1:4

I don't know about you but i feel like July is a long month. It's like i've been out too much and yet i've been cooped in too long. This mirage is strange because i don't really remember how the doldrums of July blew by extremely fast.

I submitted four fictions this month and only one slipped in. The lucky story was selected as an editor's pick and that made my heart big. The other three were submitted to low-acceptance market, a lesson that only mean i still have a LOT to learn about writing. There are blogs out there that talk about rejections, a topic i can emphatize as interesting and humbling, for what is the value of eloquence if i cannot communicate clearly and subjectively to an editor. I have work to do and i know it.

I anticipate some free hours of brainstorming now that i am done with my painting class. I never realize how a bulk of conceptualization is needed to produce a viable artpiece. It is actually similar to the discipline of writing, sometimes i will start with a phrase then build paragraphs until i have a coherent story. I like writing, maybe because it comes first before painting, and although it may sound propagandistic, i can only validate my development if my pieces will be out there, and that someone publish it not only because it is likeable but most importantly it is relatable.

Note to self: time to get serious Jay.

Odds and ends and coalescence

Sometime ago, i studied for a job exam, fevered determination and all, then blew it, as in i haven't heard a phone call so i could only assume that yes i really blew it. I might have jumped too quickly, might have forced my will to believe i am ready, but such is the smoky mettle of the will. In the end, there are only half glass knowledge and half full will.

I haven't kept up with my Summer reading because i've been doing a lot of art exploration on my free times. I have the luxury though to listen twice to John Fowles' French Lieutenant Woman, and man, oh man, i am overly substantiated by the savagery of words and erotic evocation (sigh).

We are doing collage and mixed media on our art class now and i think this is where i can get loose. It is one quart realistic and a gallon free-formed. I like how i drown my imagination and relax idly with no expectation nor standard of what a good or bad art is. Relative, yes, selfish, definitely, pleasing, of course.

Wazzup Homies

I haven't visited this joint for a while. I've been busy and lazy lately. The heat is keeping me indoors most of the time where i play with the dogs, eat ice cream and watch women's soccer. I also continue to take the painting/mixed media class and can now attest that it is like attending a therapy session. I still feel my creative output is crap but i don't really care because i always feel good after i expel the process out. When i'm bold enough to strip, maybe i will show some of my arty stuff, but not yet, not yet. In the meantime this was published last month and i really really like the above picture taken at the California Science Center. Hope everybody is having a fun Summer.