After taking it somewhat easier for the last few days, the persistent twitch in my eye seems to have finally faded for the most part. It still twinges every so often, but it’s not the constant that it was a few days ago. So I think I’ll be able to get back to the full swing of my work at this point.

*Please note that the days listed as planned are subject to change, depending on what else is going on in my life at any given time. I may have to skip a few days here and there, or rearrange what I do on what days. The plan as described is “for the most part” and what I’d ideally like to stick to if at all possible. 

General Work Status

As a reminder, I’m currently set up with my main rig at a friend’s place to make use of her internet connection, because internet at home is severely limited/almost non-existent (EDIT: to remind/inform new people that I live rurally, and proper internet is apparently only for people in densely populated areas :T ). This means I’m back and forth every day, sharing the car with my boyfriend and working around his work schedule as well. I will not always have access to my files or work. When I find myself at home for an extended amount of time, I’m making use of my netbook to at least work on sketches for commissions when I’m able to. So there will likely be a lot of “in progress” commissions as a result. 

New Streaming Commissions

On every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, I’ll be open for streaming “quickies” in the evenings, into the night and perhaps wee hours of the morning. These are commission styles that I can start and finish in the same sitting, taking no more than 3 hours at the most. 

You can find the offered varieties here: www.curiodraco.net/comms.html

Queued Commissions

Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, I’ll be working on my other existing queued commissions, including fitting in backlogged commissions where I can.

Mondays are reserved for getting anything else done relevant to maintaining adult life. Whatever chores or errands have accumulated during the week will be mostly dealt with on Mondays. Business communications may be delayed or nonexistent on this day, to resume when I return to work the following day.

Backlog Plans

I’ve mentioned this in another update, but it bears repeating.

I’m rearranging the order in which I’m completing the backlog queue, starting with clearing out the quicker ones first. 

Copypasta from the first mention of it:

This will both move my backlog work load more quickly, and help me feel less overwhelmed by the sheer numbers listed on it in the long run. I’ll feel more capable of actually clearing it out, which is a huge deal for me.

I figure it’s already been so long waiting for me to have more time to work through them, that mixing up the order of the list won’t make a huge difference in terms of wait times. If anything, doing it this way will speed up my ability to get through them.

Psychologically speaking, if it helps me feel less stressed out about how much I still have left to finish on there, it’s worth trying. And so far doing it this way, I’ve been able to knock out more backlogged commissions in this way than I have in a long time. So I’m gonna go with it!

TL;DR

Computer is set up away from home to use the internet, travelling back and forth, car sharing, and doing the best I can to get work done both away and at home.

Streaming commissions will be on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Work on queued commissions will be on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Scheduled days are subject to change, but for the most part will be what I aim for.

Backlog is being worked through with the smaller ones first to clear it out faster and keep it easier on me for stress levels. 

I’m now set back up at my friend’s place with my main computer, once again borrowing her internet because she’s just too good to me and I don’t know what I’d do without her help on this internet problem. (those who may be just joining this unending drama, where I currently live is too far away for any form of real internet access, which leaves me with a huge problem as someone who’s employment relies on internet access)

I’ll be spending a few more days on existing queue’d commissions, then alternating days between working on new streaming work (will be quickish things, to be started and finished on the same day) for income, and on the rest of the commission queue. One day for queue’d commissions, one day for new streaming work, one day queue, one day streaming, so on and so forth until I’ve secured my income for the coming month of expenses, and possibly a few other things like a plane ticket to WA in the fall, the expense of my self employment taxes, and the expense of setting up the one unlimited but expensive internet option which may or may not even work very well for at home. (so, suffice it to say that I may be going at this plan for quite some time over the next month or so)

I originally intended to be away a bit longer to work on my queue, but the timing of some outside forces have pretty much made the decision for me to get back in here sooner than later. 

What this means for my work flow, like last time, is that I’ll be back and forth between home and my friend’s place, basically treating this like coming to a job away from home. It’s too much hassle to pack up my rig every night, so I’m leaving it at my friend’s place. My usable work hours will be slightly shorter on account of sharing the one car between myself and my boyfriend who works nights, but this is what’s best for me right now in terms of how I’ll best be able to conduct my work flow and still earn myself a livable income. 

I’ll announce some time next week when I know for sure when I’ll be opening up for streaming commissions :3

Following up to something that was mentioned here: http://curiodraco.tumblr.com/post/46889366708

So I heard back from the lady (the daughter of the person who would need the care who is coordinating things for her mother), and she said that I would be just the person she would take for the job.

