hello from rainy-ass oakland. i've been here since saturday and it's been raining since sunday. as much shit as i talk about denver, it doesn't rain there much. snow doesn't bother me as much as rain, especially that dry, champagne powder they get in that area.
last i heard, water reservoirs were at less than 30% of capacity, so this week of rain is much-needed. but the sogginess! try explaining to your very senile grandma why we can't go out for "coffee and a nibble" every five minutes. rain + old lady = bad. my grandmother has some pavlovian response to her grandchildren that includes coffee outings or lunch. she never suggests going out for a movie or some shopping. these days she's all about the food.
so i've been working on a new website, one for the more professional side of me. i've been quietly obsessing over it for a few weeks now, and even though i'll never be able to shut the demons in my head off completely, i guess i'll roll it out officially:
www.addandsubtract.net. it's basically a vehicle for my writing portfolio as well as a blog that i try to update daily. i am working on freelancing more and stressing over full-time work less, but the funny thing about freelancing is that you have to market yourself. a lot. and for people who tend to be on the quieter side when it comes to their work... well, it's an awkward thing for me. i decided that a blog was something that would keep the website fresh, and do a fair amount of speaking for me and my work.
blogs are funny things. i never reference this blog on any websites or self-promotional tools like linkedin or facebook because it covers such intensely personal subjects and discloses personal photos. it's also a free space for me to not think about seeming professional or cool or having to consider whether my subject matter is good or appropriate. i prefer to let the few people who find it or know it read it, but i do not proactively put all my shit out there to air. as soon as i decided to start blogging on addandsubtract, it became a very anxious thing. i put a lot of work / research / consideration into each post, and i even interviewed an artist and will try and continue to mine cool, under-the-radar things. it's weird, it's working... but it's unpaid. you can't curse. the subject matter should be interesting, but focused. i can't talk about food one minute, then my cat, then trev, then me, then my grandma. food blogs are food blogs, design blogs are about design, news blogs about news. trying to be a general-interest blog with a bit of everything actually means you have to carefully curate the content. it's not really a little of everything, it's little bits of very pre-meditated subjects.
i head back to the D tomorrow and i'm pretty excited to see the sun again. living in denver has at least taught me one thing (no, not that i'm exotic, i already knew that): sunshine really makes me twinkle. i wake up and the sun is shining and that is such a great mood lifter. i sound like a sesame street skit, but it's so true. it's been raining here and writing has been like drawing blood, no. that's too easy. like harvesting eggs or pulling fingernails.
