After a day yesterday of running chores, getting my hamsters back safe and sound (thanks to my cousins), reading up my email, having dinner with my aunt, yaying at Jason's news, today was blissfully quiet. I didn't have to step out of the house. I filed the old work on my desk and began new work. I'm starting on the emails I've yet to act on—I'm always bad at this—and retouched and rescanned some pictures for epilogue.net, which I've actually been avoiding for a while. (Have you ever compared your own creative work to the real talents and/or popular stuff and despaired? I have and I did.) I hope to get back into that fray soon though.

One thing about my trip to Hong Kong, was discovering how discomfited I was that my relatives there (young and old) have been looking at my site. Not that I'm going to put "Shoo!" in Chinese on my front page, but it's a tempting thought when I've always been queasy showing my art or writing to people (friends, relatives and sometimes strangers) who aren't familiar with the SFF genre. Queasy is probably an understatement.

Typical reactions from muggles: "This is fantasy. Grow up." "This can't happen." "Who is this guy and where did he come from and why is he holding a sword when you have guns nowadays?" "This didn't really happen." "How can this story possibly ever happen?" "Why are you drawing this?" "What are you taking art classes for?" "You like reading these things, ah?" (In that tone of voice.)

And your interests in the unreal only have legitimacy when you can explain this stuff has a market and saleability. Well, if you can convince your uninitiated audience past any existing prejudices they may have in the first place.

And if you're drawing fantasy pictures with naked boobs...eeeeek! So much more reason for wanting to keep your website and interests hidden from your aunties and uncles! As a result, I've found I don't like being cornered in real life conversation about my web site or art. What's there to talk about? ;) Not that I've gotten any unkind remarks about my site or work lately, but I guess my ultra-senstivity stays from past experience.

Now where was I? Yes. Go to my site's main page and vote in the poll on the right. It's been getting votes, and I'd like to get as many as possible before I change the poll question soon.

Currently listening to:
Random MP3s

Currently reading:
I'm between books.

Currently working on:
Stuff!