painting on ebay

One of Steve's paintings -- a small one of Keith Richards -- is up for sale on ebay. The guy who has it now is going through a divorce and needs the cash. He's asking substantially more for it than what he paid. It will be interesting to see if he gets a buyer for it -- I have it on my watch list. I actually hope he does get what he's asking for it because a strong secondary (re-sale) market can help encourage people to buy Steve's art in the first place. Plus that secondary market can mean Steve's art is worth more than we are currently charging, and the prices will rise. While I understand that isn't great news to those looking to buy, having his work command increasingly higher prices is one of the goals of most artists. And for people who do buy a painting and later need or want to sell it, a strong re-sale market means they won't lose money on the deal, and may very possibly make money.

I'm also very interested to see how this piece does on ebay baceuse I have the go ahead from Steve to put some of his work on ebay. We did sell the two paintings for the re-issued Jack Frost cd on ebay last year and they did bring good prices. He also sold three others -- the ULTC cover, the Block cover, and the painting used for the "A Quiet Night In" tour posters -- through the band on ebay. Those three brought fantastic prices. So far all of Steve's paintings sold on ebay have brought more than similarly sized pieces sell for on the SK art site -- I think in each case it's been at least double. I have been hesitant to put up pieces on ebay so far this year because I frequent an artists' forum and many people there who sell on ebay say both the views and the prices are way down so far this year. I don't want to put work up on ebay unless I feel it has a good chance of bringing a good price. So this is an excellent opportunity to see how a piece of Steve's art does on there now. It also gives a bit of publicity to SK as an artist, which is another plus to occasionally listing work on ebay.

Should be a very interesting auction to watch.

New art

A batch of paintings arrived from Steve friday. Ten new pieces. Considering his painting/drawing had come to a screeching halt when he was all wigged out about the pastel dust that's a fantastic number. Of course he wouldn't have been working on it during the European tour in any case, but he had stopped at least two or three weeks before then. And then it was a week or so after he got back that we worked out the filter/vacuum solution. I think he started back working within a couple hours after that call. Anyway it was quite a while since the last stuff he worked on (which I'm pretty sure were commissions) and these. I do think he mentioned a couple of these he had started a while ago and just finished up, but he can be incredibly prolific. Plus he was working on other projects during the same time period as he was working on some of these. Sometimes I'm just amazed at his creative output.

They have to go to be photographed for prints/cards (and also low res images for web use) now, and then I would usually put all the images up on the SK art site. But with this exhibition in the works we need to reserve some for it. I still want some to go up on the site since it helps keep interest up (plus provides a potential revenue stream), but we need a good solid selection of work for the show. I'm a bit nervous about putting some of these pieces on the SK art site because although he's on quite a tear now, I know he can also quite suddenly stop. While I'd have no trouble finding paintings to exhibit if that happened, I also know people are less likely to make as much effort to go to see work they can see on their computer screen. The web images don't do the work justice, but it's still better to have the vast majority of the exhibit be exclusive to that exhibit -- at least for a while. With any luck he will continue to produce work at a good clip for the next couple of months at least. I won't be getting the work back from the photographer for a while (it won't be even getting to her until after the weekend at the earliest and then will take a week or two) so I'm hoping to know how SK is coming with the next batch before we have to decide what to put up and what to hold.

But back o the actual paintings. These are really cool. I notice that sometimes when he has a block and doesn't do any for a while, when he does get back to it he makes a big stylistic and technical jump in the quality of his work. I think this set does that. Even though I have always liked his pieces and felt he had great potential (yes I am tooting my own horn here -- it tickles me no end when people tell me they weren't too sure about his art at the beginning, but they've become increasing impressed. I've had quite a few people tell me that over the past year), his more recent work is a great deal better than his early pieces. That doesn't mean there aren't early pieces I love and will always treasure, but it's so cool to see him develop more as a visual artist.

The Hellbound Heart is one of these -- of course most people who read this have already seen it on SK's blog (he used effects on that pic, so the colour is a bit different). Some of the other titles are Bombay Hook; The Serpent; Tom Collins; Vanity; The Ambassador; Burning Bush; King Philip's Dream and I've forgotten the other two's titles right now.

