Stouffville, Ontario Canada (647) 962-1997 gwstudios@rogers.com M-F 8:30am - 2:30pm & 8:00pm - 11:00pm

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Laughing at the absurd.

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And other helpful hints we’ll discover in this thirty seven step program to becoming a Tax Free Tech Guru in just nine easy payments of $699.87. Follow me on IG for more… or don’t, you cuck.

The kids have discovered mobile games, namely a ball rolling game of balance, bouncing, puzzles, and fine motor control. It also sparks a daily wobbly for the ages, with rage, tears, gnashing of teeth, and hair pulling. God I love technology. Not that we don’t have a plethora of 2D Atari games that they have played and enjoyed before. Now their spare time is spent on the spare phone playing a bunch of free to play games, and avoiding ads, or unstoppable prompts to visit other websites. Such fun. Why couldn’t they like Tetris, or Mario Kart Racing… no accounting for taste.

Fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed for better weather tomorrow for our birthday party plans. Much of which revolve around being outdoors, and in the pool. Tie dye is awful messy to try inside. Same with art & crafts painting. We need at least a lull in the rain to be able to enjoy ourselves just a bit. I have some shopping to do for snacks, and drinks. I also need to wrap my daughters gifts. Bake a bunch of cupcakes, and decorate them too.

Was out having a drink or two last night, so I’m a bit slow going this morning. I had a late night RUSH request for first thing Monday morning, so when I got home I worked a few hours last night to get a jump on this fairly extensive ask. 4 posters, all 32×68″H, in need of touch ups to the products, background, models and lighting. I have the basis for my work blocked in, and now I’ll spend another 4-6 hours or more refining, tweaking, and cleaning up. Luckily one of the four posters was really just a background swap, and will take far less time to plan & execute than any of the others. Score!

I think that message came in before 11:00pm last night, so not the latest rush order I have ever had. That’s freelancing for you in a nut shell. You can have flexibility to do family life events, but also be prepared to get, and execute on new work after midnight and over weekends etc etc… which I don’t mind ultimately. If I can do school drop offs and pick ups and see my kids every day, I’ll take a few late nights, or weekends in my office/studio getting things done. Fair trade in my opinion.

So what is the new american dream? I think it’s coming up with some kind of popular grift that makes money by selling an idea, with very little substance, but not onerous enough to warrant legal action against. Take my course, buy my plan, come to my conference, learn this one simple thing, do you want to be a real estate investor? Things of that nature. No longer an invention or product, but the packaged sale of an ideal, or winning ideology. Very fascinating. Mostly empty platitudes and common sense wrapped up in tech guru verbiage and a vagueness to waved hands, or finger temples, charismatic speaking engagements. It’s wild y’all.

June is almost done, and yet another school year along with it. Crazy. 6 months of the year done too. Half way through. My numbers here are WAY done. I’ve done 25% roughly of last year’s all time numbers. I haven’t written any shorts that garnered consistent attention, so no surprise there. Big difference between 14-22 views a day, and the current 2-4, with a handful of zeros mixed in for good measure. The disconnection of JetPack/Wordpress and other external sites is a factor as well, but I think it’s my lack of creative writing that has placed my viewership in a nosedive. Better than previous years, without a doubt. But sadly lacking in comparison to my All-Star showing of 2022. No matter. This isn’t a vehicle to fame and fortune. It’s an outlet I needed during the height of the Pandemic, and it’s aftermath which is still ongoing.

Happy Saturday, you made it! Ciao Bella

Under a bit of a time crunch today.

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I promised to volunteer at a kindergarten event for today, several weeks in advance, and now (of course) I’ve gotten some last minute projects that require immediate attention. So I must be very diligent with my time, and planning today. First things first I got the kids fed, dressed, cleaned up and off to school with the appropriate gear for the day’s events. Next I will spend 2 hours working on CMYK logos, and then it’s the better part of three hours volunteering before I’m home for an hour to work, then pick up, and finish off the afternoon working as the kids watch a movie with snacks. Hopefully we can beat the rain due sometime this afternoon. Fingers crossed. Ciao Bella!