The only problem is that within the last few days, they’ve changed the status of her care needs, and those needs can only be handled in a nursing home. Her conditions are getting worse. Which is disheartening enough all of its own merit. She’s a really lovely lady, in her prime she created absolutely stunning dollhouses and dolls from scratch. I really wish I managed to get photos from the one time I had met her T^T

Anyway.. so yeah. That was a massive let down. I knew it was too good to be true. I shouldn’t have let myself get so excited about the possibility. I just couldn’t help it. It would have matched my nocturnal schedule, I have the caregiving experience to draw upon for the requirements, I’d have been able to do relatively easy work in exchange for rent and utilities, would have worked with a creative soul and had some common ground to connect to her with, would have had excellent internet, lived in a beautiful area with more conveniences in closer reach… it was all so close. I wish I’d never heard about it. Having that kind of opportunity dangled in front of me then yanked away was more crushing than I’d like to admit. Especially considering how much nothing else ever seems to work out right anymore. 

I’m so tired of this.

I am nearly done with the weekend job at the restaurant ( http://curiodraco.tumblr.com/post/43953853398 ), just this coming weekend left to go then I’m back to my own nocturnal schedule. 

For this month, I’m already ahead of the game and will soon have all the income I’ll need to have my bills and expenses covered. Which means I will have more time to get through more of my backlog!

Backlog
And speaking of the backlog, I have a new plan of attack there. Yeah, me and my constant revisions of plans, I know :T
BUT this time, I’ll be doing something different. 
I’m going to be finishing up the smaller ones in the backlog queue first, to get them done and out of the way. 
This will both move my backlog work load more quickly, and help me feel less overwhelmed by the sheer numbers listed on it in the long run. I’ll feel more capable of actually clearing it out, which is a huge deal for me.
I figure it’s already been so long waiting for me to have more time to work through them, that mixing up the order of the list won’t make a huge difference in terms of wait times. If anything, doing it this way will speed up my ability to get through them.
Psychologically speaking, if it helps me feel less stressed out about how much I still have left to finish on there, it’s worth trying. And so far doing it this way, I’ve been able to knock out more backlogged commissions in this way than I have in a long time. So I’m gonna go with it!

Current Commissions
I’ll of course also still be working on recently queue’d commissions, so no need to worry that I’ll be focusing solely on one or the other. I’ll do my best to juggle both. But with having expenses already covered for the month, I’ll at least have more time to focus on the work already due ^^;

Home internet access
As far as my internet situation goes, I still don’t know what’s going on there. I’m still stuck on the 3gb a month as tethered through my cell phone plan. I have a potential solution still on the backburner, but it’s wicked expensive to set up. I will probably be working on setting up for that after this month, depending on how things go.

Streaming
I won’t be set back up at my friend’s place to borrow her internet for doing streaming stuff until I get a lot more work done on my current queue. That might be later this month or into next month, depending on how much of my income buffer I can hang on to by then. 

Other life stuff [[[EDIT: Updated information on this. It didn’t work out. http://curiodraco.tumblr.com/post/46991550214 ]]]
There is a potential opportunity that I’m currently waiting to see how it pans out. It’s possible I could end up an in-home caregiver in exchange for rent and utilities for an elderly lady. 
It would actually be at a place where I stayed for the 2 weeks when I came out to visit MA for the first time a few years ago, when I still lived in WA. It’s not too far at all from where I currently live, and would be in a place set up with cable internet. Which would be fantastic xD 
They’re looking for someone to just be there during the night, to be available and keep an eye on her. They already have someone coming in for daytime hours apparently. Considering I keep a nocturnal schedule, and already have 6 years of caregiving experience, this would be just too perfect.
I just heard about the opportunity through my boyfriend’s mom, who is friends with the people looking to get someone set up in there. So I sent the lady (daughter of the lady who is in need of a caregiver, who is coordinating all this) an Email today and I’m waiting to hear back on it.
The only thing I can see being a possible barrier to getting set up with this, is if they won’t allow a cat, or if they already found someone. So I’m intensely hopeful that this will work out.
While I do love living on the farm, it’s beautiful up here and the people we live with are just the best kind of people.. the lack of a proper internet connection really takes its toll when I rely on the internet for my income x_x

Art uploads
I’m also nearing the end of my billing cycle with a fair amount of breathing room for data for the next 2 days, so I’m working on updating at least FA with recently completed work because I’m so behind on that. I’ve completed TONS of commissions, tho it might not look like it.. it’s just hard to justify the data to upload it twice when I already have to put it on my dropbox to send to the people who paid for said commissions. 
I update this twitter account with the dropbox links to things as I complete them, which is updated considerably more often than my galleries: https://twitter.com/CurioDracoart

So that’s it! Sorry for the wall of text ^^; just a lot of updated information to cover. 

