My Excuses...

I know that you probably think I haven’t been posting much lately out of apathy or pure, unadulterated laziness, but that would be far from the truth!

Oh no, I have been a busy, busy bee!

I want to write, I have these ideas of what to write about (I have a dream involving you, your wedding/rock concert and me dyeing my hair blue that is just begging to be written down) but then the day gets away from me and, next thing I know, it is 1 AM and I really, really need to go to sleep.

A sample example of my crazy schedule (crazy for me, that is – I don’t make any assumptions about the relative craziness of anyone else’s schedule).

Wednesday, January 24

6:30 AM

Wake up, hit snooze button, cuddle for fifteen minutes with husband, then drag aforementioned spouse out of bed to get dressed and go to the gym.

You don’t want to know how badly we need to go to the gym.



7:30-8:30 AM

Work out.

Vaguely attempt some mild cardio on the elliptical trainer while watching Meredith Viera (so much better than Katie! No tanorexia! No bleached-blonde hair!) interview some pseudo-psychologist on the effects of a woman earning more than her husband. Important information people! Lift free weights, do some floor pilates.



8:30-9:00 AM

Shower, dress for work. The facilities at Chelsea Piers are nice, with private showers, KissMyFace bath products, free razors and blow dryers. I actually remembered to lotion! Red letter morning! I should be here more often.

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Rush to work on the subway. Read Tiki Barber article in the New Yorker after losing interest in the Vladimir Putin article.

My brain cells are a little challenged for international politics so early in the morning. Without caffeine.

9:30 AM – 12:45 PM

Work. I spent the morning drawing a Mala (Rufous Hair Wallaby), trying very hard to not make it look like a rat, and a Purple Crowned Fairy Wren for a logo for an Australian endangered wildlife fund-raising organization. Also worked on our quarterly newsletter, a new property website and a new property brochure.

12:45 PM – 1:30 PM

Ran to the library, checked out two good books (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance on CD for the drives to Vermont!) and two trashy books. I am a renaissance woman, no? At least a woman of broad tastes. At least a woman of plebeian tastes, okay? Picked up cheddar broccoli soup for lunch. Ate at desk.
1:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Work more.

Geez, you’d think these people were paying me or something! Fine tune Mala and wren drawings. Get critique and redraw Mala with a baby (baby Mala, that is) in its pouch. Trying not to make the mom look like a rat and the baby like a cow. Drawing a Mala takes looooottttts of time.



Also, take two tea breaks. Mmmmm Hazelnut Vanilla Yogi Tea!


5:30 PM – 6 PM

Design invitation for charity casino night, that I stupidly agreed to do pro-bono. These people don’t give me the love I need, but I am a sucker for the cause. And I get free tickets to the event.

6:00 -6:30 PM

Subway to freelance job.

Brief stop at Wolford to check out their sale. Endure hateful glares from salesperson as I ignore their regularly-priced items ($50 for stockings! $180 bra! $80 panties! People! Did little fairy fingers spin them out of butterfly wings picked by virgins?) for their picked-over sale items. None of which would ever fit me.

6:30 – 11:30 PM

Freelance on book project, at their studio.

Re-order the pagenation, which means re-doing all the thumbnails in the back of the book and make many many type edits. The tail end of these book projects is always the most tedious part of the process. Edit edit edit. Blah blah blah...

Take fifteen minutes to eat dinner (chicken katsu!) standing up in their studio kitchen. When I get weary, I think of all the credit card bills and acupuncture this is paying for.

11:30 – 11:45 PM

Subway home. Finish Tiki Barber New Yorker story.

11:45 PM – 12:15 AM

Attempt Quality Time with husband by watching Top Chef. Husband falls asleep on couch, suspending Quality Time. Drag him to bed.

12:15 – 1:00 AM

Wash face, brush and floss teeth, go to bed. Read, in an attempt to put myself to sleep. Happily, it works.

At 7 AM tomorrow the whole thing starts all over again.