6213 minutes Till the Manuscript is Due

Coffee, fittingly, in the Chicago skyline mug this morning, "Walking on a Wire" by Lowen & Navarro on iTunes, no words written yesterday. I think I had too much to drink yesterday. Too much coffee that is. Excess caffeine is the only reason I can think of that I called Kathleen Hogan of the One of a Kind Show in Chicago and asked if I could increase my booth size at the last minute and took on a 10 X 20 double corner booth with two pillars in the front corners and only one wall in the back. Oh yes, and it's on the "new" side of the floor. At least, from what I have heard, it is over by the "Martini Lounge". Yes, caffeine is the ONLY likely explanation.

I lay awake from 1:30 am to 4:30 am designing the booth in my head from display to lighting, only interrupted by Jessie climbing in with us at 4:00 and Dave's occasional restless murmurings. I think I have come up with a freestanding support system for my track lights and a battery-powered lightbox design for the lower shelf of my pedestals. Hoo boy, and that's all the time I have to spend on the booth (except for making notes this morning on all my ideas) because THE MANUSCRIPT IS DUE TO THE PUBLISHER IN 4 DAYS 8 HOURS SIX MINUTES AND 36 SECONDS. (I keep a timer running on my desktop for it... as if I don't have enough stress.)

I think I will be okay. I know I will for the writing part, but I also need to draw all the illustrations, scan them in, print out a copy of everything and snail mail it in. Just the scanning printing and mailing will probably take all day Wednesday, and it's also a big shipping day (three galleries orders scheduled to go out). That leaves today, tomorrow and Monday for writing, and Tuesday for illustrations. All the big kiln loads are slumps and once I get the 3.5 X 8 rectangular plates cut and ground from the fuse, prep time will be very little. Breathe, just breathe.

Yesterday's firings were a mixed bag. I made another frit wafer like the one in the original draped vase. I see such potential in this technique for sculptural pieces. The wafer is so delicate I want to pair it with something sturdy like cast blocks, but the whole piece also needs to be able to be packed and moved without breaking. Of course, this isn't something I have time to think about today either--in spite of the fact I have one show in two weeks and the One of a Kind Show is in a virtual four weeks away. The coulee I did did not turn out so well--too many reactive glasses in the same piece made it dark and muddy. And 4-1/2 lbs is not enough to get a 12-inch square. I either need to weight the corners more heavily or use more glass. Probably the former. The final fuse of gallery pieces looks to be flawless, as expected. Some things I can do (thanks to the computer on the kiln) in my sleep.

CRRAAAACCKK!! Gulp. Time's a wasting. Off to write.