In the last email I got from SK he mentioned he has three more pieces finished. That's great news because although November seems a long way off, it really isn't, especially when you consider all the things that need to be done prior to the exhibition and that Steve will have other things come along over the next several months which will take his time and energies. And of course I'm greedy -- I want him to do the paintings, but I also want him to do all the other projects too. Luckily it seems (lately anyway) when SK is at his most creative he is also at his most content and happy, so I don't feel guilty for wanting him to work, work, work!

Little Black Cat

This is a little stray tomcat that has been hanging around the house getting attention and food. Right now Little Black Cat (or LBC) is his name -- mostly because I'm not totally convinced that he doesn't have a home. He's awfully friendly and is very used to people, but hasn't been fixed so I wonder if he's just making the rounds and will go home when he feels like it. Nevertheless he comes around at least once a day and yowls for me to come out and give him attention and food (he has a bit of that "where's my dinner, wench?" look on his face in the pic doesn't he?).

He's even come in the house a few times. Most of the cats don't mind him and even kind of like him, but Oscar was furious Saturday night. He was all puffed up and screeching at LBC and I really thought I was going to have a catfight on my hands. LBC didn't want to fight though, he just very slowly and quietly moved away and came into the kitchen to be let back outdoors. He didn't even puff up -- it was as if he wanted to remain as unobtrusive as possible. How cool is that -- an un-neutered tomcat who won't get drawn into a fight? If he hangs around much longer I'm going to set up a neutering appointment. Even if I don't get to keep him, he's better off neutered. And there are enough unwanted cats and kittens as it is without him making a bunch more.


And has anyone else noticed that blogger is now automatically saving your drafts as you write them? So I guess that means there will be no more SK blog entries titled fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL Poor guy, he had quite a time losing blogs for a while there. The automatic save has been one of my favourite features of gmail, so I was tickled when I saw the notation blogger was doing it too.

The Dog Whisperer

There is this girl on a message board I'm one who gives loads of advice on just about everything dog related. She's an expert on everything dog related -- food, training, behaviour, breeds and breeding, what to look for when you adopt or buy a dog, how to find a good breeder, etc. She will weigh in on nearly every dog subject and is very confident and sure of herself. People even ask her for advice and of course she is quite willing to dispense it. Many people are thrilled to have such an expert in their midst -- one even said "you're like a Dog Whisperer!" and that got loads of agreement.

However (you knew there was going to be a however, didn't you?), this girl's (she's only 21 or 22) practical knowledge of dogs is limited to some contact with her uncles dogs (but always when the uncles were there) and walking dogs at the humane society at most once a week since this January or February. She's never owned or even cared for a dog for any length of time at all. I'm trying to figure out how she can be an expert on dogs with so very little contact with them. I can understand that she may have read a lot of information, but "I read this" isn't how she couches her advice.

I remember reading some of her accounts of walking the humane society dogs and "training" them and "correcting" their behaviour, and I couldn't help thinking "Oh honey, you are cruising for a bruising." Sure enough, not long after thinking that she wrote where one of the dogs jumped on her and started snapping one day. His teeth didn't puncture her skin anywhere, but he did leave several bruises. I realise it sounds mean but I couldn't help but think as I read her account of that incident that if I'd been the dog I would have attacked her too. She doesn't know enough to be training and correcting the dogs behaviour. All she's doing is irritating them and that dog had obviously had enough, and she doesn't even know dogs well enough to know that she had pushed too far.

It reminds me a lot of the people who take horseback riding lessons every week for a year and even go to selected shows with several other students (and an instructor of course) from the same stable (some of those riding instructors with their string of pupils did a great job of monopolising the warm up time before classes. Those of us on our own had to learn to just shove in because they wouldn't let others have their turn -- even though they were supposed to -- unless you just bulled your way in). Anyway, often these students did pretty well at these shows on their school horses, and somewhere down the line they (well, their parents, of course, since the riders were kids) decided to buy their own horse. A few would buy a particular favourite school horse, most others would have a trainer/instructor help them find and buy a horse. So for the most part these kids still had horses that were well trained for a beginning rider -- the type of horse that would take anyone around an easy hunter course.

