Silly NaNoWriMo 2008 Post

Mostly “widgets” I think.  First, here you can see that Mandy is beating me (as I write this – the images below will update live as this goes on) by almost exactly 10k words:

And you can see from the two calendars below that while I apparently only hit the “goal” for daily word counts on Saturdays, Mandy has had good success with weekends, overall:

vs. 

Ooh, and here’s a strange set of graphs, showing daily word counts vs. goals, scaled to our highest daily wordcounts.  I think that the goal (red) scales automatically to what you would need to be doing daily at each point to still reach 50k by the end, which is neat, and also why mine is creeping up and Mandy’s has been fairly steady:

vs.

And then we get into the regional numbers:

This year, “Easy Valley” broke off from “Phoenix”, taking 220+ writers (100+ of whom have actually put up word counts as of right now) out of the official Phoenix community for the first time.  A full third of Phoenix’s active writers, broken off – they think they’re so different, so “East Valley”, but look at them, right now they’re performing within 1% of Phoenix on a words per person basis!  We should have stayed one region and just had dual write-ins.  One Central PHX ML, one East PHX ML, and lots of opportunities for everyone to get together!  Heck, there’s been a further split, with “North Valley” people breaking off and having their own write-ins on my side of town!  This disintigration cannot be good for the “community” – we must stick together!

And then there’s the rest of Arizona, with Tucson (as always) leading in words/person, Flagstaff not far behind them, and both ahead of Phoenix and East Valley regions.  And then there’s that guy in Patagonia:

I think I’ve run out of things to say.  Time to go make dinner, I guess.  Happy novelling, everyone!

Two Art Walks coming up!

I’ll be showing some of my art and have all my books available at two art walks in the next two weeks:

Saturday, September 27th, 2008, from about 10AM to 3PM
SE corner of Greenway & Tatum (in N. Phx / Scottsdale)
Sponsored by Angel’s Serenity & Intatto Coffee

Intatto Coffee will be closed -the owners have to leave town somewhat last-minute- but this is part of their semi-regular local Art Walk series. I also showed at their August Art Walk. It’s a very casual atmosphere, relatively little foot traffic compared to downtown (more on that in a moment), so it’s easier to take your time and really look at everything that’s being shown. I’ll be glad to talk with you about all my different books, and my art, and would even be glad to do readings if you like. I’m also told there will be live music by Amber Gaia, so it should be pleasant all around.

Friday, October 3rd, 2008, from about 6PM to 10PM
I’ll be in the “Roosevelt Row” street closure / booths area
(Either on Garfield between 4th & 6th, or on 5th S. of Garfield)

This is part of the Phoenix First Fridays Art Walk, and October is when “art season” really seems to start in Phoenix, so I expect a lot of foot traffic and big crowds, despite the downturning economy. I’ll still be glad to talk to you about any of my art, or my books, but I am definitely aware that a lot of people coming to the Art Walk downtown want to try to “see everything” and don’t want to stand still too long. It’s a lot of fun, especially if you like crowds and people-watching with your arts and crafts. I spoke to the Roosevelt Row organizers today and am told that there will be a stage set up at the end of 5th Street with live music.

I bought some interesting 4×4″ canvases today, and I’m going to try to have them ready for sale before the Art Walk on the 27th. I want to put as much effort into them as I would for any of my other pieces, but to have art that’s priced a little cheaper, probably $15 each. (Unless I do something weird/sculptural/with-lights to them…) I’ve tried to keep all my art at affordable prices, and while I’ve been creating larger and larger pieces (with larger and larger prices), I’d also like to do some smaller pieces with smaller prices, to suit a wide range of budgets. Come out and see what I come up with!

post-First First Friday wrapup

Okay, so, two days later I think I’ve sufficiently decompressed.  First Friday was … hard.

Getting everything together was psychologically taxing.  Which paintings to take along to display, how to display them without spending too much, testing the generator/lights setup, thinking endlessly about signage, how much change should we have in the money box, how to fit everything into the car…  And when I checked the official website for Roosevelt Row on Friday morning, they’d moved the setup time from 4PM to 5PM up to 5PM to 6PM, so I was aiming to leave the house by 4:30.  Everything took a little longer than expected (especially fitting everything into the car), and there was unexpected “baseball traffic” and it was a little after 5:30 when I showed up.  Bleh. Continue reading post-First First Friday wrapup

Phoenix First Fridays; tonight, May 2nd

wretched creature & Modern Evil Press
will be showing at:
Phoenix First Fridays / Roosevelt Row
Garfield St., between 3rd and 4th St.
Friday, May 2nd, 2008, 6PM to 10PM

Is it too late to make a blog post about something happening tonight?  Will anyone see it before-the-fact?  We’ll see.  Gotta get that mailing list thing figured out, so I can email everyone and let them know when things are happening.

Like tonight: I’m going to be displaying at First Friday in downtown Phoenix.  I’ve mentioned it before, but now that it’s mere hours away, I’m getting restless with excitement.  Trying to get everything together & figured out so it goes of “without a hitch,” as they say.  I’m not showing in a gallery (yet), and as I’ve been avoiding doing for years now, I’m not illegally showing on the sidewalk or in an empty lot, either.  Instead, I’ve rented a space from Roosevelt Row, an organization which is legally getting a section of Garfield (one block south of Roosevelt) blocked off under “Block Party” rules and dividing it up for licensed vendors on First Fridays.  A lot of the people who have been setting up illegally already had tents &c., which is something I lack, but I’ve got tables, lights, a generator, and more art than I could possibly show in a 10×10 space (without a tent/walls to hang it all on).  Plus my books and Heath’s jewelry (chainmail) and … maybe we’ll make some money, eh?

I’m trying to decide which art to show (show first, that is – I’ll take most of it anyway, in case anything sells, I can replace it), since there’s only so much that can be seen in a setup like this.  Thinking about price tags, signage, labels, all that. Only hours to go.  But the basics are covered. I’ve even got stands for my books and some of my art, which is better than having it just laying there.  I’ve spent enough, between renting the space and getting extras, that if I don’t sell at least one painting (or a lot of books) it’ll come out at a loss — And I didn’t spend much.

Anyway, that’s it, I guess.  If you see this in time, please come show your support (maybe buy a book – they’re cheap!)

wretched creature & Modern Evil Press
will be showing at:
Phoenix First Fridays / Roosevelt Row
Garfield St., between 3rd and 4th St.
Friday, May 2nd, 2008, 6PM to 10PM