Another Long One

OMG. I’m having a hell of a time right now. Today is the first official day I will not be smoking anymore. I picked up the bad habit again about a year ago when my dad was dying. I have been able to quit for months at a time since then, but then another highly stressful situation would rear its ugly head, and I’d be right back, suckin’ em down again. I’ve given myself a break here and there with the illness and death of my folks, fights with my brother, depression over all of it, but then I was able to quit in August. I quit for a whole month! Why did I go back after I was over the worst part of withdraw and well on my way to a healthier future? I do not know! That’s when I noticed all the excuses coming in that were not nearly as justifiable as high stress situations. “I’m not quite ready to quit yet.” Or “I love smoking!” “It gets me to spend more time outdoors.” “It fits my personality better than not smoking.” “It helps me relax.” “It’s better than being addicted to heroin!”

The excuse list has just been really lame, so I set a quit date for November 20th. I know today is only the 19th, but I ran out of cigarettes yesterday at 3PM. Now I could buy a last pack today, and maybe even smoke them all so I feel like such shit, tomorrow will be easy. Believe me, I’m thinking about it, but I should probably just get a head start on this shit now.

Okay, enough about the Cancer sticks. What has been going on? If I wrote in this blog more often, you’d be able to keep up without having to read all this bullshit. But the truth is that I’ve been busy. I finished up those paintings I last posted. And I prepared my shipment for my Houston show at Koelsch Gallery. It went out yesterday. (The show opens on December 5th.)  It’s called “Float Without Moving.”

And I’ve been getting my studio (Moppet) all cleaned and prepared for the big Open Studios I’m having this Sunday!  Are you coming? Because I think I am so confused and out of mind mind from nicotine withdraw that I’ve cut my prices for that day to redonkulous amounts. Good thing this sale will only be one day because it felt like I was being stabbed when I priced some of this stuff. But, I’ll heal. I am determined to do anything to get you to own some art work. (Do I sound like a car salesman yet?)

It’s all day Sunday, November 22, 2009 from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM!

I realize that a lot of other people on the Discover Tour are going to have very inexpensive art items that are very friendly and helpful for the holidays. Even with my prices cut, I am probably still not going to be in their range, but there are a ton of drawings of mine you can buy for 50 bucks, and plenty more under $300. Even a few paintings are as low as $650.  I may even bring in a few more significant ones and mark them under 1000. Maybe I’ll be nuts enough to trade for a drag off your cigarette! Nah, hopefully by Sunday, I won’t be as crabby as I am going to be today through Saturday.

In some unrelated news, I wanted to help promote my other half’s new special edition book, published by Chance Press in Oakland, Ca. It is a little hand-sewn chapbook about his first guitar entitled, “No. 2236 Flying Wedge.” If you are not familiar with MJP’s (AKA Michael Phillips) writing, this would be a good chance to get introduced to his style. Very few writers know how to write with a distinct personality intact and make it breezy to read – like it is reading itself. It takes a very special talent to do that. Bukowski had it, John Fante had it, and without being bias, Phillips has it in spades. He’s been hard at work on his novel for the last year and I am just sitting on my hands with excitement, waiting until I get to read the first draft – which is just around the corner. In the meantime, he bangs out little stories like “No 2236 Flying Wedge,” paints little sketches on the special parts of the edition in a day, and it’s whipped together faster than you can say to yourself, “I wonder if I should put out a little book.”

4 thoughts on “Another Long One

  1. leora November 19, 2009 / 10:29 am

    redonkulous is my new favorite word ever. great further success to you!

  2. Dennis Erlich November 19, 2009 / 11:01 am

    Wow great stuff, Carol. I love the floating one. Guitar drawings are wonderful too. Good lux on the smoking. Be prepared to tell yourself “NO!” every time you think about lighting up. Be firm. Be well, Dennis

  3. justine November 19, 2009 / 7:11 pm

    thanks for the promo, carol!

    re smoking:
    i was a heavy smoker before i moved to the US. i wasn’t ‘ready’ to quit when i got here but i was ready to cut down drastically. what made it easier for me was being in new environment: this wasn’t a place i was used to smoking in so i didn’t get cravings as badly. so for the past 16 months i’ve been smoking 1-2 cigs a day (one when i get home from work, and usually another a couple hours later), maybe 3 on a bad day, and i never smoke before 5pm. i don’t smoke when we leave town, eg. when we go back to chicago for 5-6 days. the next time we move house, i’m gonna try quitting altogether!

    good luck!

  4. Meylai July 23, 2012 / 1:38 am

    I just love your art.

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