Good things...

Good things about my upcoming enforced time off:

Time to write!!

Time to do new and creative things with the enormous bead stash in my closet

Time to do that road trip to Marsh's Free Museum to research Jake the Alligator Man (how long is the drive to Long Beach, anyone?)

Time to do some much needed house cleaning and downsizing of possessions

Time to finally do my tax return (was going to have the accountant do it; now that funds will be scarce, I'm going to use last year's return as a model and do the best I can)

More quality time with kitties

More time for gym (but no more money for personal training ::sigh::)

Time to visit with friends who don't have traditional work hours

Time to enjoy the rapidly improving weather (kite flying!)

No daily commute = less driving = less money spent on gas (with this change, I'm eliminating 28 miles per day roundtrip 5 times a week from my habits)

More time to catch matinees and flicks at the $3.00 movie house 20 minutes north of here (All hail the fabulous and underappreciated $3.00 movie house!)

The opportunity to consider kinds of work I never even thought about before (solcita has invited me to come and sit in on one of her shifts as a 9-1-1 police dispatcher, for example, and dreamline suggested I consider applying for a receptionist gig at the animal clinic where she works. One thing I'll say about both these jobs: they affect people's lives more directly and in more beneficial ways than anything I've done in years, and there's a definite appeal to that.)

I'm sure more blessings are in the offing with the upcoming time off. I haven't thought of them yet. But this positive thinking is a step in the right direction after the last few days of anger, bitterness, and sarcasm. One thing at a time. . . .

We won't discuss last night's rather uncharacteristic and extreme binge....

What would you do to defend your art?

On Thursday nights as I drive home from workshop, I listen to NPR. Usually I hit the station right around the time they're airing Pacific Time, a show about issues of importance to Asian Americans.

Tonight they ran a story about a man in South Korea—a refugee from North Korea—staging a musical about the concentration camps in the north, based on his and his father's experiences. Apparently the show is graphic and doesn't pull its punches withe regard to the details of incarceration in these places. The musical is so controversial that the South Korean government has threatened him with legal action (for showing images of Kim Jong Il, among other things) and many of his original backers have pulled their financial support. He's received many private donations to keep the show up, but the money hasn't been enough.

As a result, he's mortgaged his kidney for $20,000. Either he pays, or they take his kidney.

Gives "suffering for your art" a whole new meaning. Perspective.