More of the Same

There’s been no blog post for two reasons: I’ve been busy and I’ve been doing the same thing.

We had our first meeting for the Chamber of Commerce Business Directory, and this month I’m focusing on coming up with three different design schemes for that publication, ready for presentation at our next meeting in early October.

Martha over at ASC has sent more chapters my way, some for revision and some for original layout. She’s been on vacation for the last week, so that work got turned around and two days from now, when she returns, I’m sure more work on the handbooks will be forthcoming.

The one event of note is that I’ve initiated my weekly newsletter and marketing blog as my primary ongoing marketing tool for the studio. The inaugural newsletter went out on Aug. 27, and the second one goes out tomorrow at 6:15 a.m. PDT. So, I am spending my spare time browsing on the Internet and culling information for the short articles that go into the newsletter and the marketing surveys that drive the blog. The idea is to give small business owners a little something to read every week, taking them to the website and hopefully putting my name in their heads as a designer of choice.

If you’d like to be added to the mailing list for the newsletter, go to my website, fill out the contact form and I’ll get your e-mail address added to the list.

The weather is still hot and more tropical moisture is said to be moving into the area, making it hot and sticky. The 10-day forecast is a carbon copy of the last 10 days, and September is notorious for being the hottest month of the year, so no relief on the climate front.

To sum it up, life has just gone on: the wildfires are nowhere near us, the summer-storm flooding is in the high deserts, far away. We did get one brief thunderstorm move through Pasadena last week, but it lasted maybe half an hour. There have been moderate earthquakes — a three-point-something over there and a four-point-something out there — but nothing really worth getting out of your chair for, even if we felt them.

Steve and I have decided to spend the week between Christmas and New Years in Eureka, taking another look at the real estate in the area and planning more walks and hikes in the forest and on the beaches, familiarizing ourselves with the lay of the land. Hopefully, there won’t be too much rain, but we have the rain gear ready if there is.

As you might know, Steve is looking toward retirement next year (just 10 months away), and the whole concept of my studio is so that I can have an independent source of income for as long as I choose to continue working (which is forever, at this point; I can’t see sitting around and doing nothing in particular). At some point in the next few years, we plan on making that move north and living out our years among the redwoods.

For now, we’re waiting here for cooler weather here and the end of daylight savings time, keeping ourselves busy while we do.

Hope this finds everyone well and happy.