Other than the spate of recent earthquakes, the economy and the never-ending To Do list, today was a jolly good day.

First off, my earthquake policy was almost cancelled because the last two payments were not credited to my account. The joys of online banking. FYI, The California Earthquake Authority and Allstate, although working together, don't seem to work well with certain banks. Seven years of online banking and as soon as I started making payments from a new account, the system breaks down. My payments were quietly credited BACK to my checking account, thus putting me behind 2 months.

After that was resolved, I hauled 3 cubic feet of bulky items out to the curb for my free bulky item pick-up tomorrow. My backyard had been looking rather white trash. Plywood, dilapidated chairs, junk wood and those used stretcher bars I tried to sell on craigslist. By end of day, scavengers had hauled off the stretcher bars.

With all the crap gone, I opened up my compost bin, which I confess not having contributed to in a while, and it was full of bamboo. I like bamboo but it's a bit tenacious and reminds me of kudzu. It will apparently grow through any organic object. It shot through a plastic bag of potting soil, which prompted me to think that if bamboo can grow through plastic, it could probably grow through human flesh.

I spread out the bamboo leaves and what soil was in there, and relocated my compost bin away from the bamboo patch. Then I raked up some pathetic patches of dirt and arranged some of the potted cacti in a pleasing manner next to the bamboo patch. Next I rearranged the outdoor furniture to look as though civilized people might sit down and converse. The outdoor furniture used to be indoor furniture. Imagine you happened upon a ghost town furnished by Design within Reach and Tommy Bahama. It's not exactly Southern Living, but it's got some character.

Then I went to the studio, worked on one of the new paintings and came to the conclusion that I am a diabolical genius.

After I arrived at place which resembled a finished painting, I put said painting on the wall and stepped back. I looked at it from a distance, then walked up close to see the details. Here's the funny part. I couldn't see the painting that close unless I put my glasses on. Maybe it's just me, but it made me laugh. Which is how I concluded that I was a diabolical genius.