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edarlin

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Soooo...

A lot has happened since my last journal.  I signed up and started training for the half-marathon I ran in last year.  I started riding my 2 year old colt.  I bought a single-wide mobile home and am now a home owner and will be paying off a home loan until I'm 38.  I got two kittens for my house, and am waiting to get my yard dog-proofed so my dog Laika can come live with me too.  

I am, somewhat unfortunately, still working 40 hours a week as a car detailer for the dealership.  I've been there almost a year now and still have yet to get a raise from $7.50/hr.  On the upside, I've been getting more tips recently and one of the owners gave me a spontaneous $200 bonus.

Between work, moving, training for the half, and working with my horse, I haven't had much time to work on art.  I have done a few commissioned wood burnings, but they don't provide the creative release that I need.  It's so easy just to coast by on life and ignore my painting and drawing.  I miss it, but I just can't seem to find the energy to do everything I have to do to live and make art as well.  I also don't seem to be able to find time to have a social life, not that I had much of one to begin with.
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Merry Christmas

3 min read
Just wanted to say happy holidays to everyone.  This fall just flew by, though at the same time it seems to have been going on forever.  After running the half marathon, I got a full-time job at the local Chevy dealership as a detailer (read: gofer) and have been working 40+ hour weeks and doing day work for a rancher on the weekends every now and then.  I haven't really had a lot of time to work on paintings, but I have started doing commissioned wood burnings this last week- I made one for the company gift exchange, and most of the people I work with want one now.  I also sold a couple of my smaller paintings on paper at an art gala last month, so I finally meet the definition of professional artist.

My parents finally talked me into selling my horse, Haji, in September.  To be honest, I still think I should have kept him, but he's with another family now, and hopefully he'll be a better fit there.  I used part of what he brought to buy a yearling colt, Splash, so he will be my new project horse.  He seems really smart so far, and is much less spoiled than Haji was as a yearling, so he will probably be an easier horse to work with- no tantrums, biting, and crow hopping fits would be a nice change.  I put a lot of miles on the other horse I ride, Cowboy, and he's become a much better horse for it.  I haven't had much time to work with either horse since daylight savings time though, so I'm really ready for spring to get here.

As you've probably guessed, going to Mongolia with the Peace Corps isn't going to happen, at least not in the immediate future.  I still really really want to go, but for now that's just going to have to wait.  I managed to graduate without being in debt and even have a little money in the bank, so right now I'm working on making enough to get a home and studio set up.  I'm hoping to start converting an old garage into a small home/studio next spring.  I really can't wait until I have my own place- I love my parents, but I feel like I'm a kid still/again living with them and miss the freedom I had in college.  On the other hand, it would be dumb to rent a place to live because it would take much longer to get my little home built with 1/2 of my paycheck going towards rent.  I'll just have to suck it up and deal with my parents for a few more months.

Anyway, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, etc. to everyone and best wishes for the new year.
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Half marathon!

1 min read
So I ran the half marathon today.  I didn't think I could run the whole thing, but I did!  My time was 2:15:12, which wasn't bad, it being my first halfie.  

Man, I am so sore now, though.  I fortunately didn't get any blisters, but I do have a few nasty looking toenails; one of the lovely bonuses of running long distance is that sometimes your toes basically become giant blisters and your toenails turn black and eventually fall off.  I feel like I need a motorized wheelchair, but unfortunately the best way to get rid of sore muscles is to keep using them.  I'm going to take a little break from running to let myself heal up, but I'd like to do another half marathon again sometime.  Crossing the finish line was one of the most amazing feelings ever, and I can see why people do this despite the pain and effort it requires.
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Life, post-KCAI

2 min read
Well, I now have a temporary job at the Weston County Fairgrounds, which will last for about the next two or three weeks.  I'm doing everything from scrubbing toilets to filing papers- just whatever needs done, and there is a lot to do.  Toilet scrubbing aside, I actually kind of enjoy this type of work because I'm almost always busy, I don't really have to deal with anyone besides the grounds caretakers, and I get to be outside and moving around most of the time.  As strange as it sounds, I'm much happier doing grunt work in the heat than I ever was working as semi-secretary in a nice, clean, air-conditioned building.  I'm going to have to get a permanent job after this one's through, of course, but I'm not going to dwell on that...

I'm also going to be participating in a half-marathon in August.  My friend's mom was signed up for it, but she broke her ankle and couldn't do it, so she passed her registration on to me.  I've started training for it a few weeks ago and I'm now in probably the best shape I've been in, stamina-wise at least, since high school cross country.  This evening I ran somewhere close to seven miles (granted, at a fairly slow pace), and that was after a day of running around carrying heavy boxes.  I don't think I'll be able to run the whole thing- I found out I was going to be in the marathon about 6 weeks before it's taking place: the normal training programs for halves are 10-15 weeks- but I'll be able to run at least half of it.  My goal is to be able to run 11 miles of it and walk/jog the other 2.1 miles.  

While I haven't been able to do much art without a real studio, I've had a nice mental health break and now I have a sense of purpose and a goal again.  I guess that at this point in my life, I'm digesting what I went through at school and am getting things together for the long haul.  It's a little disappointing that my life right now doesn't seem to include painting, but what I'm experiencing now will feed my future work, I hope.
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Grad!

2 min read
So last Saturday I graduated from KCAI.  It was a pretty quick ceremony, but good.  Our speaker was the art critic Jerry Saltz, and his speech was entertaining, but he basically told us and everyone else attending the ceremony that we weren't going to make any money, which was a little disheartening.

I'm all moved back to Wyoming, though I have so much stuff that my room is kind of overflowing.  My parents are letting me convert an old garage into a studio, though it might be a while before I have the money to get it all set up.  I'm excited to get started on it.

I also got a puppy!  She's an 8-week-old Australian Shepherd/Husky mix, and about the cutest thing ever.  She looks like a husky with tri-color Aussie markings.  I named her Laika, after the Soviet space dog.  I don't have any pictures of her yet, but I'm going to upload them as soon as I do.  The parents were a little surprised and not exactly thrilled when I brought her home, but they're not too upset about it (actually, I think they really like her- my dad's been letting her fall asleep on his lap in the evenings).  She's very well behaved for as young as she is, and I hope that when she's older I can do the Canine Good Citizen program with her, and maybe even do therapy dog training so I can take her to hospitals and schools.  Fly, my border collie, was grumpy about it at first, but she's been playing with Laika and they're probably going to be buddies before long.
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Devious Journal Entry by edarlin, journal

Merry Christmas by edarlin, journal

Half marathon! by edarlin, journal

Life, post-KCAI by edarlin, journal

Grad! by edarlin, journal