You would think they would continue right where they left off when they were riding the stable's school horse, especially if it was the same horse, wouldn't you? Well, they usually did -- at the beginning. But then it almost invariably began to fall apart. Think about the school horse. When it was owned by the riding stable it was used for lessons and was constantly ridden under the supervision of an instructor. If problems arose, the horse would be ridden by an experienced rider who could correct the behaviour and get it back on track. So the horse is constantly getting trained, even when he has an inexperienced rider.

However, when the horse is sold to the student, even if the student keeps up the weekly riding lessons, things often start going awry. First off chances are the horse is getting less riding overall. That in itself can be a problem as it won't be as fit or responsive. Chances are also good that the new owner will ride the horse other times -- not just in lessons. And let's face it, the owner is still a beginner -- capable of riding fairly well on a very well trained, very obedient horse, but nothing takes the place of experience when dealing with animals and this beginning rider doesn't have it. Minor problems that crop up don't even get noticed until they become fairly major ones, and the beginning rider has no clue what to do to correct the problem. I've seen horses that would take the greenest rider around a hunter course with no hesitation change into a horse that becomes a habitual stopper.

Usually one of two things happen -- the new rider either toughs it out, spends the time riding and working with the horse, and learns, or she (girls who ride far out number boys) quits. With any luck no one gets seriously hurt in the process, although that does happen sometimes too.

So I think the little Dog Whisperer is like that beginning rider on a school horse with an instructor always at hand. She thinks she knows far more than she really does. With any luck over time she will actually learn what she thinks she already knows.

I've been pondering touring expenses

hmmm. Maybe I should raise a little more hell on TTB -- I've had more visits and comments in the past couple of days than I had in ages! I have also posted new entries, but that didn't seem to matter before. If course, when I have few visitors I feel free to post whatever the hell I like. I'm a bit more cautious when I know several people are reading. I wonder what comments I would get if I enabled anonymous comments. That's not going to happen though.

At the end of the band's European tour one of Steve's blogs triggered a comments discussion of ideas to help the band on a N. American tour. I've been pondering the idea for a while now and think that although we (Church fans) are generally lovely people, I can't see the ideas that require a lot of band/fan interaction working well. The band needs down time and they really can't get that if there are always fans (even just a few) around. Plus, some of the ideas, such as the people saying "I can be your guitar tech in (fill in city name)" might be great for a one off gig, or in an emergency, but I can see it causing major headaches (and very probably some very disgruntled fans) if done at every stop. And food -- wouldn't you feel awful if your lovely homecooked meal gave them food poisoning? Or was just not something any of them liked? I know I'd be mortified. And taking them out to dinner -- what if they hated you or you them? Or were just bored, or boring, or rude and snappy, or sloppy eaters? I'm not sure most fans would be real happy with that, yet isn't it asking a bit much of them (the band) to be "on" all the time?

I think one way nearly anyone could help would be in area of promotion. This could include putting flyers around town, posting to messageboards, and sending press releases (which, like the flyers, could be downloaded from the official site) to local papers, music mags, and radio stations. That cost to the volunteer would be fairly minimal -- flyers and press releases copied at Kinko's (or similar), envelopes and stamps, and a few gallons of gas to put up flyers. And since many places might allow press releases to be sent via email, even the stamps and envelopes might not be needed.

I know it seems kind of callous, but most of the help really comes down to cash. Think about their expenses.

1) Airfare -- about a couple thousand apiece (when I did a check it was more like $2250-2500). So for band members only that would be at least $8000, and could easily be $10,000.
2) a couple vehicles (last year they used a full sized van and a mini van) -- a quick check of car rental places shows for 5 weeks and unlimited miles vans and mini vans run between $2000 and $3400 each, and that doesn't include gas
3) hotels -- they weren't staying in luxury places last time, but they still weren't cheap (hell, even dives aren't cheap anymore). Let's say $500 a night covers it for everyone. If they need hotels for five weeks (35 days) that is $17,500. At $700 per night it is $24,500.
4) Food. Let's assume breakfast is covered by the hotel. If you figure $20 per person per day for lunch and dinner, and calculate that for the band members and only two crew it comes to $4200.

