Curing Cabin Fever

I would like to pose a question...what is everyone doing this winter?  I know some of you are doing shows in warmer climes, many of you are applying to shows but what about the rest of us?  I use this time to create new art, as I'm sure many of you do.  I relish the opportunity to knit and not feel guilty about it, whereas in the summer, it's either too hot or the garden needs watering.  I think that winter is a good time to sort things out, make a plan for the new year, re-invigorate your vision, re-invent yourself...maybe that's what the bears are doing too, ha!

So, let me know what you're all up to and what keeps you going through the gray days...thanks.

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  • Barrie, I love that photo of you in your studio.  That is really neat looking through the pains of glass.

    I am calling 2014 my year to get organized.  I have lots I was to get in order around my house and not being able to do much outside keeps me on track.  Although, just the thought of working on getting things in order has made me feel like I am planning to check out soon.  But, what I am concentrating on is labeling all family photos, getting items in their places.  I do believe in "a place for everything and everything in its place" but I haven't lived that for a long time.  So, I haven't hated this winter at all.

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    During winter, I get the studio all to myself while my wife works in the house. This allows me all kinds of freedom to spin plenty of vinyl records from my collection while working. I can listen to free jazz, bop jazz, hard rock, punk, whatever.

    Here's a pic of me in the heated part of our studio sanding the gesso on a picture frame that I'm preparing to gold leaf. The record cover in front of me is Oscar Peterson TRACKS, one of his few solo piano releases from his catalogue, issued in 1970 on BASF label. It's a good one! My turntable is in the back corner. WOOHOO!

    • Great photo, great choice of music...I can't seem to part with my 33's either, need to find a way to play them again...still have a turntable but it's not easy to get to and so I don't.  Once in a while I'll take one out and look at it but that's as far as it goes...or maybe I'll look it up on Spotify and listen to it that way, I know, not the same...

      Thanks for contributing to the conversation, Barrie.

    • Listening to vinyl...that's the other project sitting on hold. My vinyl collection is modest, maybe 300 albums and a couple hundred 45s. The project is to wash and clean all of them, and get then digitized. I have a stand alone A/D converter and a new Sony turntable my kids bought to replace my old Garrard SL-95B that I've had since 1970. I figure that cleaned and washed will take care of most of the dust tics and pops, and I can run the turntable as I do PS work. The only concern is getting burned out on some of the music. I copied my Doors albums onto open reel tape back in the early-mid 70s, and the effect of listening to all their albums at one time was so depressing I put the tape away and didn't listen to their work again for almost twenty years. My youngest has ulterior motives for pushing that project as he wants a copy of the files after I'm done doing all the clean up work. He's a music educator, and I suspect he wants to mine the data for music for his bands.

      • Sounds like a very rewarding project for you and your son, I hope you get it done...thanks for contributing to the discussion, Robert, and good luck!

      • I had a feeling that you have a stash of vinyl on your property. You  might want to get that Garrard up and running since it's probably better than the new Sony if the Sony is a lower end unit (less than $200 or thereabouts). That SL-95B even plays 78's, but you'd need a different cartridge/stylus set up for that. I'm sure you're just spinning 33.33/45, though. So get a new cartridge/stylus and properly align it. You might see about replacing the RCA cable since it's probably removable inside under the platter. Er, that's if you wanna get it up and running smoothly again. If you took good care of it, it'll probably play better than that new Sony.

  • Unfortunately at this time there is only a small path through the garage with both sides filled up. A lot of the stuff is what my kids have left, and a bunch is getting tossed or given to Goodwill. If they've not needed it for 5-12 years, I don't think they'll miss it. The mess is bad enough I'm hiring someone to help me to do the heavy lifting and tossing.
  • I just bit off more than I should. I've had a 10x20 storage locker filled to the top with clutter, tubs of stuff and so on. I was tired off paying the monthly fee, and by this time I could have bought a very large yard barn instead. I've cleaned it out and brought everything home to the garage where I've sacrificed one side of the two bay garage for storage. I've got at least a couple of weeks if not more of 8-10 hour days of going through everything and doing triage for garbage and Goodwill. The place looks like a hoarder's worst nightmare. It's also been damned cold while I've been doing this with ice and snow on the ground.

    • Thanks, Robert...I've had a similar experience...we cleared out of an antique mall we've been in for about five years last saturday.  We did it in two trips, two carloads each time plus a couple of large pieces on a trailer.  Now to sort through it and decide what to keep and what goes to Goodwill...the word hoarder still terrifies me, I prefer collector...ha.

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