split-window Corvette, Ellicott City, 6.30.04 (taken with crappy DC-3400)

I took 10 minutes on a break this afternoon and updated the interior pages of this site to include the javascript randomizer for the header picture. There’s also three new pictures in the series, and I’ll be adding more as the days go by.

Out To Pasture. This afternoon, I called up and made arrangements to donate the Taurus to charity; specifically, to benefit WYPR, our local National Public Radio station. In 2-4 business days somebody from the towing company will call to make arrangements to meet me, and they will take away the Grampamobile to chase rabbits on a farm in Pennsylvania. Which means I have to run out there tonight and remove my roof rack and loosen the bolts on the license plates. Apparently they don’t take anything older than a ’93, so I squeezed in just under the wire. For every dollar of fair market value, you see $0.33 back on your taxes, which is about how much I’d get back—conservatively—if I fixed the transmission and then sold it.

Meanwhile, I put the 100 CD-changer in the Pennysaver for $100 next week so that I can scrape money together for this.

Soliciting Opinions. Jen and I were talking about creativity last night, and what we do to keep it healthy during the times when block creeps up on us. I’ve had months where every attempt I make at creating something new is met with failure, or does not live up to expectations, and that gets to be a dangerous place when I’m stuck in a cycle of doubting myself. The added complications are those of everyday life- sometimes I’m unhappy with my job, relationships, or simply in a valley, and those other things affect my drive.

So what do you folks do to keep yourselves happy and productive? What rituals do you have before sitting down to make something? How do you deal with low periods or block, and how do you break out of them? Any tips or ideas to share? What do you do when outside factors contribute to your block, like co-workers or job pressure?

(For me, I try to keep several irons in the fire at any given time—photography, this log, working on the house, freelance projects—they all give me a sense of accomplishment and pride, which offsets the boredom I often have in my professional life. Usually it works, but I often find myself in low spots, and the solution is usually a combination of forcing myself to create/draw/photograph through the block, or resolution of the outside issues that are gunking up the right side of my brain.)