in participation, no interest in the title (New Crop: Art and Artists), no interest in the snobby group of mostly elderly artists who dictate how everything is run and hung and handled. Still, I am a creature of habit, a "good girl", who feels some sort of responsiblity to take part.

Up: Janet Kozachek and her husband came for dinner last night. We discussed art, publicity, tango (her upcoming show's theme), travel, finances, and inspiration. It was a wonderful evening.

Down: The digital camera is almost certainly dead.

Up: Mathias has Internet in his flat. He has purchased and set up a web-cam. Sasha has one too. Steve bought one for us.

Down: Steve was unable to install the web-cam. He learned that our E drive was broken. After two trips to Best Buy, it was discovered that the software disc for the web-cam was actually faulty. Steve feels like he wasted an entire day and is no where closer to his goal.

Up: The computer had spyware on it that Norton Anti-virus didn't catch and was so fragmented that we had virtually no memory left. Perhaps, now that this is cleared up, I might be able to upload images more quickly and without all the fuss!

Down: Alex couldn't upload the video of "Man's Fate" (altered book, I generally have referred to it as the Bird Book!). Hopefully now it will work!

Up: Mathias emailed that Romeo and Juliet was fun. There were mis-cues and a few glitches that were covered over with nice bits of acting; yet, he really enjoyed it. He's schedule for the coming week is rather full and he seems to be loving every minute. The British dance forum is still only talking about the Ballet Hoo performance--disadvantaged youths in corps roles for a special production of Romeo and Juliet, but hopefully soon the other comments and photos will be posted.

Down: I never could figure out how to get some little token to Mathias for a gift honoring his first official professional performance with a company. I wanted a gift certificate to the bookstore/coffee shop called Waterstone's on New Street in Birmingham, but couldn't find a website. I found nice on-line pictures but nothing else.

Up: Mathias doesn't care about opening night gifts!