Acerbic Anaerobic Excercises for the forthright and direct.

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Some days the hardest part about writing is coming up with a useable title to follow. Usually I utilize it as a lead in for my one sided conversations, other times it’s a click baity nonsense jumble to attract attention, and other times I think it’s a funny thing to say. Doesn’t really matter. I don’t think a mere title has ever gotten me more views, clicks, eye balls or deeper reading into the ole back catalogue of 555 days of entries. Some will say it is a numbers game, others tap into rage, some humour, and others technical skills or an educated treatise on a subject worthwhile of attention. Not this guy. Domestic Duties Monday, or Wednesday, Hump Day, Middle of the Week Day diatribes about laundry, messy kids, the local weather, and jabbering on about freelance graphic design, or attempting to finish my short story collections, and an illustrated children’s book. You won’t find Nobel Prize winning content here. A fair bit of snark is available though. Plus TMI stories of Crohn’s Disease, and intestinal distress. Glory to those whom behold such words. Words, I say! Explicit, delicate, sonorous words. Munch. Blather. Bile. So many to choose from.

I have some website headers to produce today, a few more photo edits to make, and a series of event posters too. Work is a bit lighter this week. I do need to hit up the local Lifelabs for blood work this afternoon, so that’s there, sitting on my mind. Here’s hoping my requisition form is still in good standing, or it may be a shorter visit than intended. Then a late day school pick up for my oldest, whisked off for an indigenous day downtown with a school club for a speaking event. They all seemed pretty excited about it. Happy to see it. Now I just need to wait around between 3:00pm, and 4:30pm or potentially later for their bus to come in. Hopefully they will update us using the parents Facebook group. That would be a really great service.

Pretty sure today is Thursday. Mid to late June all ready, I can hardly believe it. I mean I should, my Visa bill came in all ready so that’s always a strong indication the month is about to close out. Had another birthday party invite for the kids today, up to four now for the next two weeks alone. At this pace I’m going to go broke buying Lego sets for other families. Ha. Ain’t that the truth. Thus far I have planned nothing for the summer. To be totally honest I haven’t had the time to think. Well, up until this week I had been going pretty hard with work, but I saw a real slow down very recently, and I did some additional tree pruning, and house cleaning. But I haven’t given much thought to summer activities beyond the park, the farm for weeding, rock removal & watering, or swimming at the in-laws. We can visit area splash pads, but the pool is more private, and has far fewer interlopers. I don’t expect I’ll be all that busy until late August and beyond. As the events have to happen before we can audit them, or conduct research. I have done almost no wood working this spring either. Was too busy with freelance design work (which is a good thing). And what little extra time I did have available I spent cleaning up, tearing down, and reorganizing the space to make it feel more open, and less cluttered. Now I can fit my lawn mower down two aisles from front to back of my shop space and not get snagged on anything. A miracle. That allows me to move bicycles around for repair & maintenance work too. A true boon. I do have a big box full of burnable stuff to go out, but I’m not that concerned about it right now. I have done a pretty decent job of decluttering and opening up floor space, so for now I am satisfied.

Well, I need to eat breakfast and send some proofs off for review. Talk again soon. Ciao Bella!

A good nights sleep can be so elusive.

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If there was one thing (among many) that I would change in my life it would have to be the quality of sleep I get on a consistent basis. I’d like more nights of restful slumber, and fewer spent restless, tossing & turning, or hot, and awake watching the seconds tick away on the clock. I think that that one particular change (if I knew what change to make) would have positive knock-on effects throughout the rest of my day, and thus improve my life just a tiny bit. As it stands I do get ok sleep off and on, but I’d rather have a 70-30 split of great nights sleep to bad, than say a 51-49 split. Is it the mattress, pillows, air quality, temperature, air flow, sound, the amount of ambient light in the room at night, stress, illness, my evening routine? I don’t know what factors into the good sleep nights versus the bad ones. I know that acid reflux contributes to some of the bad ones, so now I try not to eat after 8:00pm if I can help it. I’m also not shy with the Tums if I have any inkling that my stomach is going to wreak havoc on my night. So many factors to consider. Also, do I have sleep apnea? I know that I snore. I have to sleep on my side or belly to really get any rest at all. Things to ponder as I get older still. Fun times. Deserves a more thorough exploration. Perhaps some documentation, a list or spreadsheet of trial and error tactics to try. I don’t know, I’m not a specialist nor a medical professional. I’ll put a pin in it and will have to revisit.

