rants and art

I feel like writing about a million things that are stressing me out right now, but I fear I will only come across as a negative, miserable human being.

I daydreamed the other day, though, how grand it would be if I just quit my job and went to school fulltime?
Oh, I would be so free. I would start each day with a nice, long run and a session at the gym. Sweat it out, and get my endorphins going, instead of the rushed 4-5 mile run I squeeze in and scramble to make it into work just barely on time every day. Then I would just relax and study. Just the thought of hanging around all day somewhere at a coffee shop or a library and study with plenty of time before class is heavenly.

But, the trade off would be that I would have no money and would have to take out $50,000 a year in loans. And then I would have to come out of law school with $150,000 in debt, and have that hanging over my head for 20+ years before it's paid off. And that, would be like an expensive disease hanging over me for so long it would be unbearable.

So I must grit my teeth and stick it out for 3-4 years and just do this.

But the smallest thing that stresses me at work is especially taxing when I have a load of school work weighing me down.



I don't think it's the load that's most upsetting though.
It's manners. Or a lack of manners from people all around me that stresses me out the most.
I won't get into it, but I will say this: styles of leadership can vary greatly, and I sure do appreciate the leaders who know how to be kind and effective leaders. The ones that don't can make a person's life a living hell and it's really too bad that they somehow manage to get themselves into a position of power and treat people the way that they do.

I hope that I will always remember to treat people with kindness, no matter what I do or where I end up.

Today started off hectic and crazy. It's gotten a bit better as the day went on, though. I was able to go to Farmer's Market and it was the last one of the season. I'm glad I took advantage by purchasing produce from local farmers all season long. Today I got a couple of bushels of broccoli, 4 bell peppers, a pound of concord grapes (the kind with the thick skin and really sweet and juicy pulp!), 4 pounds of white peaches and white nectarines, and a pound of heirloom tomatoes. All for just $13! I don't know what I am going to do now that Farmer's Market is over for the season.



And it's a Thursday, so it's almost the weekend, and I am looking forward to a break from all of the craziness at work. Which means I get to study all weekend, but that's ok. I like studying.

I do have a positive, wonderful thing to mention, after all of my ranting.
So the Commissioner asked me to work on getting some art into the office, and I am so honored and flattered he has assigned me this task. It came about when he saw how I was decorating my work space with art from Rome, Monet, Renoir, and photos I've taken from my travels to Peru and Mexico. He suggested that I look into decorating the rest of the office, and I literally beamed with happiness.

It has been a long process, however, because most (actually all) of the local artists that I've contacted so far were not as willing to loan art to us without us actually paying money for it.

So I came up with the idea to contact art departments at local colleges and so far I've gotten a few responses. I'm really excited about it. I just spoke with an artist, Mr. Bernard Treanton, who has a website full of some wonderful, beautiful art.

Some of his art can be viewed here: http://bgtfineart.com/about.html

I really like this one:



Consumnes River Pastel 9x12 (Cal)

And this one:



La Bergerie Pastel 12x18 (FR)
I think he mainly paints California themed art, and scenes from southern France.
I love pastels and his particular use of colors. It's soft and warm. I really hope that it works out with him.
I have a meeting with him next Wednesday so we will see how it goes.
We will see what other entries we get as well.