This is Still a Craft

I was having my 9 AM narcolepsy (happens to me a lot because I'm an insomniac--so when I don't sleep well I have narcolepsy from 7 AM to 9 AM it's really annoying) and having a crazy lucid dream where I was on the beach with some imaginary boyfriend of mine (he kept changing, but I do remember he was pretty hot) and I was singing this rap/techno song about how I don't like boats.

I still remember the chorus of this song, because in my dream I had a really hard time piecing it together: I didn't like Titanic/ I didn't like Poseidon/ I didn't like...

and then in the dream I was like dude I need two more boat movies. I better google that.

But I was on a beach so I couldn't google the two more boat movies. So instead the lyrics turned into : I didn't like Titanic/ I didn't like Poseidon/ I didn't like Avatar/ I didn't like the Hunt for Red October

And I felt really good about it.

I bring this up because, as the dream on a beach looking and singing about boats with my boyfriend was nearing a close, I felt very strongly this was a sign that I needed to a.) get a synthesizer and record this perfect song and b.) post it to my blog.

Then the mafia took over Santa Cruz and it was the End Times and we had to escape Santa Cruz with our lives, but some jerk ran into our turquoise jaguar while it was parked in the parking garage so we had to use a golf cart to race towards 17.

Anyways, I have to write a blog post now.

I never post about crafts anymore, and when I do post art, its generally my contracted stuff or my personal work. I don't think I've outgrown this crafty part of my life,  that's not what happened. I think Etsy is what happened.

I mean I used to make stuff--like crazy stuff--just to see what would happen. It was a wonderful excercize for me. It wasn't to create for some weird community ethos, it wasn't to create to save the world, it wasn't to create to find inner peace, it wasn't to create to quit my day job, it wasn't to create to make my kids smarter people--I just wanted to do it.

Then I started a little shop on Etsy and I do not fit in. I think it killed crafting for me. Because I just...I just want to play with lasers, guys. I like lasers. But Etsy is kinda like buying a mac--it's a lot like a religion. Just look at their blog and you'll see what I'm getting at--everyone feels the same, looks the same, has the same politics, takes the same photos, and desperately, desperately wants to reach the coveted Front Page which gets you hundreds of views but no sales. It's ruined crafts for me.

So I was thinking about changing the title of this blog, to be about my art and myself rather than about my weird Crafty Sidequests that I don't do anymore. But then I thought about it--and the title seems more fitting than ever. Not just because I don't post about crafts anymore, but also because I feel like I've been saying that to myself for the past two years since I graduated, since I've tried to make it work on my own, tried to make the money, failed to make the money, failed so many times but am still going at it. For some crazy weird reason, still going at it. So the title remains.

Anyways, here's what I've been working on:

my new portfolio @ rajillustration.com . New and improved and without flash, bigger thumbnails, and a sketchbook section woohoo.

For lasers, halloween stuff:

Things to do:

-I need to calibrize my monitor (or however you spell it) because I feel like my colors are waaaaaay off. It's sort of expensive to do but the older my laptop gets, the worse my colors will be.

Anyone calibrized their monitor lately and know a good place to do it?

-buy like a T-shirt. At the rate that summer is ending I guess I can skip this thing because it'll be fall soon enough. Man, I hate shopping for clothes.

-throw out the old stuff in the blue bathroom. The blue bath was always the kid's bathroom--and so it's been used by about 5 people for 23 years. I found my acne meds from when I was in high school in there recently, and realized...it's time to throw out some stuff in here. I think there's about 50 playtex boxes under the cabinets, too. Time to throw out some stuff.