On the getting of agents.

So this is one of those “memes” that other bloggers have picked up on, but I like it too, so I am posting it here. I hadn’t really thought about how much I have actually traveled throughout the country, but I am not too far from having been to every state in the union. It hasn’t really ever been a specific goal of mine to see every state, but I am a firm believer in the idea that the more you get to know new places and other kinds of people, the more you learn about yourself.

Anyway, here are some maps of places I been:

I can’t say that I’ve stayed overnight in each of these states, but I have at least gotten out of the car in each one. The ones I have lived in are much fewer: IL, MN, MO, WA, and WI (in green).

Make your own maps!

Growing:
A) EnchantedCeiling has gotten a lot of attention this month, and I have had a lot of fun keeping the site running smoothly and helping all the new visitors get their photos on the site. I truly mean that– I am not being snarky.

B) I also got to do some new things at work this month. We do some pro-bono work for some local clients, including a series of silk-screen posters for a community theater called Broom Street Theater. I volunteered to do a poster this year, and then I got volunteered to do the first one of the season. Since I am employed as a programmer, leading off a series of graphically-designed posters was a little intimidating, considering the caliber of design work my coworkers usually crank out.

C) And I think I have a children’s book manuscript I can work with. I’ve been writing some silly short poems and doing drawings for them over at Cereal & Milk, and I took one that had started off well, and fleshed it out into something I can span over 32 pages. You won’t find it there, by the way– I kept it under wraps in the hopes of turning it into a publishable book. More to come on this one, I am sure.

Pains:
1) Getting chosen for Yahoo! Pick of the day was awesome, but it meant that the site ate up all my bandwidth. I actually had to upgrade my hosting, which will cost me more money. I was planning on upgrading eventually, but I was forced into the decision a little early. Fortunately, I had some frequent visitors and contributors offer me some cash money to help pay for the extra hosting. They inspired me to beg for more from the rest of the multitudes.

2) And if you have ever pulled 100 19″ x 25″ screen-prints with three colors, you know it is back-breaking work. Jimm L. and I coated and burned the three screens and then printed the first color on Sunday night. When I was getting ready to head back to the print shop Monday night, my back went into some nasty spasms and had me rolling on the floor in the fetal position for 15 minutes before I could get into the car. In the end, the prints turned out really nice, and C. helped my get my back to settle down after I came home.

3) Finally, there is no significant pain with the manuscript project, other than the fact that with all the other things I am doing, it is pretty difficult to find the time I need to continue with storyboards and mock-ups necessary if I ever want to submit this book to publishers. And Frisbee season is just around the corner.