Fear not, today is Wednesday. You’ve made it to the middle of the work week. Congratulations. I know that some weeks sort of suck. But fear not, you are closer now to the end of it, than the beginning.

We have a weekend full of birthday parties to look forward to. Hope the weather cooperates between 10:00am and 2:00pm each day of this weekend. Otherwise it can rain or storm all it wants. I need to wrap my kid’s gifts at some point soon too. I kept it fairly low key this year. There isn’t much that they don’t already have lots of. Also, on a side note, can you believe that schools out for summer by next Friday before noon! That’s insane. Funny how a school year that feels like it never ends suddenly creeps up on you and just ends. What a weird phenomenon. But I bet that comes from focusing on the end date and nothing else beyond it. I recently read that Buzz Aldrin was so focused on walking on the moon that after her accomplished it, he came home empty and devoid of purpose and became deeply depressed, and an alcoholic. I get that. You see it all the time with people who have Fairy Tale wedding dreams for The Day Of, and nothing else planned for the hours, days, weeks, months, or years after. We are weird that way. Blinders on for this one thing – get it, or do it, and then…. nothing. So odd.

So this whole DIY submersible thing, what a shit show eh? They were not selling it with that unserious NBC/ABC reporting they did on OceanGate a few months or years back. I’m not a big fan of massively open water, so the idea of going into somebodies cobbled together burial chamber seems foreign to me. I don’t even like the idea of the glass bottomed tour sub at Sea World that was just 2 ft from the surface. I hated that ride with a passion, and you could have just stood up and touched the surface. So 4000m down… nope! No. Nuh-uh, never, nada, nein, nyet. But then I don’t much like snorkeling, and wouldn’t bother with scuba gear either.

And not only that but now you have organized pods of Orcas just having at it destroying yachts, and other seafaring craft by attacking the rudders. Madness. Stay out the water. Let us all collect our thoughts and regroup. That’s all I’m saying. Those things in the water have several millions of years of evolution on us, so best to leave them be. What a week! Ciao Bella

Tuesday.

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First one in a while where I haven’t had to be out of town for five or more hours. Feels pretty good to be home, if I’m being honest. As much as I like going places, and doing things, and being with others, the older I get the happier I am to stay home. It’s where my hobbies are. My office / studio space, and my wood shop are all here. Teaming with projects, old, new, as of yet unrealized. It’s great to be home. Plus when I’m home I’m not out spending money. Though I do enjoy experiences of all sorts. It’s cheaper to be home. And as a freelancer with invoices paid at irregular intervals, I’m best to be cautious with money right now.

In continuation of Domestic Duties Monday, I do have a fair amount of laundry to sort through and put away. The never ending cycle of t-shirts, shorts and under pants that I have to wash and sort every single week. Oh my! It’s alot. But I’d rather do that than commute four hours a day down to Liberty Village, or Mississauga or deep into the heart of York Region. Soon enough the kids will stop wanting to play with all of these toys, and their chores will adapt to their age and abilities. I can delegate their own laundry to them, and vacuuming, sweeping, mopping the floors, bathroom cleaning, putting away groceries, loading and running the dishwasher, recycling bins, garbage pick-up around the house, even lawn care or garden bed weeding can be handed over to the two kids. I have them helping with snow removal as is, so that will be a big help as they get stronger. Washing the cars, windows, drive way, so many things I can get them to do. But, for right now, while they are small, I’m ok to do that myself. Ciao Bella.

