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Hey, Kristen
This morning at 3:04 I heard Tod ask for me, “Hey, Kristen…” and I woke up, braced for the rest of the sentence. Usually it’s a request for settling cats who are getting into trouble. But he was asleep, as I discovered when I rolled towards him and asked if he needed something. “Did you…
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Reworking my portfolio
Do you know when is the best time to rework your portfolio? When you are looking for new clients. And since I am, I’ve given my Work page a once-over. It had grown into a cluttered, overwhelming mess over time. Like all decluttering activities, it was challenging. Almost all of my jobs are interesting in…
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Audience over Product
Your audience is more important than your product or service – especially if you are an artist. As entrepreneurial creative person, it doesn’t matter what you are selling, making, or offering. If you are trying to make a business from creative endeavors, whether as a side hustle or a full time income, you absolutely have…
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Senmaida De-lights
Today I helped out at Oyama Senmaida for the first time. The annual illumination event is over – I wrote about the torch lighting in October – and today we removed all the LED lights, cleaned them, and packed them away for next time. The work itself was not too stressful – I filled three…
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More Maura Walks
Maura’s visit to the vet yesterday did not include taking his stitches out. We have to wait another week. I almost cried; I am sleep deprived from adventuring. You know how in fantasy novels, the author glosses over the long arduous journey: “They made fast for Thoradil, changing horses and riding through the night, arriving…
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8mm wonders from 1976
A school mate from Pennsylvania posted a couple of 8mm transfers to YouTube this week. What a time capsule treasure of fashion and location. In one of them, I found both myself (age 10) and my sister (age 7). I had to watch a few times to be sure that girl on the film was…
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Chasing the first sunrise
The Land of the Rising Sun makes an event of the first sunrise of the year, with news articles and maps highlighting sunrise times and the scenic places to see it. The earliest sunrise in mainland Japan (excluding the top of Mt Fuji) was at 6:44 this morning on Mt Kiyosumi in my own town…
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Happy 2024
Wishing you all the best in the year of the Dragon. And here’s a peek at the creative process and rejected designs for this 11th in the “Elephant as Zodiac Animal” series:
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Spicy osouji
The tradition in Japan is to end the year with all your slates clean: bills and debts paid, gratitude given, and house and grounds thoroughly cleaned. This year I have managed none of that. But I did tackle a task today, in the eleventh hour, that’s been on my list for six months. I wrangled…
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25 words
Another long-running annual tradition, this is my 23rd time summing up my year in 25 words exactly. House-building decisions had my attention through nine months creating our big cedar baby. Despite yoga, I spiraled down; then started Atenolol and felt myself again. Here are the others in reverse chronological order: 2022: Wondrous days at 555…
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