It's 5pm. The sky has not changed color all day.

Thus far, my day has consisted of:
Getting worked up over a mission statement for a group I've decided not to participate in, that contained the phrase, "...with a goal to provide an alternative venue for artists free from the constraints of the retail market." Don't get me started. I already wrote a rant. It's not directed at anyone, but in it I pick apart, "constraints of the retail market." The economy is tanking, unemployment rate is 9.6% or 14.8 million here in the U.S., and project spaces are worried about the "constraints of the retail market"? Seriously, do not get me started.

• Trying to document my latest painting with and without a tripod, with and without studio lighting, with and without scanning, and then finally realizing that I still am in need of tweaking a portion of the painting. grrrrr.
• ebay, research and prep for auctions. Trying to simplify my life, 99 cents at a time. Sheds a whole new light on "another day, another dollar."
• ichat with tech support.
• Petting the dog & reassuring him that he was a good dog in that silly, who's a good dog? voice I use.
• Raking the kitchen floor after the dog came in the house.
• Afternoon espresso. sucked down and barely enjoyed.

 It doesn't help that I've had to take some medicine with the following side effects: 

• nervousness
• restlessness
• anxiety
• difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
• nightmares or abnormal dreams
• not trusting others or feeling that others want to hurt you
• hallucinations (seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist)

-which means that when I wake up in the middle of the night, the first thing I am aware of is that I still have poison ivy and I want to claw my arm off. 

• My yard sale is this weekend and I still have to wash the second, third, and forth batch of dishes and price everything.
• I got busted for not paying my Culver City business taxes, mainly because I never applied for a Culver City business license, mainly because my studio was not located in a business district. I weighed the option of getting busted for having a studio at home vs. getting busted for not securing a license and took my chance. They tracked me down, and five months and 2000 miles later, I owe some cash. That would be why the call it the long arm of the law, I suppose. The fines were doubled, times 3 years. It could have been worse. It could have been better, too. This is why I do not like to sell work out of the studio. Too much of a hassle. I haven't looked into my options here. I'm hoping to find a middleman, affectionately known as a dealer, so I don't have to. 
• Sometimes, I think I'd like to write poetry and call it a day. 

five pm it is
the sky has not changed color
I am restless