This last week has been busy for me. Over the weekend I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, The Universe and Everything and So Long And Thanks For All The Fish. I was left with the answer "42" but longed for the question (which I think is this: "What's the number of our taxi again?" but I can't be sure- I only just realized this last night when I read Mostly Harmless- the fifth in the trilogy). I have also just started on The Princess of Mars (from which Heinlein obviously pulled a large portion of his characters' material- the whole Howard Families thing).
Anyway, that was just the reading. I'm an avid reader and love a good yarn. This last week, my cup runneth over in that deparment.
I had the CEO of SoulPearls call me two weeks ago, telling me that she was becoming disillusioned with the project and she needed to see some progress or find another web designer. *sigh* She gave me a deadline of November 26, 2001 to turn the comps her graphic designer had created into something useable.
Some history: The SoulPearls.Com project started somewhere around January of this year- nearly 10 months ago. Life for everyone involved (especially myself) has been rather troublesome. It's not that the project itself wasn't worth doing- it most certainly was. I was just... daunted by the potential impact of it. Putting what I believe to be the words of God on postcards seemed not exactly "wrong" but it left me feeling pensive. Compounding that uncertainty with creating a website around those postcards and the uncertainty just grew. In the beginning stages of the project I worked both as the graphic designer and web designer, which seemed like an awful lot on my plate on top of the other stuff going on in my life. I wasn't getting paid for the work, since I truly did feel honored to do a service for my Faith- again, the money wasn't the issue. The issue was me getting off my ass and doing it.
The first designs I created were... well... horrid. Bland, blocky, simplistic, busy, no sense of consistent theme- in short, a designer's nightmare. The CEO tracked down a graphic designer at my behest and he eventually came up with a design around August.
Anyway... I got to work on it this Monday and it actually looks nice now. The version of the site that's up now is the same old crap I did earlier this year, but this new version is worlds apart and infinitely better. There's still some more work to be done on it, but I'm thankful that the graphic design aspect is now in someone else's hands.
A potential client I had been talking with for some months- a photographer in Memphis- finally sent me an email. He had the $500 I'd quoted him for his project and he was ready to begin, with a down payment of $250 up front. I got the check last night and created two comps for him to look at. I'll probably do another one later on tonight, after work. Yeah, I'll be exhausted by then, but I usually do my best stuff when I'm half out of my mind on sleep-dep.
I also got my paycheck this week. The influx of cash- $190 from work and the extra $250 from my newest client for a whopping total of $440- was a God send. Now I'll be able to pay for my expired tags ticket and move on with life a bit. My car needs some major repairs (brakes are going out- rotors and all), but I think I can manage to hold on just a little while longer until I finish with the photographer's site and collect the rest of my fee.
I also wrote another 5,000 words on my book. That felt remarkably good, lemme tell you. I've been spending a lot of time at the cafe recently and considering how much time I've spent there, I'm surprised by how much has actually gotten done this week. I hope it's the start of a new trend for me- I'd like nothing more than to be able to do design during the week and be able to afford to do what I want to at the same time and pay the bills.
Saw the Harry Potter movie. I was really surprised by it. I envisioned different looking characters in my mind when I read the story, but the actors in the movie did a pretty good job. Alan Rickman as Prof. Snape was almost perfect, but I would have preferred someone like John deLancie- someone who can pull off subtle evil looks really well and even look sorta serpentine. The kid who played Draco Malfoy had the right look of smarminess about him. The girl who played Hermione Granger looked wrong at first, but she seemed to fall into her role later on in the movie. There were some parts of the book I would have liked to see, but they got cut and the story didn't really suffer from it. If you haven't seen the movie yet, regardless of your age, I'd suggest you do. On a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being the best, I'd give it a solid 7- from me, that's pretty high praise.
I met Amy again at the cafe a few times this week (what with all the time I've been spending there). I can't seem to get a bead on what she thinks of me. One moment she's cold and indifferent and the next she's just effusive with conversation and chatter. I dunno if she feels nervous around me or if she's nervous because of me. Maybe I won't pursue her after all. She seems too uncertain about a lot of things and I'm looking for someone who has a clearer bearing in life.
All in all, I'd have to say that this last week has been more productive than I could have imagined. I've designed a full website, written more on my story, prepped for another website, read five books, socialized and ran some much-needed errands. I hope next week is equally satisfying. I'd really like to see the photographer's site done, up and running by the end of this month- perhaps in a week, which would be phenomenal. All I have left to do- and it's something I've been putting off far too long- is my laundry. *sigh* Work tonight at hell- it won't just be hell, it is hell. Ugh.