I’m buried, drowning, whatever you want to call it, in work around here.
Granted, it’s web work, but it’s still work. At least when I did manual labor or printing or house painting or construction or music or sold candles door to door, there was a time at the end of the day where work stopped and real life began (okay, maybe not with music, but I threw that in there anyway to brag…I made a living playing in a band, and not many people can say that, so I like to point it out once in a while to show how awesome I am).
But now, with this Internet thingy, the day never ends, time never stops and the clock is always ticking. As usual, the thing that was supposed to free us has enslaved us. Or me at least.
But on the bright side, datapimp is showing signs of life again. Yes, we are on the move, baby. New accounts are pouring in at an alarming rate (121,081 and counting), and we’re poised to offer a ton of new services. But what does that mean? More work for all of us. Everything seems to mean more work.
New site idea? More work. Someone needs “a little help” with something? More work. The clients that kept you alive when things weren’t happening want to launch new sites? More work.
All this fucking work, you’d think a guy could become a millionaire. Ha ha ha. Yeah. Woo! Um hm. Huh? I sat in my geek chair today for eight hours straight…I hardly got up or moved or scratched my ass, yet I feel like I didn’t do anything. It’s insane.
I always think the end is in sight and it never is. Carol was smart, she cut the cord on a few web projects. Why can’t I?
This beast has consumed me. I have become a machine, like when the satellite hit Rick on the Northern Exposure TV show and fused with his body and they had to bury him in a huge casket with probes and hardware sticking out all over. That’s me.
Here I am now. Entertain me.
Good luck.
Well, there is some fun to be had. I bought a book printed in 1708 (really) and I’m ripping it up now so I can paint on it.
So see, that will be fun. It’s a big book too – 8 3/4 x 14 inches. Very unusual for a book that old. Actually it’s two of them. I bought them on eBay for $37. Yes, $37 for both of them. Unbelievable. An Exposition the Five Poetical Books of the Old Testament volumes 2 and 3. They are stunning if you’re into old books, printing, or just weird things.
So why am I ripping them up? Well, I’m only ripping up volume 2 for now. I’m keeping volume 3 just because it’s incredible to handle. It’s intact and complete and opening it is like stepping into the distant past. But I’m ripping up volume 2 because it wasn’t intact or complete, and because the paper in a book that old is unlike anything you can get today.
I paint with hand ground Chinese ink, and the old paper doesn’t just absorb it, it merges with it. So I use the paper. I use the books.
I understand that it is obscene, in a way, to tear up old books to do this. But I never paid more than a few dollars for any of these books, and they are mostly unwanted or in shitty condition, so really, it isn’t such a tragedy. We all have our own unfortunate – sometimes ugly – demise. Even the books among us.
Amen.