Michael R. Barrick

For the first time in years I have both Good Friday and Easter Monday off (union job). I intend to take my camera to Blender tonight. Considering I am normally confined to the photo area when I am at Club 23 West it will be fun to get pictures showing the space, although my heels are currently swiss cheese from new-shoe-itis, so I may not be inclined to be on them much.

Sunday evening we'll be having an Easter dinner with Elaine's family and after that I think I will take cheekydevil up on his suggestion to try out setting up a pay photo-booth at Sanctuary. If it goes well I might do it regulary, particularly if/when I start getting Mondays off all the time.

During the days I will be getting on to making headway on some outstanding projects. I need to finish my corporate taxes. It's an odious chore, but it needs to be done. I have a catalogue application that I started for Elaine's web store that I'd like to finish off. My Red Chair project has stalled, so I'd like to get going on another painting.

I was also planning on working on the illustrations for Dark Canada, but haven't gotten any feedback on the last sample so I don't know if it's what they want or not. I told them when I sent the last one that I needed feedback quickly to make their deadline. I think I may do a few more just for fun and if it turns out they don't like them, then too bad, they can find another illustrator. I can use them myself on Gothic BC. I also wouldn't mind finishing off the first two "not cartoony enough" ones that I sketched in the style I orginally had in mind.

There are also some little things around the house that I want to do, like clean the carpets and perhaps do something different with the "Christmas" lights in the living room (which stay up all year in one form or another and tend change with each major holiday).

In short, I plan to come out the weekend both relaxed and feeling like I've done something. I neither want to spend the whole weekend on social outings (the two club nights and family dinner are enough) nor do I want to spend the whole weekend doing odious things (like taxes). What I have planned is a nice balance between social time, obligations, creativity, and simple "puttering".

And now my rather pointless "lunch hour" is over so it's back to work.

Craziness. Yesterday I was broke. Today I am not. What I am is tired. Because I am back in the wonderful world of self-employment, sleep is a luxury. I worked until about 1:00 Sunday night getting the accounting set up after which I got an acceptable eight hours sleep. Monday night it was more like five hours sleep since I had to get up and get my ass to the airport for a meeting in Vernon. When I got back it was straight back to work for the other client until after I'm-not-sure-when (around 2?), then up at 7:00 a.m. for a phone call and squeezing in a little for a client before. Dress, shower, then 7 hours with the on-site contract, followed by a rush meet with another client that actually happened on the street as we met as we both had to be other places and the most convenient thing to do was cross paths on Georgia and exchange papers and instructions. Then some errands (which included depositing the first cheque for "Little 07" and achieving that positive balance!), home, half and hour to eat, bailed on Curiosity to "get to sleep early" and worked until 1:00 a.m. anyway... Then up at 6:00 this morning for a first-thing-in-the-morning call to Montréal, shower dress, into the on-site client's office for five hours, then two hours collaborating with some third-party consultants. Now I have a bunch of accounting that needs doing, graphic work, more work, I'd like to get to Blender, but I have files that need to be in Montréal by 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. And tomorrow I have to go shoot some pictures for a client while the morning light is still good (before 8:30 a.m.).

Friday morning after the shoot I have a some copy-writing and web programming to do, followed by lunch with Elaine and her parents, then some "flexible" time where I will either be doing design work or meeting with a potential client for, of all things, shooting footage for a music video. Then hopefully I'll get the Red Chair photos from the first finished off. Saturday we'll be renting a car to pick Hive show that ends Friday, grocery shopping, I need a new suit and some shirts and other clothing items because everything has decided to wear out simultaneously.

These days I'm planning in advance when I have the time to shit (I'm not joking) and between the lack of sleep and the bog smoke it feels like my eyeballs are about to start bleeding. And the sick, sad thing about it all: I'm loving it. I feel useful, inspired, and creative because I am doing my thing.

...corporation.

Last night at 10:38 PM, valerian and I gave birth to a new legal entity named "0734206 B.C. Ltd." At birth "Little 07" weighed in at a healthy -$351.50 (the cost of incorporating) with a well-developed sales funnel. As proud Directors we're expecting Little 07 will grow into a happy, healthy positive balance within the week.