Rising From the Ashes

Coffee in the Washington D.C. Skyline mug (thanks again, Barbara!), "Bat Out of Hell" by Meatloaf on iTunes. The main collection is now complete with the acquisition of the Denver Skyline mug this week. What to collect next?

Started the post and then got J off to school (field trip to Stone Mountain today) and Dave off to the train station (he forgot he drove to work yesterday and took the train home... oops). Summer hours start at Turner today so he gets off at 3:00. I want some summer hours. Me, I finish this post and prepare for yet another telephone project meeting with my interim editor. I have high hopes that it will be short, maybe sweet, and I can Get On With It! We have so far talked for three hours this week and are still not done.

Woke up exhausted this morning again (big surprise) and didn't get up till 7:30. The good news is that I have regained my equilibrium. As a very good friend and another glass (bead) artist said to me yesterday just before my second project interview, it is very hard to have a professional discussion with someone with whom you have such a gross disparity of power in the relationship.

I think the main reason I felt so bad at the end of Wednesday (and into yesterday) is that I did not feel on an even footing with the editor: the book contract leaves me with absolutely no power in making decisions about content. I am not used to be in a position where I do not have at least an equal amount if not the majority of the power. It has been years since I have been in that kind of professional relationship.

And I am only in one now if I believe I am. Nothing and no one is making me write this book except me. I can walk away at any time, and if I am made uncomfortable by the way it is being handled and it does not meet my professional expectations, I will cut them a check (for the portion of the advance I have already received and spent) and walk away. And I am sure I won't be the first.

So I am at peace and ready for this morning's final discussion. I still have an obscene amount of work to do between now and Tuesday night, but now I am looking forward to much of it. Yesterday after posting I found some great flower pots at the hardware store for pot melts. They not only have holes in the bottom center, they also have several large rectangular slits around the bottom edge. This design opens up all kinds of possibilities for the flow of glass. I hope I get to try one this weekend (for a book project, of course).

Then at the day spa where I get my legs waxed I saw the perfect fountain design to do in glass. The one I saw was stone, and it will be stunning (and relatively easy) to do in glass and will give me a chance to do tinting with Bullseye powders and clear frit. I badly want to do it this weekend too, but it will tie up the medium kiln for too long (there is a stack block component that, like the pattern bars, takes two days to fire and cool). Now I just need to find a small light to put in it...

The long weekend begins. If the house is a rockin', baby, don't bother knockin'.