what overwhelmed looks like

Hello!  Just popping in to say I'm here, and getting my behind kicked by a few deadlines. Not really the deadlines per se, all the technical equipment required to complete the jobs. Here's a photo my daughter snapped of me Friday. This is where I was most of the day, a desk in the family room where I often blog from, or use my computer at when it needs to be charged.

 

 

Anyway, here's the desk last Friday without me there. Not that it looks much differnt right now. At this point, I'm still behind, but 2 deadlines down and one to go. The joy on my face can be attributed to the fun technical (camera and computer) issues I was enjoying at the moment. My computer started acting oddly, then warned me that my startup drive was almost full. I discovered that I had used all but 4GB of the 249GB on my laptop. NOT a good idea, thus the odd computer behavior of late. But wait, before this, I discovered that my camera (a Canon Rebel that I've had -and loved- for over 5 years) was the problem I'd been having lately with photos, not the lens as I had thought. So I did some research (and mostly relied on the advice of my two brothers who are avid, amateur photographers) and decided to bite the bullet and order a new camera (a Canon 7D). At this point, in the photo, the camera had arrived, but I wasn't sure about it yet. I'm still not. I haven't used it much, due to the computer problems, but at first take I felt like I may have bit off more than I needed to chew. It's a lot heavier than the Rebel, and I will certainly need to read the manual (hate that). My brothers assure me I will love it and it will serve me well for a very long time. I'm betting they are right, I just don't relish the learning curve as I would with any hand made endeavor. Looking at the photo, you can see the computer (being backed up to an external hard drive), boxes for hard drives, cameras, lenses, the old camera, a tripod and a basket of journals shoved underneath. In general, an unorganized mess. After backing up the computer to two external hard drives (as my brother insisted), I started deleting photos to make room. Much more to go, and a new way of operating as well, (photos stored externally), but just when I'd gotten far enough to move onto learning the camera, I started feeling sick. Just a cold, but late Saturday night my fever spiked at 103. No one else in the family has had anything, I think I was given their share. ;) Which brings me to today. Back to healthy, back to learning the camera, and back to the deadlines. I'll be back to fun blogging soon, but I just thought I'd show you the ugly stuff too, there's plenty of it here, just like most everywhere, I just usually try to keep the focus on creating. But hey, this is part of the creating too, just not the pretty, (or for me, fun) part.

Comments

[sharon from farm and fru fru]

poor you...i had a a tech breakdown in jan...not fun....camera, laptop and deep freeze (not really tech, but no back up!) lost the camera, freezer and the laptop and had to start from scratch...i hate that. hope you get back to the fun stuff soon.

[lisa]

Sorry...part two of my comment I thought the weight difference was big, but I am used to it now. I did get a cool new camera strap that goes over your shoulder instead of around your neck...I really like. http://www.blackrapid.com, they are local guys and a women that I took a digital photography class from recommended them.

[Sheila]

I SO understand! :) Soon it will be just the way you want it!

[Julie]

The 7D is an EXCELLENT camera...probably the best focusing system out of all cameras..you will love it!

[Miss Mama]

I just found your blog and I love your artwork and images... loved the San Miguel photos... was thinking, oh she's a brilliant Mexican girl... then, no, it was your vacation, and I thought, okay, either Maine or Portland...AND THEN! WHAT?!?! HOORAY! YES! YOU ARE A FELLOW ANGELINO! Oh my gosh! That made me love this city even MORE! So happy to find your blog! Hooray! Hooray! Will follow with interest! Good luck with deadlines and tech world. (Will follow your BLOG with interest, not you... I'm too busy chasing my children around and dreaming of my own little re-creation of a creative life to do more than sigh from afar over the loveliness of what you're doing.)

[charlotte]

feel better, my friend. sorry for all the real life ick there. soon, soon you'll get past it and on to the fun part. xoxo

[jackie]

I know the feeling of being overwhelmed! It really is bad when you don't feel good.......hope you feeling better soon, and you get that computer and camera up and running so you can start to create your wonderful art again.

[Vicki K]

Technical difficulties would make me sick if I wasn't already! We recently had to buy a whole new computer - my stomach still feels a bit queasy when I check to see whether old info transferred correctly to the new harddrive.

Just can't get enough photos of your stitched quilt from last year - I love it!

[chrissy]

that IS a lot!
just sending you some simple LOVE.
all will be well.

c

[Emily]

I loved the honesty in this post. Life isn't always sunbeams and rainbows ... and it takes a brave person to share that. You'll pull through, no doubt.

On a happier note - CONGRATS on the new camera! I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time.

Thanks also for allowing a peek into your work space. I'm always fascinated by the organizational habits of other artists.

[andrea]

thanks for keeping it real! I LOVE new stuff then HATE new stuff, reading manuals suck, we are all so impatient, arnt we?