The Book that Started it all

Mid-2006.  Fond du Lac Public Library.  Lunch break.  Perusing.

I happen across this book that is VERY intriguing, and a little scary.  And fun.  A "Can you seriously do this?!" feeling washes over me; the kind of feeling where you don't realize it at the time, but there is a little kernel of fate/enlightenment that enters your brain, telling you that you'd better file this moment away because it's going to be a HUGE indicator of things to come.

I realize that the book that I thought was so intriguing four years prior has influenced my work so much that I should probably pay the author for the education.

I'm sure you realize by now that the book is "Realistic Collage: Step by Step" by Michael David Brown.  There have been a few books in my life that have been written, it seems, specifically for me (check my other blog, Ephemeraology, for info on one of the other books).  When I first saw this book, it infiltrated my thoughts throughout my day, so much so that it was hard to concentrate sometimes.  I was completely enchanted!

Mid-2010. My studio. 4 p.m. Relief.

I just finished my 10th collage for Pam Kueber's delightful Retro Renovation, a veritable encyclopedia of mid-century architecture, history, resources, ecology and fun.  Back in January, Pam had contacted me to do some collages for her blog; she had seen my work on Flickr and liked it, and knew that I was all about the "vintage" look.  It was a complete and utter shock to think that someone would like my work enough to actually PAY me to make collages!  I mean, seriously?  I'm going to get paid to do what I adore doing?

If you follow the blog you know that this exchange was the impetus for me leaving my steady 9-5 job and jumping head-first into the then-unknown world of being a collagist.  I don't regret a single moment of this decision, and Pam has certainly done her part to make the journey far easier.

Do you ever wonder sometimes if things would be different in your life if one tiny thing hadn't happened?  What if, on that fateful day in 2006, I hadn't taken a lunch?  What if the book had been checked out and I never saw it?  Was it fate that brought me to that book, or pure chance?  Would I be mining silver now if I had stumbled into the Precious Metals section of the library?  I guess I'll never know.  But I sure am happy with how things are working out!

Here are some of the collages that I've done for Retro Renovation (you can see the entire selection here) - I wonder if David Michael Brown would like them too?  :D

Playing Hooky

I have the day off today. What am I doing with it? Well, so far, not much. I've made a couple of galleries on Flickr, and am currently writing this blog entry but other than that, zilch. And that's okay. I might just stay in my jammies all day!

This year has been interesting as far as my vacation and personal days, because in the beginning of the year Gannett announced we would have two weeks of furloughs as well. So all in all I will have about six weeks of time off for 2009. I say, bring on the furloughs for 2010!!

That may seem like a lot but in the grand scheme of things the US is SO far behind other developed nations. For example, in Finland, the average is 30 paid vacation days and 14 national holidays. That's 44 days, or NINE WEEKS off per year. I would've thought Canada would have more than we do but they actually average about a week less.

Now, I was in the fortunate position financially of not having to worry about those 2 furlough weeks we had in the first half of the year. And let me tell you, I enjoyed every minute of them. The first week I took individual Wednesdays off (like today). It was luxurious! I would hang out downtown, spend the day with my Grammie in Green Bay, schedule hair/dentist/doctor appointments without having to rush around before or after work - it was wonderful! The second week was spent on a fabulous vacation to Denver. During furloughs we were forbidden to contact work in any way, so it was the perfect time to get away!

My whole life, even when I was much poorer than I am now, I've always favored time over money. Some people would view this as lazy and in this country, a strong work ethic is very important. It should be. When you're at work, you should work as hard as you can; you're getting paid to do so. The problem with that work ethic, however, is that it's becoming harder to separate our work from our LIFE. To me, work is not life and I don't see that changing. I hate having to think about work when I'm not there. I have many friends, though, who seem to think it's normal to be 'on call' 24-7. Their whole life revolves around work - their friends, their schedules, their entertainment, everything. That's too bad. What happens if that job isn't there next year? But I digress. Back to vacations.

If we had more vacation time, wouldn't we all be less stressed? And in turn, wouldn't we all be better workers? And wouldn't our home life be more rewarding? Wouldn't it be nice to have more time for personal enrichment instead of plunking ourselves in front of the TV because we're too exhausted to even think about doing anything else? Sorry to get on my high horse, but I think that a happy worker is a good worker. Corporations need to start showing their personnel (what few there are remaining) some love. Because when this recession is over, and there are more job opportunities, people are going to leave in droves for greener pastures. Time to stop thinking only about your shareholders, Giant Companies, and start sharing the wealth with the workers who got you where you are in the first place. Or, months or years down the road, that little start-up you laughed at will replace you and you'll be left with nothing.

Part of the Team

I can't wait for next Tuesday! We're in the middle of our big move - our newspaper office is closing its downtown building and we're moving into newer digs with the local shopper across town. All of the entities involved are owned by Gannett, so it only makes sense. But for so long we were considered "separate but equal" (not quite true, since the Shopper and the print facility are our money-makers. They had better stuff than we did).

And because we were separate, it was 'us' and 'them'. I think we always fancied ourselves way more fun. We are definitely louder, without a doubt. And now that we're all together (although I don't technically move over until next week), I think we all feel differently about each other. Like now, we're all in this together. We're a team. We're one big happy, dysfunctional family.

And looking back at other jobs I've had in the past, I've felt part of the team at nearly every place I've worked. The first "real" job I ever had was at WBAY-TV, Channel 2 in Green Bay, where I met some of my oldest and dearest friends. In fact, at one point we all lived in the same house, on East Mason Street. Don't tell my mom, but one of us dubbed it, "The Home for Wayward Boys". EEP! Sad but true.

After 2 years, I got a job at WFRV Channel 5, where I met MORE of my oldest and dearest friends, and my first husband Dan. Now these years were truly horrible in terms of the work, at least for me. They put us part-timers on the split shifts, so there were many stretches where we'd work 4 different shifts each day, our day beginning at 5:30 a.m. and ending at 11:00 p.m. But the hours between 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. were all ours, and we definitely made the most of them! Nineteen Ninety-Two was a year in particular that I will forever cherish. Those were some of the best days of my life!

But because of the horrible work conditions, I eventually moved on. I did some temp work for a couple months but eventually landed a job at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. I met even MORE of my great friends there. I was there for three and a half years, and it was my favorite place I ever worked. My first husby got transferred to Fond du Lac so we moved here, and I was heartbroken. For a while I'd just take trips up to visit my work friends, but after a while you have to stop doing that because you realize that, although they're happy to see you, they have moved on and the world didn't end because you stopped working there (although, to their wonderful credit, they made my feel like it would at my going-away party).

I've had quite a few jobs in Fond du Lac, but none compare to the job I currently hold. And it's all because of the people, both at the Reporter and now including my extended 'family'. I'll be working somewhere again where it's loud. And fun. And exciting. And I hope, Lord willing, to be there for a long time. If that's not in the cards, I've made even more life-long friends, and that's worth everything.