300!

Wow, I just realized that this is my 300th post on my blog. Hardly a landmark accomplishment, but noteworthy nonetheless, I suppose.

Well, life goes on and we're getting by ok. I'm down to working 3 jobs and spending a fair bit of time looking for one good job. I want to build with a design/build firm but it's a bit hard to find them online. Those are firms who do the design and then go to the site and lead the construction process in order to maintatin quality control. I've mailed out 5 resumes in the past couple of days and am hopeful to get a reply on at least one of them. I decided that email just wasn't working so I cut my resume down to 2 [good] pages and wrote a [really] good cover letter then printed it and started mailing it out to builders for whom I want to work. I would love to find a real job and have all but passed over the idea of going back to work for a design firm. I get much more fulfillment with a saw in my hands than with a mouse. And there's such a disconnect these days between those who design and those who build. So my new plan is to begin a career as a builder and work my way into a design/ build firm. Eventually, I will find a way to become a philosophy/ design/ build professor. That's a rare thing to find and it would be extraordinarily fulfilling to me. But that's in the distant future. For now, it's a labor to get out of bed some mornings. Working 6 days a week is beginning to take its toll on me but I have to just keep going. It's most difficult that I work so hard to make just enough to get by. Not making enough to save. Not making enough to pay down my student loans. Not making enough to spend. Blah. We eat well and we make sure we have good clothes on our backs. Can't ask for much more right now. I've started picking up books again and have enjoyed delving back into philosophy, theory and history texts. I'm reading alot on our visual culture and I'm reading alot on craftsmanship and building. Well, maybe not alot. But I'm reading again... that's a start.

Katy has gone back to school this week after having last week off for Spring break (though it's called Reading Week here). She had a good rest and got to do alot of things for herself. She also had a good friend visit for a few days who has lived in Bali (Indonesia) for 14 months designing bamboo buildings. Now she's on her way back to Ottawa to finish up her degree. Kendra is a great girl and it was really fun having a house guest for a few days. We like it when our friends come through here. This week it's back to normal. Katy's already busy with homework and projects. It's going to be a tough couple of months for her but she's more ready for it than she gives herself credit for. I think this semester she's getting a good handle on what her program at UBC is trying to teach, which is very different from what she learned at Carleton and very different from what she's interested in. I'm excited because she's quietly developing her own research interests while she's slaving away in front of a computer screen. It's exciting watching her grow as a designer, though I don't often tell her as much. We have alot of conversations and get into some heated debates on architecture and building and school. It's good for us both, I think. Watching her go through UBC for a semester and a half has really shaped my views on education and my path forward, as I see it, has been greatly affected by her. I'm really lucky to have her around. :) And not just because she made me pancakes this morning for Fat Tuesday.
Well, back to the resume printing. All is well and we're all still alive here. The weather has been amazing for a couple of weeks and it's only started raining again within the past few days. Even now, though, the weather is pretty acceptable. Hope you are all flourishing, or at the very least, smiling once a day.

Another week gone by...

Well, I've added a fourth job to my plate and managed to stay busy (and paid) for the week. Hoorah. I've been bouncing back and forth between two different construction jobs, though it seems (and I hope) that one of them will remain steady for a couple of weeks, at least. I still work on Saturdays at the framing shop and this is the second week that I've volunteered my Friday at the Habitat for Humanity build site here in Vancouver. That has been a really good way to spend my Fridays. It's alot of fun going to work on the project and it's very low stress. They like having me there because I more-or-less know what I'm doing and they don't have to keep such a close eye on my "team" (trans: me and one other guy). It has also put things into perspective for me... no matter how bad I think my life is getting or how hard I have to work to get by, I still have the luxury of enough extra time to volunteer for this build. It's a re-centering experience, among other things.

And the fourth gig I'm working at right now is a freelance writing job wherein I write descriptions of an artists paintings for his website. I'm being underpaid and having too much asked of me, but it's money so I'm there. I stay really, really busy now... went from zero work to 4 jobs in a matter of a couple of weeks. I'm grateful for all that I'm learning in my construction jobs and for the extra litte paycheck from the frame shop . I'm hoping to be able to convert all of this experience into a real job before too long. I'm trying to reformat my resume to start applying for full time construction jobs. I'm really getting a kick out of learning to build houses. I could see finding a career through this route as easily as through a design firm.

