   Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
My grandmother died last night. This wasn't a shock or a surprise. Her health has been on the decline, and she's been in hospice for the last month. She lived a long life, and in her final days she was surrounded by her three adult children.
My grandma was a kind woman. She wasn't perfect, but I always felt loved in her presence. She was a retired kindergarten teacher, and was still working when I was a kid. I have so many happy memories sitting at her kitchen table, and I'm going to carry those with me for the rest of my life. She was also proof that anyone who claims that you get more conservative as you get older is full of shit, because she certainly didn't.
I think it's interesting how the body processes grief sometimes. I don't know that I'll cry, but over the past month, knowing this was coming, I've felt a tension in my gut. Now that she's passed, instead of relief that tension is replaced by a sense of emptiness. That something is missing that should still be there. Something has been taken away, and I feel it.
Of course, as I wrote that, I immediately started crying... so I guess my body processes grief in pretty ordinary ways too.
I wanted to come up with something profound linking this to Beltane, which we sit in the middle of right now, but it just seemed hackneyed. Like I was trying to dig out some greater significance when the truth is death comes whenever it wants. The only predictable thing about it is that it's the end of all of our journeys. I hope that when I pass I'm so lucky to have lived such a long life with people that I love around me in my final days.
For the record, I will be fine. I just needed to get these words out while they were still in my head. I don't have some rousing conclusion or deep insight to tack on here at the end, just that gut feeling that something is missing.
Because it is.
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uh oh i know that look artists HATE that look it means your about to be stuck doing a lot of work for no pay
…soooooo just like everyone else on a con staff, then?
A good artist you can exploit is much harder to come by.
You never let them go.
Not without recruiting their replacement at least.
Artist rule NUMBER 1 Never work for free
Artist rule NUMBER 2 NEVER! WORK! FOR! FREE!
Well, it gets a bit different with entirely volunteer run cons, as no one gets paid from the con director on down. So while I’m usually all gung ho “pay artists!” normally, I don’t feel bad asking for free art from staffers for the con,
You jus have to convince them to actually do it. 😛
Hey, I resemble that remark. And that grin :-]
Funny the words badge art come to mind…
Also where the heck are they going? and is that suzuki?
They’re driving to Yakisoba Con (it’ll be more obvious tomorrow, but it’s in the chapter heading).
And the SUV is an old Toyota RAV4.