I have no clue about equipment rental costs, or any of the other taxes or fees they have to pay, but just these figures add up to $33,700. And that is for the lowest figures I came up with for each item. It is possible they get some discounts on some of these things, but I'm betting it's still mind-numbingly expensive to tour here. No wonder they are discouraged when they only have 50 or 100 people show up. I bet they can feel the money bleeding away on those days.

But suppose only 2-4 fans per show (assuming 25 shows) would give the band an additional $100. That's only 50-100 people but it would bring in $5000-$10,000. That would pay for the vans and some other expenses too. That would have to help.

I'm just going to ramble* here

UTMW (reg. Starfish version) is playing and I'm reminded how much I love this song. When I think of my favourite Church song, this one doesn't usually get listed in my top ten because they have so many songs I love, but whenever I hear it I'm struck by how perfect it is and how much I do love it. Hell, it was my first Church song, how could I not love it?

I got a bit cranky in TTB comments section yesterday, which I imagine anyone reading this already knows. I've been trying to not react much to the comments there, but the comment that got me just seemed pointlessly mean and I did react. The weird thing is it wasn't even the worst comment I've seen. But it caught me at the right time I guess. I'm not just saying this because Veleska reads my blog, but I can't recall her ever saying anything mean about anyone on the comments section there. I mean most of us have bitched about "people who [fill in blank with assholeish type of the day]" and she has too, but I can't recall any personal slams from her there. I don't see why leaving complimentary comments should warrant getting jumped on. As for my comment -- it was kind of a two parter and I should have left it at the first part. Sometimes I don't need to say everything I'm thinking.

So now I'm going to blather on about how I read, or don't read, comments on TTB. Not really of interest to anyone else, but I was thinking about it today so I'm writing it down. It's my blog and I can do it if I wanna, damn it!

I used to read every comment, but more recently I've begun skipping several. There are days I do read almost all of them, but as part of attempting to control my tendency to smack (just a little virtual smack) people I think are being jerks I will skip certain people's responses most, if not all of the time. These are the people nearly always leave mean comments. I figure they are just trying to get a rise out of people and I'm trying not to give them what they want. Let the little bastards choke on their frustration at not getting any response. There is one person who often references Buddhist (I think) teachings and puts in various links -- this person seems nice enough, but it's just not something I'm interested in so I don't read it. Really long posts I rarely read either. Sometimes I will skim them to see if I'm interested, but often the skim does well enough. And poetry or song lyrics -- I generally don't read those comments either.

I've never been much of a poetry fan. While there have been poems that have moved me deeply, I can't pick a favourite poet or even a few I like (unless SK is included I suppose. I do like his writing, but his most poem-y blog entries tend to be my least favourite of his). I like it better read aloud (not by me, but by someone else), but even then it has to be done so it's not overly dramatic. SK actually does a great job of it. He has a lovely voice and a good flair for the dramatic without being overwrought. I really enjoy the pieces he read from his Earthed book for the re-issue of the Earthed cd. I do occasionally read the book, but I find I get more out of the ones on the cd. Hearing them makes a huge difference in my perception of them.

And song lyrics. I think of myself as someone who often likes songs for their lyrics, yet I rarely read them, and even more rarely read them without the song playing. I find that even for songs I know very well I can often not recognise the lyrics without the music. And when I do read them without the music I often find the lyrics I get so much out of in songs don't do much for me. In so many songs the words compliment the music and the music fills in the words -- an example of the whole being much more than the sum of it's parts.

And you know when I picked eek for a name (it was taken on blogger for blog titles, so I went with a combo of eek and indra which is a name I use on another messageboard) I thought it would be obvious what gender I am. But I guess it isn't because a fair number of people either guess wrong or have to ask. It is kinda fun to keep people guessing. :-D

I think that's enough rambling for today.

* Ramble -- I love that Jack Frost song. :-)

I know...

what SK's new project is. :-D

And I'm sure everyone else will too very soon.

I'm pretty excited about it.