And as for Valentines, I think I had the best Valentines day I've ever had yesterday. I haven't told Katy in those words, but she'll find out when she reads this. I went to work for the day and she spent the day cleaning the house and planning a nice dinner. When I got home there was jazz playing and candles out on the coffee table and the house was so cleeeeean! (She even mopped! She's never mopped!) There were baked potatoes in the oven (perfectly timed to be ready with dinner, I might add) and she had bought some wild salmon and asparagus. FanTAStic meal! She bought me bath salts, a can of Coke (rare treat for us) and some chocolate and had me watch an episode of the Simpsons in a bath while she started dinner. After a thoroughly relaxing soak, I helped her finish dinner and we ate the most amazing meal. :) I still smile thinking about it. After dinner, we went on a walk through the neighborhood and came home to play dominoes and eat surprise dessert. And what was surprise dessert, you may ask? Check this out: anglefood cake topped with fresh strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries and a dollop of Cool Whip. Mmmmmmm... :) Katy has never had Cool Whip, however, and when she pulled it out to fix dessert, it was frozen. She was confused...
K: "But it was in the freezer at the store? Was I supposed to thaw it?"
M: "Let's see... the directions say step one is to thaw it out."
K: "Oh."
(laughter)
But we fixed that really quick and finished our night with a close game of dominoes that lasted until late and was within 20 points at the end. The Parkers are going to be so impressed when I bring her around.
Well, we've finished our Sunday morning coffee and are headed out to run some errands. It is beautiful outside and we're looking forward to getting out a little bit. Hope you're all well... have a good week.

Back to normal...

So I just finished my first full week of activity in what seems like way too-long a time. I spent Monday through Thursday installing windows on the third floor of the condos I was helping to frame before Christmas. That was tough work. Lots of lifting. Then Friday I volunteered on the Habitat for Humanity build site for the first time. That was a really good experience. There were about 8 people there and it was really relaxed. They have a build site about 40 minutes from here by public transit. They've been building since 1998 and they have, I believe, 16 units completed with another 15 or so to go. They've designed their buildings so that volunteers build structural panels and then those panels are later assembled into the house. They have a 3-ring binder with drawings of each individual panel, usually about a 6' section of wall. I worked with a retired gentleman named Dexter and a young Korean architecture student named Lin Su and we built two panels on Friday. Nice relaxed pace. Lots of help and instruction when you need it. Basically, we sat around and hammered nails for 7 hours with a couple of breaks in there. I look forward to going back. Then yesterday I went to my job at the framing shop. That's an easy gig, too. I just sit in the back of the shop and make frames. It's a pretty relaxed work environment, too. It was nice to have something to do all week. It's nice to get back outside. It's nice to have a routine... to have a reason to get out of bed in the morning... to have income!

So I was waiting to hear about hanging my art in our local coffee shop but it turns out they had told someone no before me so they had to be fair and say no to me, too. No big deal. A few different people have told me to check out posting my work on Etsy.com. It's an online market for handmade items... art, vintage goods, etc. It looks like a good idea and I'll probably do it sooner or later. I've also decided this week to use my new skills in Flash to design an art website. I want a central repository for images of all my creative uselessness.

So today is my lone day off and I'm looking forward to it. We're going to go to the Salvation Army to look for a desk chair and then home to do a little cleaning. I've gotta do the shopping today and I want to get an art piece done. I have a whole new collection of pieces that I bought on Ebay and some others that I bought from a going-out-of-business watch repairman. I have 3 broken cuckoo clocks now! Excited for those. Ok... time to finish my coffee and get going. Bye all...

Back to work

Well, I'm off to work! It was great to get up at 6:00 and have a normal morning again. Had my coffee and my breakfast while Katy made me lunch and now it's off to install some windows. Yay job!

A working man...

Well, my long unemployment nightmare may have come to an end. I don't want to say it has come to an end for certain until I get a full paycheck, but I was offered a job working construction on Thursday. I got a call from a guy I've worked for before (the first guy who gave me a shot at construction) and he said he's picked up a couple of new jobs and wants me to come work for him. Don't know how much I'll make, but it will be enough. I'm hoping to be able to get a little more than he paid me last time since he's seen how well I work now.

-breakfast timeout-

Katy and I missed our Saturday morning at Beans (our coffee shop) so we came down this morning for a coffee and breakfast sandwich. When I lost my job, we kept coming to Beans on Saturday, but we stopped having breakfast and reverted to just coffee and a newspaper. So this morning is our "got a job!" celebration. Mmm... they make the best BLT here!

Anyway, the job thing is a nice change. Also, I'm going to start volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build site once a week. This Thursday will be my first day. I will also be keeping the job I got at the picture framing shop. So I'm going to be a busy boy starting this week. I needed that. Not having anything to do has been killing me. I've tried to make use of my time working on my latest series of paintings but even that only takes a small bit of time. In fact, here are 5 paintings I've just completed.

What?
Watch parts on Canvas

Time to Die Angel!
Watch parts on canvas

Moondance
Watch parts on canvas

Love
Watch parts on canvas

Almost There
Watch parts on canvas

So yes, life is picking back up and getting on some sort of track. I want to thank Katy, Mom, Bonnie, Mary K., and everyone who encouraged me through this whole mess. Of course it's the women in my life who keep me together. Where would I be without you all?

Ok, time to go get groceries and then make some chicken soup!