Addle Quandaries

Dear Readers,

I’m often asked many questions time and time again and among the most common is how I got started. It’s an interesting story -to me at least- and I don’t mind sharing it.

I was in Junior high in the eighth grade and I needed another elective class (a class outside the mandatory math/science/English/history) and I had just been kicked out of my TV productions class because I didn’t like the way the Teacher treated some of the students and I let him know…Then let the Principle know when things didn’t change and I think he was very unhappy with me. It was mutual and since they wouldn’t make him leave, I had to.

I had already been asked to leave two music classes (Chorus and Strings where I played the Violin) because the instructors didn’t feel like I was really trying. I have a horrible solo singing voice and can only harmonize with other people and I cannot read music. So there I was, faced with a choice of taking a foreign language, an athletics class, or art.

At the time, I had no inclination to know any language but English, and I’m way past my athletic days so…Art is was. The Teacher was an odd ball for sure. Eccentric even. He had burned his hands so many times with the kiln that he had no feeling in them but he still created awesome works.

It was his passion for the subject and his encouragement of my trials that really lit a fire under my rump and got me really into it. From drawing to painting, to coloring and clay; I wanted to do it all. I got my first commission through him to paint some tall grass reads and cattails on a wooden deck chair for a client of his. I was delighted by it. Felt a real sense of accomplishment. I wanted the world to see what I did.

That’s when I found www.elfwood.com
It’s a website that promotes sci-fi and Fantasy Art of all ages (13 and up) in many different forms. I was in beauty overload and felt something special when I logged into it and uploaded some pictures of my work. The people were fantastic, encouraging my work, giving me tips and just really making me feel like I was doing something. Brightening peoples lives with the vision I painted on canvas or drew with a pencil on paper. Elfwood cinched my addiction to art and eleven years later, I’m still a fan. I still upload material and I still browse the pages leaving comments of my own.

So I thank www.elfwood.com, I thank my first Art Teacher, Mr Peblo, and I thank Mr Molizzi for kicking me out of TVP.

Sincerely,
M.E.

So in my Vacation post I mentioned I’d be posting about Sea World and I realize now I never did. So, here goes!

You honestly cannot ever lose the sense of wonderment of this place. I could just sit in the underwater viewing of any one of the animals (Dolphins, sharks, walrus’, polar bears, Baluga Wales, manta rays, etc) for an entire day. Trying to see it all in one day, while doable, just loses part of the mystic. I would suggest going for two days. Once you know where everything is, getting from one awesomeness to another is much quicker. Also, see the Wild Arctic during one of the Shamu shows so it’ll be less crowded.

That being said, Brandy, Dow and I went to Sea World on Monday afternoon until about eight. The Manta-ride got shut down because of technical difficulties, but the exhibits alone were well worth it. We started off in KeyWest where they have the Dolphin Nursery and the stinray petting area. We bought some shrimp to feed them and tried to get some good pictures (didn’t happen), before moving on to the Dolphin petting/feeding area.

The Dolphins were having a blast with these black balls, doing tricks for food when I suppose one of the females went in heat because they all started chasing her and what looked like a fight broke out across the way in the shallow waters. Yeah…they weren’t fighting and the poor Hostest was trying to get everyone to leave but she couldn’t stop laughing. We took the hint and headed out to go watch underwater. Voyers? Not really, it was cool because we could hear the Dolphin’s chatting as they chased each other around. We realized that my camera can’t see shit underwater regardless of the setting I used and Brandy got some really good pictures of the Dolphins.

Anyway, so then we moved on to the manatee underwater viewing and Twin got some really good pictures. They were lethargic but playful, it was relaxing to watch. We didn’t stay long though, we moved on to the penguins after passing through the turtle point. The penquin area was sort of cool because you went on a flat escalator so you could just stand there and watch them until it hit the end. Then they had another room with the Puffins and the other penguins which is where I got some of my better pictures.

We were hungry by that time so we decided to eat at the underwater grill. (Where the shark and mantaray pictures came from) Holy crap was it expensive! You sure as hell pay for your view! The food was good, the service could have been a lot better for $25 a plate+ depending on what you ordered. Plus they wanted 18% to 20% tip…I had better service at the Olive Garden!

Anyway, after we ate and took pictures (most of which sucked because there was no lighting) we went to the underwater viewing where they had baracuda’s, lion fishes, blow-fishes, the dragon sea horses and others. Very breautiful, very difficult to photograph! Then you pass under this long tube that let’s you see the sharks the diner’s see from the other side. So they swim along side and above you. It’s pretty cool.

After that we made a pitstop to photograph the Flamingo’s and headed out as it was almost dark and we wanted to enjoy more of our Hotel Pool and hot tub! I enjoyed Sea World so much (mainly the photo opperuntities) I went back the next day! Twin and Dow dropped me off and I used Twin’s pass and state ID to get in (with her permission of coarse) and did my own sight seeing where I visited the uderwater stingrays and the Wild Arctic which we hadn’t done the day before as well as going back through all the rest of the exibits.

We’re already planning another trip! (loosely) Well worth the time and much needed do-what-ever-I-want.

So I’ve needed a vacation for some time now and I finally went. Our (Brandy, Dow and myself) only plans were to rent a hotel for four nights and go to Sea World one of the days. We booked our room in advance and checked in on Saturday (Aug 8th) night with no problems, joking about a sign they had on the wall about Florida Residents have to book with a credit card (at which point we were told that it applied to the rental cars only).  At least until Brandy went to bed and Dow and I were playing chess around midnight. The A/C started making this loud sound like a table saw. We tried turning it off and then on again but it wasn’t any better. We couldn’t take it so we called the front desk and no one answered; and again, still no one answered; and a third time just letting it ring and ring and ring and still no one answered.