(and this is such a nah nah nah post. Yeah, I'm being a little shit, but very few people read this blog so it won't be a big deal.)

Mother's Day

I always did something for my mum on Mother's Day. Never a huge production and never got swept up in the big commercial aspects of it, but usually a nice card (I would often make it), some flowers picked from the yard, and I'd make a nice breakfast or brunch. Just a little something to make it special.

It's been three years now since she died. I really feel it on Mother's Day.

the painting advisory board

That would be me. :-)

Had to laugh when I saw that on SK's blog. I wonder if that supercedes the SKSC -- which is, of course, the Steve Kilbey Steering Committee. I made up that one though, and it started out with more people than just me. He seemed to get a big kick out of it when I would tell him the SKSC thought he should do one thing or another.

Also got quite a laugh out of the "the advisory board is organizing me some HEPA equipment" line. A little while before he went to Europe we chatted a bit in Antenna and he had been talking to some sidewalk (or footpath, depending on where you're from) chalk artists (I think that's what he said) who told him that pastels were highly toxic. So he Googled pastels and toxicity and found some very scary opinions on the subject. I told him I'd check into it for him and let him know what I found out.

I did a bit of research and found the big problem with pastels was the dust. If you control the dust, there are very few problems with them. Using a good quality HEPA filtration air purifier was mentioned by many pastel artists as a huge help. So I checked out what was available in Australia and when I found a couple I thought would work well for Steve's situation I sent him an email about the two brands and three models I liked the best. I mentioned getting HEPA filtration vacuum as kind of an aside since in a quick check inexpensive ones aren't too hard to find. I figured he'd just use it for his work room, so it wouldn't need to be great. He replied and seemed very relieved. Said he would pick those things when he got back from the tour.

Fast forward to earlier this week. We had made arrangements to have a phone conversation about a possible art exhibit (looking more likely than just possible. Yay!!). After the initial "how are you?" bits, the very first thing he said was "about this pastel thing...what do you really think?" He's really quite wigged out about it. Anyway I told him I did think that a HEPA air purifier and vacuum would take care of the vast majority of his pastel problem. Then he said "so...what store would I buy these at?" and when I paused (because I'm thinking "how the hell would I know what store?") he said (mighty pitifully I might add) "wouldn't it be better if you bought them and just had them shipped to me?" Well of course it would be better for you! I managed to stifle that comment and most of my laugh, and said "yeah, I can do that."

Then he said he'd like a fairly nice vacuum that would last and could be used on the whole place since A has asthma and that might help her too. So I ordered the air purifier right off and started on vacuum research. You know, there are quite a few cheap vacuums with a HEPA filter and quite a few very expensive ones with it also. But finding a mid-priced one with a HEPA filter was not as easy as I expected. I had such a headache sorting through all the different brands and models. I did finally find what I hope will be a good one for them though -- designed for people with allergies or asthma and what seems to be a reliable brand.

He emailed yesterday to say the air purifier had arrived and was "quiet and smooth." Whew. That's a relief. I hope the vacuum goes over well also.

And he's back to working on his art which had come to a screeching halt when he was all wigged out about the pastels. :-)

bad. good.

(I started this piece during the last few days of the Church's European tour but then got sidetracked and didn't finish it until now.)


I've been following the Church's European tour via several sources, but mostly through SK's blog. While he does usually seem to be up and down when he tours -- well, anytime really, but more so when he tours -- it's been heartbreaking to read some of his blogs this time around. He just seemed so discouraged and defeated, and I can't blame him. I think they had high hopes for this tour -- I know I did, and so did several other fans I talked to. It's easy to say "why did you play there? Everyone knows you wouldn't get an audience there" when the show's over. I know many people (especially after the fact) wondered why they played where they did, especially in the eastern European countries, but you know they didn't play there because they thought they would fail. I listened to an interview Marty did (when he was doing those shows with the Mood Maidens, so it was early last year I think) and he spoke about touring with The Saints. Guess where they went during their European tour? Yep, they went to many of the same eastern European cities the Church just did. Apparently they did well enough that the Church felt they could also do ok there. Plus their Budapest show last year was warmly received.

