We’ve all seen those landscape paintings in charity shops. Those ones that look like they’ve escaped some 1970s living room. There’s no denying that the art is well done, but there’s something about the tone or the palette that just makes them feel tired and old.

A friend linked me to this article on Twisted Sifter on a couple of artists who are buying these old landscape paintings and adding monsters to them. I love the whole art clash going on here, the idea of taking something as old and tired as a landscape painting and giving it new life and making it into something fresh.
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I’d had an idea for this post long before I moved. A proclamation of a new start coupled with a picture of the rising sun. Yes, not so much a new me, but a new era of my life.

Except that lives are complicated things and rarely clear cut. I have no doubt this is a new start, a new era and all those good buzzwords, but that won’t be evident the moment I move. I need a little time to adjust, to settle in. Change will become evident over time.

I had a writing project I planned to start on April 1st but the ideas though developed and advanced during the move, aren’t yet fully cooked. I suspect the next week will be spent with Excel planning both plot and character.

For now, my overall feeling is one of relief. Whilst there is still a mountain of work to do relating to the move, the hard bit is over, and I can relax a little.

So I’m going to be moving in… little over a week. I really should be packing. I really should be having a clear out. I should be arranging storage and separating things that should go into storage from things that I need to move with me. I really should be… you know… doing things.

I have done nothing and today the crashing reality of it all is hammering down on me. I want to bury my head in the sand, stick my fingers in my ears and go “la la la, I can’t hear you”.

I’m not sad at moving, I’m actually looking forward to a new stage in my life. But still… I’ll be glad when it’s over. On the plus side, Eastercon is the weekend after, and now with new job, and money, attending is a possibility.

I shall focus on that, and not stare at everything around me and go “take with me, throw, or put in storage?” Maybe the packing will do itself if I ignore it long enough?

A couple of years ago my extended family decided that instead of token presents, it would be a lot more fun to make things for each other. It proved to be a great success. It didn’t matter how well the final product turned out, the time and effort put into it was greatly appreciated by all.

For Xmas 2010 I produced a custom anthology, using Print on Demand to create unique covers for each book. They turned out pretty well and one of the stories still gives my aunt nightmares.
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I’m becoming a real sucker for these extreme sports music-style videos that have been cropping up on Youtube of late. I’m no BMXer but Danny MacAskill shows some serious skills. And even if you don’t appreciate the athleticism on display, the Scottish scenery on display makes it worth a watch.