all i want is a room somewhere

I've been putting off work for a couple of weeks. It's pretty convenient to blame it on the holidays, but the truth is, I'm just kind of stuck right now. Forced creativity, for me anyway, just turns into a big pile of poo. (I know there are at least a couple of kids who read this, so I hesitate to use some of my favorite words, like shit, for instance. Please feel free to insert such words wherever you think I might use them, because you're probably right.) Forced creativity does little more than create constipation, sometimes literally, so the best thing I know to do is forget about making stuff for a while. There are plenty of other long-neglected things just waiting to be done.

I have three big projects in mind this week. Maybe four or five. I'll feel good if I get even one of them done. First, I have beads to post in my BeadShop, which would be a good idea, since the beads are still our only source of income. I also have a new "product" in the works. I want to offer "custom stuffed" globe beads, like the Beach Bubbles and Snow Globes, but with the buyer's own bit of personal niceness inside. There are details to be worked out, and I'm on it. Really. Then there's the loading of music to the new ipod my kids gave me, the testing of the new MiFi we got from Verizon to insure internet access in our weird little world, and the designing of a new website and biz card for Rick (more on that later). I'm exhausted already, and I'm still in bed! But the one Big Thing that really needs to be done is to move my studio from Mitzi's garage to my own little space...

Yes, it's time to move again. I've been sharing my dear cousin's garage/studio since October, and while it's a pleasant arrangement for both of us, it's not a very productive one for me. Sucks to have to make a living, but it's likely to be necessary for the rest of my life. I've been pondering my options for weeks now, considering renting studio space or a little house, or even trying to buy a modest little condo to flip in a couple of years after we sell the Taos house. Nothing seemed quite right. We actually like living in the trailer, bizarre as I know that sounds to some of you, and the expense of the other plans was more than we really wanted to commit to. Remember, the idea here is to live small and simply, and not to spend every waking moment working to pay a mortgage so we have a place to work. Did that already. Didn't like it.

So I thought and I thought, and then I just let go of it. And as soon as I did that, a different idea came to me. Funny how that happens. Why not set up my own little studio, right here at "home", in a cheery little EZup? Why not indeed... It makes perfect sense. It's compact, but big enough for my needs, it's portable, it's inexpensive, it's heatable and well ventilated, it's wind resistant, water resistant, and fire retardant, and best of all, it can be set up right outside my own little door. This is a head-smackingly good idea, if I do say so myself, which I do, because I know it wasn't really "my" idea at all. I continued to think about it for another week, and talked to Rick about it, and looked around online for other options, just in case. Finally, yesterday, testing my new MiFi "personal hotspot" in the truck on the way home from Medford, I took a deep breath and ordered a gleaming new EZup. It will be here in three days, so I have some prep work to do.

I'm excited about this next turn of events. I need this. Need to have my own little studio, free of distractions, just waiting there in easy reach any time I feel inspiration strike. And I know it will, once I give it some space. Inspiration needs a room of its own, even if it's only a little 10x10 tent. And of course, you know me, I'll probably dress it up a bit...