It has to be tough for him to put himself out there and not get much of a response. And to go out and play to a very small crowd when he knows they are losing money has to be really discouraging, especially at this point in his career. And then just the grind of touring -- long hours of driving, getting lost, being delayed at borders, not being able to find much food he could eat (I seem to remember him saying he ate nothing but bread and tomatoes for a day or two), tiny and no very nice (ok, crappy) hotel rooms, not being able to get a phone that works, equipment problems, personality conflicts -- all that crap has to get old pretty quick.

I mean I thoroughly enjoyed my little five day jaunt following the band last year, but all I was responsible for was myself (I did have a couple of PV's tripods for a few days, but I could have said no to transporting those). All I had to do was get get to each night's hotel and venue, and if I changed my mind partway through, I could have just turned around and gone home. No one was depending on me. I didn't have to be nice to a bunch of people when I really didn't want to be nice. I would have liked to have been able to have done it longer...but not too much longer. Even with no real commitments or concerns on my part I know that kind of travel would get old pretty damned quick.

So I can certainly understand SK venting on his blog about all the hassles. Isn't that what a blog is for anyway? I like that he is sometimes whiny, bitchy, petty, snarky, and bitter on it. That is a part of him -- just as the breathtakingly beautiful, honest and poignant entries are part of him. And I love the humour. He's an amazingly funny guy, and I don't think a lot of fans knew that until they read his blog for a while. It's all part and parcel of the man, and I appreciate that he's comfortable enough to write it. Sometimes, such as during much of the recent European tour, it is discouraging to read, but I'd rather know the problems and struggles than to be blithely unaware.

Now on to the good bit. While the band was on tour in Europe I had orders for eight of Steve's paintings come in. Of course I had just put up a new set on the site during the first few days of the tour and sent out the SK srt site email list email about the new work, and posted the same info to HW, Seance, and Myspace. Plus mention of the new work was made in the Church newsletter that was emailed out too. The attention from the tour, and having some of his prints and cards for sale at the shows, does help promote the art site and help with sales. So on the days of some of the most discouraging blog entries towards the end of the tour I was able to send SK some "good news" emails. Being able to do that, being able to provide some good news, was really rewarding. I was so thrilled for Steve when I got the various emails from people wanting paintings, and it was great to be able to pass that good news on to him when so much else seemed so bleak.

And I also generally enjoy dealing with the people who buy the paintings too. Most are totally thrilled to be able to buy a piece of original SK art and also to talk (well, email) with another fan. It's great to see how many buy one of his pieces and then keep coming back for more. A comment I hear all the time is "they are so much better in person!" And they are. The online images are good, and the prints and cards are quite good too, but it doesn't quite compare with the originals. And that is even more intense with the pieces where he used iridescent pastels and/or metallic gouache. The originals of those are really distinct and quite special. And it is such a thrill to be able to hold in your hands an artwork actually made by Steve. How many fans are able to do that? I remember the first SK pieces I bought and the absolute rush I felt holding them. It's great to be able to help others have that experience also.

What's also special is that for some of the people buying one of Steve's originals, it is the first time they have purchased an original piece of art. Being the person who helps them do that is also very rewarding. With any luck they will buy more original art -- not just Steve's (although that obviously very desirable). There is something very special about art that is hand made by someone, be it a painting, pottery, a quilt, a carved piece, a piece of jewelry. You can feel the love and care put into the work -- it's that same love and care the Church put into their music.

Just Rambling

I signed up for last fm just over a week ago (because I stumbled across a journal entry I wanted to comment on and had to register). Anyway, it's kind of fun looking at all the charts and stats and "neighbors" and voting on pics for fave bands/musicians and such. I do have to laugh at the "social music revolution" bit though -- ha! I'm about the least social person, not only in person but even online. I have to admit I'm genuinely baffled by people who go out all the time with friends or to parties, or even post loads of messages in chat threads or comments of Myspace, Last fm, and such places. I mean after a while what is there to talk about? I can do it for a while, but pretty soon I just can't figure out what to say/write that hasn't already been said/written (lots of times) -- well the Myspace comments section is always tough...not quite sure why, except that there doesn't seem to be any context at all -- just comments hanging out there. Always feels weird to post those.

