Coming up for air

When the kind people at Trader Joe's ask me if I have big plans for the weekend, it's a gentle reminder that I have no sense of time. In other words, I always feel like I just started my work week. Possibly something about the blurring of Monday night into Thursday morning and my internal clock telling me I must brave the sunlight and forage for food.

I applied for 2 residencies this week, or was it last? The first one was a wash. The deadline slipped up on me while I was out of town and I had all of 3 hours to apply. I was serious about applying for it, but after being on the road 2 days in a row, crafting a cohesive proposal was not to be. I turned something in because I had been thinking about it, but writing and thinking are not the same when it come down to it. About 6 hours after I turned in 4 or 5 hard-earned sentences, falling a few thousand words shy of the allotted maximum, did my idea start to gel. Several hours later in the middle of a second proposal I started hitting my stride, or so I thought.

I had the foresight to ask a trusted friend/artist/writer to proof my proposal. It was an eye-opener.  Some great general advice, a few spins on current wording and boom. I revised the first draft and onward. I think most people would have sounded fine because it did sound fine for a boilerplate proposal, but I'm better than that. I know it and my friend knew it. Most helpful piece of editing I've ever had.

Of course that wasn't all. No, there were 2 mores essays, and a trick question that involved seeing how well you could turn a 10-page resume into a 1-page summary. They already had me list that stuff in a bio, and again in accomplishments, so for the 3rd request I'm certain it was a test to see how creative you could be with formatting. Should I keep all the solo shows and list 2 honors? List all the honors followed by 4 solo shows? One item from each category? Can I just draw a bunny and call it a day? What happened to the good ole days when I had to double-space my ressie and I could play with EMPTY SPACE?

Oh, yeah, and that's not counting front row seats for the Parade of Angst While Selecting and Resizing Images.

The good news is I hit the send button earlier today.