Reflection in Capitol Reef National Park
Busy! We have generally turned our lives upside down:
- Arranged to refinance the palace to pay for a lot we bought in Torrey, UT near Capitol Reef National Park. I still can't believe that we ended up in a community not on Highway 89, but having looked almost as long as I drove that highway for the project, and considering the compromises to maintain marital harmony, this is what works for us. It's bare land with excellent water rights, and we are very excited to make this step. The next steps aren't so clear, but we should have title in a couple of weeks.
- Had a party to show off the proofs. Bryan made some pictures. I was too busy enjoying myself. The first box of books actually arrived the day before, and we put a couple out as a surprise. I am getting over the awkward feeling of watching someone look through it.
- Sold my first book. I said the first box was for reviewers, and I have been sending them out to various folks. But I got an email before Thanksgiving from someone who said that the only thing her mom wanted for her birthday was a copy of my book. Near as I can figure, I met her at the Sanpete Cowboy Expo. I had just been telling someone about how glad I was that the project had brought me to Phoenix to spend more time with my mom. In a sentimental moment toward moms in general, I couldn't say no.
- Signed my first book. That isn't going to get old for a while. My brother-in-law had the best idea, though, I somehow found myself on the guest list of the Governor's Art Awards ceremony at the mansion last week. So I took a book to give to Governor and Mrs. Herbert, and I got them both to sign another copy for me, on the page with the State Street/Utah Capitol picture. I love what he wrote, "What a wonderful book, particularly the parts regarding Utah." I hope to fill it up with signatures as I travel around this summer to promote the book.
- Put together a press kit for the Highway 89 project. For as long as I procrastinated on this, it was not really that difficult once I started assembling the pieces. I'm sending it out to potential reviewers and vendors now that I have it. It's little things, like "Signed by the author" stickers that sell books, but take way more time than seems reasonable.
- Keyworded 18,000+ images. Getting faster as I build my keyword list. I decided to sprinkle metadata lightly (title and a few keywords) on all my images. Once I rate them, I may go back and add more to the highly ranked ones. As for ratings, I'm liking the system proposed by Peter Krogh: 1 star means "show to client," 2 starts means "best of subject/pose/group," 3 stars means best of session/outing or "pick me!" Four and 5 stars are reserved for portfolio quality and lifetime achievements. I still have another 20,000+ to keyword before I give it up completely.
- Completed a comprehensive 3-2-1 back-up of every RAW file, an off-site copy and a workflow to move forward. I ended up buying another 1.5TB drive rather than moving files in a hopscotch game across a motley collection of drives. R is in charge of bringing home the weekly exchange of 2TB drives to make off-site back-ups of my working files. This mini-project kept me working on my laptop, disconnected from my DROBO, so blogging has been pretty well shut down. That's about to be fixed.
- Made my first sales call. Got an order. It was awesome. Did it again. This might not be a complete financial disaster.
- Cooked some Thanksgiving and did some Christmas shopping. Did not kill Slate for climbing the Christmas Tree. R has firmly secured it, because 14lbs of leaping cat can create a lot of leverage at 6' of elevation.
- Made room to store 3 pallets of books. Actually R did this while I keyworded or knit or something, but we are ready. And not a moment too soon. My container has already cleared customs, and were it not for a humongous winter storm clogging up I-15, it might have been delivered today. I heard from the dispatcher yesterday, but nothing since.
- Started planning the next project. If the Highway 89 project wasn't sufficiently overambitious, this one ought to prove once and for all that I am nuts. It's going to be a lot of fun, regardless.
That's the news from the palace. So close to the finish line, but one last caution lap. I am really looking forward to seeing that checkered flag.
Comments (2)
big congratulations! I can't wait to see the book, and buy a copy. And I've got to say how jealous I am, even after reading the list of all the hard work.
Posted by trent | December 8, 2009 9:39 PM
Posted on December 8, 2009 21:39
Glad to hear things to be going well!
Keep it up!
Posted by Jarvie | December 10, 2009 2:25 PM
Posted on December 10, 2009 14:25