Grading is done for tonight, or at least I'm done grading. My jaw hurts. I'm gonna go sit by the kids while they go to sleep. Then maybe an early bed for me.

I need my next push. Today was sketch #28 of my slash-a-day month. I'm aiming for 31, and that will really have to be done in advance because of my training on the other side of everywhere that day.

What next? This has been interesting. It's helped me realise that, within limits, I can produce on a clock (let's not talk of quality--but of effort and followthrough, and not getting caught up in self-consciousness). I might be able to take this new medium (I've been using pens and sketching, as opposed to pencils and drawing, trying to be as accurately representative as possible. There might be more reward for me at the scribbly end, or there's a middle ground or.. or..

I don't know! This month challenge wasn't my idea, and I don't know what to do next. Help! How do I at least not backslide, but optimally get better and happier?

I will take my art to a next level, but I do not know the way.

Jesse, I know I've seen this [link] before--has it been on Good Stuff before

You know what was most awesome about this? Not the picture (which I LOVE and want to wallpaper on my (hypothetical) kid's bedroom), but that Adam Lambert's "Trespassing" came up on Pandora as I clicked over. QUEER AGENDA UNITE.

ita, did they have the monitor or not? So lame.

My feet are cold. My nose is cold. I don't want to go to work today not even a little.

Also, on dead body behind the school news, my colleagues and I have decided that it must have been a large animal. There were no detectives after they took the body away and no one has been in the field since. Someone suggested santeria rituals.

Just dropped CJ off for his search and rescue team's winter overnight. They go up in the mountains, learn how to dig a snow cave, sleep in it, and then come back early tomorrow. We are due to have a storm come through tonight with a few inches down where we live - not sure what the forecast is for where they are going. Have fun guys. I'm back home in my warm bed and don't have plans outside until tomorrow afternoon.

Good morning, Saturday am Buffistas. I have showered, fed cats, cleaned litterboxes, made coffee and breakfast, and am sitting here in the comfy chair contemplating a pile of freelance work. My back hurts enough that I'm glad for an excuse to stay in this chair instead of painting the den.

When is it time for a new coffeemaker? How do you know? I used to like this coffee well enough, but lately every cup tastes bad. I've cleaned the coffeemaker as well as I can and the coffeepot, but the glass is permanently stained brown. Is there a trick to cleaning it, or should I just buy a new one?

Zenkitty, I've only done this with my metal coffee carafe, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with glass. Put a few tablespoons of powdered dishwasher detergent in the pot, fill it with super-hot water and let it soak for about 15-20 minutes. Dump out the water, then wipe and rinse in the inside of the pot. A lot of the brown scum will lift right off.

I am having a much-needed relaxing morning. The past few weeks at work have been unbelievably stressfull due to the sheer amount of STUFF I have to deal with. We're overworked and understaffed, and I'm feeling wrung out. The good news is, we're finally getting some new people on our team.

Meanwhile, I'm incredibly frustrated and my anxiety levels have skyrocketed because when there is so much going on in a hurry and I'm already tired, it's easy to make mistakes. Fortunately, my current workplace understands that errors are a natural consequence of overwork, but in an old workplace, every little mistake became a federal issue. Even though I've been in my new job for nearly seven years, it's amazing how much damage I still retain from old workplace toxicity.

Thanks, Anne, I'll try that.

Your last two paragraphs, I could have written. It's disturbing, how many people I know who are in this situation of overworked and understaffed, how long it's been going on, and worse of all, that there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. This is the new normal, and I hate it.

It's disturbing, how many people I know who are in this situation of overworked and understaffed, how long it's been going on, and worse of all, that there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. This is the new normal, and I hate it.

t raises hand In fact, I have a shit-ton of work to get done today. Meh.

Yeah, me too. But I don't know how not to do it this way.