Rich

Originally Posted Wednesday, October 9, 2013

I am up early this morning while it would appear the sun sleeps in.  But I go to bed quite early now, too, so I have had the requisite hours of sleep.  It is a good habit, I think, the old "early to bed and early to rise."  I should say it is for me.  I feel rich somehow when I can accomplish this.  It is as if I have a luxury of time.  Not working in the studio helps, of course.  What sort of man works up all day and stays up late? There is no luxury in that.  I feel strong and smart after a good night's sleep.  I feel rich after a string of many.  The cat and I are waiting on the sun. 

My blog visits have dropped off since I quit posting my own photographs, but that is O.K.  Who doesn't love a good Hopper painting?  I am finding jpegs of his paintings online that I never knew existed.  Too often the hosting website doesn't say where the painting resides.  I would love to see these paintings together in a retrospective Hopper exhibit.  Has there been one?  Have I missed it?  That would be tragic. 

I went to my tax guy yesterday.  I still have a week to get my forms in.  He asked me if I had sold any of my photographs.  I said no.  He said I need to sell them this year. 

"You never told me that before," I said. 

"You listen like my wife and kids," he retorted. 

So. . . I must become a marketer and a salesman.  Does anyone want to buy a picture?  I've got a special price. . . just for you.  Perhaps, if you buy soon, I can throw in some cutlery.  Or some eight track tapes.  I think I have an old Walkman around here somewhere.  Etc. 

I have traded prints with many photographers more talented than I, photographers whose prints sell for much.  I will ask him if that counts as I have gotten something in exchange for my own work.  My walls are full of expensive pictures I've received in trade.  As I write this, I've just realized something amusing.  They are all made by women.  No, wait. . . I have some by one fellow.  I wonder why it is easier for me to trade with women?  Is it a feminine thing?  Are men too macho about the value of their work?  If so. . . I have a very strong feminine side.  I am very shy about the value of my work, of my self.  I hold it all quite dear, but I don't really wish to bring it to market.  I think it is for the same reason I have never asked a woman on a date.  I can't stand rejection. 

The sky is finally visible and I see why the sun has slept in.  It is a gray and cloudy day.  I wish to be lazy today, too, but I am not that rich.  I must earn my bread.  I will not be rich until tonight and early tomorrow morning.  The luxury of rest.  The opulence of sleep.