I'm one of the few people left in America who insists on making hard copies of the photos I wish to keep. Not only because 70% of my photos are work related and I need them for my files but because I have an inherent mistrust of the 'cloud'. I know too many people who have lost years worth of photos because they stored them on their computers; machines whose life spans are typically less than ten years and when they die and mean really die, you can't retrieve anything off of them without special training. So, I print off the photos I love, delete them from my storage and put them in a box, like a pre-computer age old Grandma, which means that when the grid goes down and we all discover that the 'cloud' is just another big machine somewhere, I'll be able to gaze fondly at pictures of my life and loved ones while I slowly starve to death.
I also read real books.
I did some Christmas shopping and then got some work done.
Tuesday I went to the shop and met with a customer who ordered six (6!) large, custom Christmas stockings. If that isn't proof that the economy is booming, nothing is.
I thank God every day that I live in a time and a place where there's enough money for folks to spend some of it on anything as ultimately frivolous as original art! In Venezuela, they've eaten all the zoo animals and there aren't many pets left who've escaped the soup pot; I guarantee not a lot of art is being bought.
Margy flew into town for a few days to see everyone and check on the progress being made on Mom and Dad's house. She crashed on the airbed in my studio again. She was up and out most mornings right after coffee but we had a lot of fun drinking wine and watching bad Christmas movies when she returned in the evenings.
I've seen so many Netflix original Christmas movies they've all mushed together in my memory. They've all featured a super attractive cast and sets that were winter wonderlands gorgeous beyond description, decorated so beautifully and tastefully that you just want to run to Michael's and spend your last cent on another gorgeous, pre lit garland to hang anywhere in your house that isn't already festooned by Holiday glamour!
These movies are like store bought Christmas cookies: they are magical to behold but when you bite into them they aren't very good, they all taste exactly the same and if you eat three in a row you start to feel a bit sick but you can't stop.
You can't stop!!
Margy and I watched two that were out of the cookie cutter mold, in that the decorations were absolutely dreadful. Both movies were set in a fictional hotel that was supposed to be known for doing Christmas to the max and one story even featured the gal who decorates the place and the decorations were AWFUL.
I'm talking really, truly dreadful. The individual wreaths, trees, garlands etc. were a mishmash of mismatched colors, fabrics and sizes, the hotel was packed with ugly stand up Santas and random trees, every wall had wreaths, lights and stockings just stuck to it with no rhyme or reason and strings of lights were just tacked everywhere! Most of the stuff looked used. There were wreaths where the bows were half untied! We laughed until we cried at just how sad and weird everything looked!
Decorating hint: foil potted poinsettia plants on the floor of the hall do not ad Christmas charm: they're just a tripping hazard.
Thursday evening, we headed out to Ty's place for Xena's Christmas Concert. It was at the local high school and for a moment, Jay and I were afraid (very afraid) that it was part of some K-12 four hour song fest but it wasn't. Six first grade classes sang a dozen Holiday songs, including a few for Hanukkah. All the kids were dressed in their Holiday finest, some wearing Santa hats, some wearing antlers, some bare headed. The show included singing, dancing and costume changes and best of all, the Grand Finale took place thirty minutes after it started!
After the show, we went over to the local supper club for dinner. It was a smashing evening!
Painting class went well. We all brought wrapped packages. I'd gone to the dollar store for plain red paper and a giant golden bow, thinking that would be fun to do. It was fun but the bow nearly drove me crazy. Seriously, go buy a huge golden bow, shine a spotlight on it and stare at it. After a few minutes you'll realize you can see reflections of the entire room in its shiny loops. After an hour, you'll swear you can see reflections of events throughout your life in it. Three hours later, you'll be sure you're staring into a worm hole at several billion years of the universe past...You'll think you've lost your mind.
I spent about two hours with Mom and Dad after that. We moved a few things around in her pantry and added a book case to the bedroom. Then, I finished reading my book, baked a double batch of Devil cookies and when my original plans for the evening fell through, joined some of my sisters for an open house at a local artist's studio.
You can't swing a dead cat in this burg without hitting a phenomenally talented artist.
Today, I have to get some work done. These Christmas presents aren't going to buy themselves!!