~TL;DR~

Will soon have enough $ to live on for the month, will be working on queue’d commissions solidly.
Restructuring the order of my backlog queue to finish the smaller ones first. Less stress to finish in small bites first.
Home internet still sucks.
No streaming for another month or so.
Might have perfect job opportunity as live-in caregiver, pending response to inquiry.
Uploading art today because I have enough left on my data plan til billing cycles in 2 days.

lumiguin:

myantiquehabibi:

bronydanceparty:

lostvioletlotus:

celttabikat:

tofu93:

by Bitter-Cherry.

This is really true, I really am utterly amazed at the amount of people that view artists as “something not human”, almost as if we were machines. Then attack and become absolutely horrid because we won’t appease them or we don’t act a certain way like they want us to or because we “are getting attention we don’t deserve.” Artists work really hard on their works and to treat them like they don’t deserve attention for all that work or that they’re not human but a machine to appease you all is pretty lowly behavior…

This is also…really ironic since art is one of the most human subjects… 

……. I….. This is painful to read. Painful because of how home sticking this is. I’m terrified of trying to hard because it means I will be exposing myself to this.  There will always be the yin with the yang, negative to take along side the positive. It doesn’t make it any less disturbing when it pops its ugly head up to say hello.

REBLOGGING THIS SHIT SOOOOOO HARD!!!!!!!

Reminder

I relate to this like woah <3 Reblogging every time I see it on my dash.

Just an announcement about what my upcoming work plans are gonna be over the next month or so~

Some of you are already aware that, for the last month-ish, I’ve been set up with my computer at a friend’s place, travelling back and forth from home to her place and borrowing her internet access. (Where I live at home is out in the middle of nowhere and we’re not cool enough to get proper internet set up there. We’re limited to what we can access on our cell phone data plans.)

Tomorrow/Monday through Thursday I’m going to be running streaming commissions every day, getting as many of those done as I can manage. I need to take advantage of the time I have left here, to get myself squared away with a decent enough income buffer before I no longer have easy access to my friend’s internet access.

At the end of Thursday, I’m going to be taking everything down and setting up back at home for the following 6 weeks.

Where I currently live, the family who owns the farm property also run a seasonal restaurant that’s open on the weekends during sugaring season (making maple syrup). I’m going to be working there on the weekends, which means my sleep schedule will be in direct conflict with my boyfriend’s work schedule, and sharing the car between us will no longer be practical during this time. (currently we both go to bed at about 5-6am, which is the same time that I will need to be getting up for this job)

During the rest of the week over this time, I’ll be working on queue’d commissions and my backlog, opening up periodically for misc commission types as needed. Streaming commission opportunities will return when the season is over, and I can set back up at my friend’s place.

So everything is squared away in securing new parts for a replacement computer. I should have everything here by the middle of the coming week. Thank you, those of you who helped me figure out what parts to get, those who purchased commissions for the parts, and those who were just supportive or helpful in any form. You’re all wonderful <3

And it can’t get here fast enough x_x my current rig is just getting progressively worse, it won’t even stay functional for a whole 5 minutes after booting now :/ (if you’re new to this chapter of Curio Has The Worst Luck With Technology Show, here’s the details of its death: http://curiodraco.tumblr.com/post/42640022142)

I guess the days of down time won’t be so bad really, I do have a ton of other tasks and projects at home that I’ve been putting off in favor of constant work. So in a way, being unable to get any art work done for a few more days is kind of a blessing, since it opens up time for me to get all these other important things done in the meantime.  

All things considered this shouldn’t put me *too* terribly far behind with the new commissions.. a little further than I’d have liked to be, sure, but sooner or later I was planning on getting a new rig anyway. And now that it’s just not even worth the time to figure out what’s causing its problems anymore, I may as well go in for a new one while I can. 

There’s so many different things it could be that’s causing these problems. I seriously just don’t have the time or patience to troubleshoot through every potential cause, when I’ll just be better off with a new rig regardless, no matter how you spin it. It’s old, it’s shot, it’s been giving out piece by piece for the last year, and any fix I could possibly give it is just prolonging an ongoing series of failures. Not Worth It. With the rig I’m putting together as a replacement, I won’t need to worry about having something capable of immense resolutions, running as much software as I see fit while I work, or reasonably keeping up with the tech curve for a good few years at least. 

Even if my old rig didn’t have such a poorly-timed death, it was still having a hard time keeping up with the demands of my work and needed replacing anyway. This just seems like a good time to do it, and do it right. 

Thank you all for your support and business <3 I’m immensely grateful to be employed by this community ^^ 

It’s dead, Jim.

