The Last Hurrahs

Oh boy... we are really down to the wire now. This week is my last week of work. Kind of nice that today was a holiday; now there are only four days left. In four days, my only commitment will be to creating. As those days creep closer and closer, my fears of running out of money and not being able to make enough money are annoyingly growing stronger by the day.

One would not guess that based on my actions: I just spent a three days weekend in Chicago helping one of my closest and most amazing friends (and I don't just say that because she reads my blog... she really is amazing. Hi Amber :)) move into a new apartment. Her new place is amazing: tons of space and lots of natural light. Being there while she was moving in really got my mind going... I'm not making any decisions any time soon, but the more I think about it the more I become convinced that I want to live in Chicago. At least for a little while. There is something about the noise, the lights, the constant activity of a big city that is so incredibly inspiring. If I am not tied to a specific city by a job, why not try and live someplace else? So much to think about lately.

On top of that, I am leaving on Saturday to spend a week in the Outer Banks with my brothers and some friends in a large vacation house full of liquor and about 20 other people that I do not know. Talk about a last hurrah. I am so excited to have a week to unwind, lay by the pool, listen to the ocean, feel the sunshine, party like I'm 21 again, and most of all daydream about new art to start creating the second I get home. This is all so unreal.

In other news, I have really been getting into using Society6 as a place to post and sell my photography. There is a really strong sense of community among the artists there and it is pretty amazing. You follow people and have a news feed, like a lot of other social networking sites. When someone posts a new piece of art, people can "promote" it and comment on it. The thing that gets me the most is that almost all of the artists reply to peoples' comments thanking them. Where have the words "thank you" gone nowadays? Where have manners in general gone for that matter? I have always been very big on manners; they are a very simple way to be courteous and show that you can treat strangers like human beings. Anyway, I have found that I really enjoy altering my photos by adding textures, then finishing them off with little phrases in subtle type. Here are a few example of the final products:

I have soooo many pictures from the past year to play around with and so many little phrases and quotes floating around inside my head to use. I'm super excited to take pictures at the beach next week too. Lately there are just countless things to be excited about. That is how life should be, right? :)