Up against the wall

I don't know why these little guys look better when hung on a brick wall, but they do and it's their home. Here we see the current state of the current tiny painting batch. Both have a ways to go, but they might turn out ok. This week, that's all I can ask for.

Forgive me if I seem down. Stress accumulates and it starts leaking into everything. For those who don't know, everyone around me is sick and/or dying. Two weeks ago we were told my grandmother on mom's side could pass at any time from lung and brain cancer. On the other side of my family, my grandfather has Alzheimer's and cancer - but he might lose hospice care because his cancer isn't progressing fast enough. (Health care doesn't give a damn about Alzheimer's, since there's no profit in it. Go America!) There's no way grandma can take care of him without help, as she has major heart issues. Without hospice, we are screwed. This means the past two weeks have been spend dreading the next phone call, because only bad could come from it.

Just to top everything off, my internet connection is so unreliable it's practically worthless. Yeah, if I keep trying I can get through - but if you had a car that broke down half the time you drove it, how much satisfaction would you get from driving? Casual drives down the block suddenly become tense events. (Example: Blogger failed to properly upload this picture three times because the connection wasn't even able to take that without blinking out. I finally had to stick the photo in manually.) This means my means of escapism instead brings mostly frustration and a feeling of helplessness. Awesome.

And I'm supposed to be producing a HUMOR strip during this. Is there any wonder I've had writer's block? (I'm far enough ahead in Precocious that I can take a few weeks off, so that's covered.) I'm not one of those artists who thrive in self-absorbed emo malaise; I'm quite the opposite. I work happy and try to keep my artwork cheerful or fun. Unfortunately for all of you, I also have a vow to make a daily blog entry. You get to see me at my worst on some days. Deal with it.

I'll keep doing what I can, though. Tonight things should get much cheerier, with loved ones coming to town for birthday fun. Better painting tomorrow, then? Let's all hope!