A friend sent me a friend request on Myspace (a shocker in itself as she claimed she couldn't stand Myspace and would never have a page there and then I didn't reply until she yelled at me -- through a message -- because I didn't know it was her). She said she finally decided to do it so she could keep up with people easier. While I think it's great she asked me and all, it's also really strange for me. I look at her page, and see the ongoing conversations...and I just find it very hard to write anything. Everyone seems to know everyone else except for me and I just can't get comfortable enough to join in. At least it's not quite as bad as in-person gatherings when I'm stuck there instead of just clicking a mouse and going away.

My neighbors had a party over the weekend. Seems to have lasted the whole weekend. I couldn't quite believe it when I heard it start back up on Sunday. It's a whole duplex of college students, so lots of alcohol, music I don't really like (I can't really complain though as it wasn't rap or hip hop -- sorry to anyone who likes it, but even the best of it just gives me a headache -- and it wasn't all that loud), and every word any of them said the whole weekend was at full volume. I did get a bit of a laugh out of the condom conversation this afternoon though.... But the upshot of this all weekend long party is that I get creeped out by people around when I doing stuff like being out in my yard or taking a walk (going to a park or such -- there's just no way). So after running a few errands Saturday morning (before the party started) I pretty much stayed in the house. I'm not used to doing that, especially in nice weather, but the prospect of going out when there are a lot of people outside next door makes me ill. Logically I know they don't even notice me, but logic doesn't come into play much with this kind of thing. Oh well, give me 10 more years and I'll be one of those people who never leaves the house. I really hate that part of cities -- why must they have people, damn it?

There are a couple of tomcats that sometimes hang around. One is solid black and fairly young. He's a very friendly guy and loves to be patted. He'll even let me pick him up, but he doesn't like it much. Isn't too afraid of Zeke (Zeke is good with cats though so that helps) and just seems to be a nice easygoing guy. I did see him doing the same routine for my elderly neighbor lady as he does for me, so I suspect he has a series of people he hits up for attention and food. Little devil. The other tom is black and white and has obviously seen better days. He has a gimpy hind leg (not real bad as he can run pretty damned fast, but there is a hitch in his gait), scars all over from years of fighting, and is just generally unkempt. He's much more wary than the younger cat (but the younger cat is very wary of him, so I think he might still pack a wallop in a fight), but late last week he came up on the back deck for some food I put out and he actually let me give him a few little pats. He didn't look particularly thrilled, but it made me feel good.

Working on setting up an art exhibit for Steve in Atlanta this fall -- probably November. I sent him an email about it but he wants to talk on the phone, so he's supposed to call this week. I both look forward to and dread those phone calls. Sometimes I feel like responding ''Just read the fucking email, ok?!" but he is right -- once the phone conversation gets started it is easier to work out details and hash out ideas. And I do have to admit once they get started I enjoy them as he can be great fun and remarkable easy to talk to. It's just the build up to them is incredibly stressful for me.

And I'm planning on going to the opening (well...if I can get SK there. That could be a challenge. ) even though I will probably make myself sick worrying about it. Same deal with the concerts -- again, if they tour here -- I want to go and almost certainly will go to some, but I will make myself ill for a couple months beforehand. What a pain in the ass. Anyway, back to the art exhibit. I'm aiming for November (work will stay up for a month or two). The time I've heard for the band to be touring the US is Sept/Oct, so with any luck that will mean late October, and I'll be able to get SK to finish the tour and then come back to Atlanta for an opening. I don't see being able to be able to get him here just for the art opening -- both because he won't want to and because the cost would be beyond what we could do. I'd love to be able to set him up to do a solo (music) show or two...or better yet, a couple of SK and MWP shows -- wouldn't that be great!! as well, but I'll be doing good just to get him to do a reception. Oh. And he hates meet and greets with a passion. And just what are art openings/receptions? Yep, they are fucking meet and greets. If he agrees to do a reception and then pitches a hissy fit when we get there I swear I will bitch slap him so hard he will have an impression of my hand on his face for the rest of his life.