It was a small Hotel (the GoldStar Inn) so we decided we wanted to go to the store anyway, we’ll just stop by the lobby. Only the door was locked with a “if you need assistance, ring this bell” sign outside. Weird, but okay. I rang the bell. No answer…You guest it, I rang that bell at least four times before someone (who I later learned was the property manager and who lives on the property) came out to help.  He said he was sorry and could give us another, nicer room. Sounded good to us.

So we went to the store, came back and got the new key and moved all of our stuff. What he meant by nicer was cushier beds and a new A/C.  Fine with us, we’re not difficult to please. So we spent the rest of the night there and got up somewhat early in the morning for a swim. Sometime around ten or so we got hungry and since we rented a room with a microwave we decided to re-heat our dinner from the night prior…only the microwave didn’t work.  No problem, this should be a simple swap right? Wrong.

We called the front desk and were told that we had to switch rooms again. By this time I was pretty angry that this hotel, which we really liked before, wasn’t being kept up very well. So we asked why they couldn’t just swap our microwave for one that works rather than asking us to change rooms …again. “It’s company policy.” Of course it is, but no one could tell us why or offered any other solution. What ever, I wasn’t going to let it ruin my Vacation so I asked for the corporate number and I’d deal with it later and in the mean time, we’ll switch rooms.

I shouldn’t have bothered. When the next room was ready (some hour and a half after they said it would be) we moved all of our things two rooms down to our next room. Only this A/C was worse than the first one and the lock on the door didn’t work! If you know me, you can imagine how irritated I was. But hey, I was on Vacation so I wasn’t going to let it ruin the moment. So we looked for another hotel and found the Serelago.

Of course, we asked the GoldStar Inn for a refund for the three nights we didn’t stay and at least a partial on the night we did for having to change rooms twice. Not an unreasonable request I think. Of course, that sign we were joking about aparently said “no cash refunds” below the part we read and we paid cash. I didn’t even argue that we were told it applied to Car Rentals only I just asked if we could have it applied to the card they had on file. We were told no. So we asked if we could have a check. They said no, we had to call corporate for a refund. Oh, I was very mad. I let it go, it was Sunday and the manager was “off.”

We booked into the Serelago, which is the best Hotel for the money spent I’ve been to. It’s no HardRock but for the money we spent (about $53 a night) it had two beds, a TV with lots of channels, a closet, a kitchen-like set up in a little hallway before you get to the bathroom which had a mini frige and microwave. The bathroom was kinda small but the place was clean, the A/C worked well and quietly and it had free WiFi (even though we could only get a signal in one corner of the room). There were two pools, a kiddie pool, two hot tubs, a play ground, a basketball court, tennis court, and beach volleyball court; As well as it’s own food court and 24 hour front desk.

They even sent someone out at no extra charge to trouble shoot our WiFi connection issue and were very professional about our request for extra sheets and extra toilet paper. I have to say, switching Hotels was an excellent idea even though it cost us a little extra money. We still haven’t gotten our refund yet, but tomorrow is another day and I have plans on being a nuesense since I’ll be back in work mode. Never provide bad customer service to someone who takes escalations all day, we can be ruthless.

(For the sea world and pohotgraphy portion of my vacation, visit the other blog “Update (Photos)”

Some important changes:

Site Solutions by Yahoo only allows 60 images per page. At first I was annoyed by this, but Site Solutions allows me to update anywhere at any time. Besides, when I thought about it, more than 60 images per page is probably going to loose a lot of interest as well as up load time.

That being said, I split my “paint” category in two. One for works between 2002 and 2008. The other for 2009 until I hit sixty images Some of the older images don’t have descriptions but that’s a work in progress. You’ll note on “Paint I” I have a “My First” and “My Favorite.” I thought my fans might like a little more detail.

“Paint II” has some new images as well as a featured project with a little Q & A. Yes, someone asked me those questions and so I thought other’s might like to know too. I’m going to post those in my next blog sort of as an archive.

I’m also sending a new e-mail when I update so please comment!

M.E.

Sometimes when people tell me that my work is marketable. That I’m selling myself short for not marketing my work. The reality of it is, I don’t want to get stuck trying to make people happy. I paint, draw, and do the things I do because I like to.  It’s why I rarely take on commissions. I can’t read peoples minds but most of the time I can read their expressions and what I see isn’t always what they see. I don’t want to feel like I accomplished something great only to see a look of puzzlement or distaste on someones face when I show them.

Come closer to Christmas I do, however, plan on having a few things stocked up that people can buy. Christmas cards, posters, painted rocks, post cards, etc. Small, simple things that people can buy for gifts or just for themselves. Obviously they’ll be posted eventually. I plan on making a new link on my website for buying specifically. I’m just not ready for that yet.

So, thank you to all of my fans, but I’m perfectly content to just keep doing what I do.

M.E.

With the new layout and overhaul of my website,  I wanted to include a blog which will allow my friends, family, and fans to be kept up to date on the goings on in my life. Both the artistic aspect and non artistic aspects.  Updates should be more frequent now that I can update from anywhere, on any computer so long as I have my portable hard drive to upload the pictures (thanks Mom, Dad, and Jinger!)

That being said, let me say that lately I haven’t felt up to doing any serious art. Nothing too thought provoking or intense that I really have to think about it. No, I’ve been keeping things sort of abstract and geometric. There’s a good sense of peace that falls on me when I do that. As if following the lines with my paint or marker just lets my troubles flow through my hand and the utensil so that I don’t feel them anymore. It’s extremely relaxing. I started doing it at work too. I’ll be taking pictures and posting those on my website soon too.

As for work, that’s a story all on it’s own filled with too much pain and anger so I wont go there. But I have faith (as always) that it will come out right.

Thanks for reading

M.E.