Survived hosting duties and Cool Gig on the Radar

My visiting brother is in Nashville for the morning; the dinner last night was great; and I am relaxing in the cool of my white-trash, window-unit air-conditioned upstairs office.  The dogs, resigned to going yet another day without a trek to the park, are sprawled across our king-sized bed downstairs.  No painting in my future today, unfortunately.

But back to the dinner:  thanks to my visiting brother Brian, we served a great meal including barbequed chicken, teriyaki beef and veggies, a really kickass Quinoa Pilaf (if I may say so myself), and raw veggies and crackers and dips (including my first attempt at Lucilla's Poor Man's Caviar), followed by a fruit platter and a childhood family favorite:  chocolate cookie & cream ice box cake that put a huge grin on my cousin Katie's smiling face. It was a wonderful evening and I could feel the stress of the past 24 hours evaporate as I licked the last remnants of chocolate and creme off my dessert fork.

The afternoon's "career-making" meeting went amazingly well.  I was pulled into a project with a screenwriting friend and, long story short, have been asked to tell the amazing true story of an urban pioneer.   I liked him immediately upon meeting him, fell for all his charms and tried to keep up with his quick wit and ricocheting manner of storytelling.   The setting drew me in the minute I crossed the threshold, and while 104 degree temperatures do not usually encourage trudging through raw industrial spaces, I was so hooked the sweat dripping down into my eyes was but a minor inconvenience and I could've explored for hours.  Still, I was very glad to get back into the heavenly high-spaced air conditioned office our subject has and hear more of his stories.

My task now is to come up with a proposal for my work, including renumeration, expected time involved and estimated total budget for a final project.  I know it will mean a lengthy and time consuming process, but my semi-retired brother says he's willing to pick up some of my consulting business slack and help me along this journey, which, if all goes well, will include a wonderful studio in which to paint and perhaps show, there, as well, since there's no way in hell I'm giving that up.