Yesterday (the night of Feb 7th) I was streaming commission work for someone, when suddenly after nearly 2 hours, my computer locked up and became entirely unresponsive. Mind you, it’s never frozen up like that before. So I have a moment of ARGH for all the lost work, kick myself for not having better habits, and restart my computer with the wind totally out of my sails to even think about picking back up on that particular commission right away. (anyone who has ever experienced anything similar knows exactly that feeling I’m speaking of)

Figuring it was just a fluke, I started streaming again, worked on something else, and 5 minutes later, it froze up AGAIN. 

At that point it was clear it was a trend and something was very wrong.

So I moved my case out from where it was (I’ll admit it was in a somewhat cramped space, but I honestly thought there’d still be adequate airflow since I keep the side panel off :/ ) and moved it to the top of the desk. I also gave it a good dusting with canned air while I was at it.

I restart my computer, don’t do anything else with it aside from just poking around, browsing the internet, tentatively waiting to see if I had fixed the problem, or if I’d continue to have issues.

Sure enough, it wasn’t too long before it happened yet again.

This went on to happen a few more times during the course of the night, each time I tried something different to see if it would fix it. Eventually I gave up entirely, turned it off, and just went to bed.

On to the next morning (today as I’m typing this) I start my PC, walk away for some time to have a food, and when I’ve come back, it’s already frozen up again. Not even in use, totally idle, nothing really running, and it just doesn’t want to stay functional. 

For all I can tell, it’s either the motherboard, or the video card. It’s not worth finding out further than that, because if I replaced one, I’d just be throwing away money to continue putting off a ticking time bomb for my next major component to fail. Considering both mobo and video card are at least 6-7 years old now, nevermind a handful of other important parts as well, it makes more sense to me to just invest in a completely new updated rig at this point.

I’m pretty sure I must have overheated it beyond a point of reasonable return. Between that and the age of the parts, it’s just time to part ways instead of fighting with it any longer.

Because I can’t just go even a whole month without SOMETHING putting my work flow behind AGAIN >_<

I’ll be offering commission slots in exchange for computer parts in order to secure a new rig to work with. 

EDIT:
There’s so many different things it could be that’s causing these problems. I seriously just don’t have the time or patience to troubleshoot through every potential cause, when I’ll just be better off with a new rig regardless, no matter how you spin it. It’s old, it’s shot, it’s been giving out piece by piece for the last year, and any fix I could possibly give it is just prolonging an ongoing series of failures. Not Worth It. With the rig I’m putting together as a replacement, I won’t need to worry about having something capable of immense resolutions, running as much software as I see fit while I work, or reasonably keeping up with the tech curve for a good few years at least. 

Even if my old rig didn’t have such a poorly-timed death, it was still having a hard time keeping up with the demands of my work and needed replacing anyway. This just seems like a good time to do it, and do it right. 

I’m still set up at my friend’s place with my computer, borrowing her internet to run streaming shows and just enjoying the perks of proper internet access. Been coming down here to work every day almost like I would go to any regular job away from home :v it’s almost nice in a way, that my work and home are 2 separate places… but also a lot of hassle and expense for time and gas in the long run. So there are tradeoffs x3

But yeah.. I’m not actually sure at this point when I’ll tear down and bring everything back home >_>

So with this in mind, now that I’ve managed to earn a decent amount to get the first half of the month’s expenses paid from new streaming work, I’ll be switching back to getting some more work done on my regular and backlogged queue.

I’ll be switching up what I work on during any given day, some days working on the queue, others on the backlog, and others on new streaming commissions.

So that’s what’s going on!  Work and more work. But, having proper internet to work with makes things much easier on me at least x3

It’s been a while since I’ve made any mention of this topic, and I feel a refresher may be due.

So there’s places like e621 and rule 34 and countless other clones where people can go and upload all the art they see fit, whether or not they created it or had it created for them.

My stance?

Go for it. 

As long as it’s not edited, pay-for-access, or my hi-res work, I don’t care much where it ends up. ***

In my mind, it’s free advertising. This is exactly why I watermark everything I publish, because I know there’s no stopping people from sharing these things. If my info is on there, if someone sees my work floating around out on the great big internets and likes it enough, they have a way to find me. 

And it saves me the time and hassle of expanding my work exposure if someone else already took the time to do it for me, so in a way I even appreciate it ^^;

I know not all artists feel the same, so this statement I make only for myself. If you’re redistributing art work and you’re unsure about any given artists’ feelings on the matter, I’d encourage you to get in touch before just doing it :3

***IF anyone ever does find my work on a pay-for-access site, edited (say you recognize a piece of mine but the watermark was edited out or anything like that), or my hi-res work floating around anywhere at all, PLEASE do inform me so I can take care of the problem!

Thanks ^^ ♥