Not to belabor the point, but…

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Here we go. Come on then. Get it out, say it, say it. I know you want to. I can hear it in your voice that you’re itching to say something. Hm? No? Cat got your tongue? “Well, it’s just funny that…”

Another lovely late spring weekend behind us. Father’s Day was pretty good. Busted out the new waffle iron, and gave that a go on Sunday. I need to tweak that recipe a touch, not quite sweet enough for me. But it works, and it was edible. I could have gone with my usual cooked English breakfast, but waffles were calling my name.

I did a fair amount of cleaning on Saturday morning while I was expecting my wife and kids to be out of the house until 10:00 or 11:00am, so the floors got a sweep, a vacuum, and a mopping. Grass got cut. And a general tidy up after my evening watching movies. I have laundry on the go, and the dish washer to run next. So I’m ahead of the game for Domestic Duties Monday. All of the kids extracurriculars other than gymnastics are over until September, so evenings are free and clear once more.

I have some small work matters to attend to this week. Nothing too major. I did recently learn that one of my clients has been acquired, absorbed into a larger conglomerate, and will no longer require my services. Sad. True. But part of the business cycle. I’m no stranger to the ebb & flow of clientele. At some point in the next year I will find a new set myself. Building the business is my least favourite thing to do. RFP’s, proposals, presentations, word of mouth, old friends coming back into the fold, new opportunities. Something somewhere will give. Best to put yourself into a great position to receive whatever is coming. It has happened before, and will happen again.

So that’s how my Monday is starting, how does the rest of your week look? In two more weeks time my wife with have a year off, to be at home, full time, with me, again, just like the lock downs. Should make for interesting times. Ha.

Ciao Bella!

Happy Father’s Day to all whom fill the role.

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Enjoy the 20th most celebrated holiday in North America, according to Ali Siddiq. Whether out on the golf course, or drunk in the sun day drinking for a BBQ, have a good one. To the non traditional folks that occupy the role, have a good one too.

I celebrated on Friday evening with a fun night in with no children fighting in the house. Watched a favourite movie with a couple of mixed drinks. Was in bed asleep before midnight. A real wild ride.

Happy Sunday mid morning. It’s sunny, warm on the verge of getting hot. Blue skies with some cloud cover. A lovely looking day.

What the night held… a retrospective on an evening to myself.

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Got the kids 6 man tent set up, and the rain guard attached, and then promptly drove myself home with tunes blaring out the car windows at full volume. Walked in the door and gathered up my movie choices, spirits from the downstairs fridge, and all the components for my karaoke machine. Had the karaoke set up while I created a pitcher of Sex on the beach, substituting blue raspberry freezies for the crushed ice. Seven up, on, cranberry raspberry cocktail, peach schnapps and lemon vodka and the evening was off to a great start. I sang a bunch, then moved to the couch to watch some motorcycle rebuild videos, and also some Adam Savage Tested back log that I had passed up on earlier in the month. Spent two hours watching videos, and reading twitter, and looking through IG. At 9pm I was ready to watch a movie, and I settled on Aliens, because I think it’s great. Set that up ready to press play. I watched the sun go down from the back porch for a breath of fresh air. I had played guitar earlier in the day while waiting on a response to some photo editing, so I killed that bug early on. Didn’t need to lug an amp, guitar, pedals and cords up into the living room. Which is good, since the mixed drink(s) were not weak. Not overly strong, just not watery. I ate some proper Tea Biscuits while I watched 2/3 of Aliens, then had a shower and went to bed at… drom-roll please… 11:52pm. So I hit my mark, and exceeded it slightly, without being obnoxious about it. Slept soundly until 7:30am, and here we are. Not the raucous bacchanal I’m sure others would have engaged in, but a good enough Friday night for me. I had so many options open to me that I couldn’t do them all, and I had to pick just a few of the basics and be satisfied with my choices. Yes I could have sculpted, or painted, or started a wood working project, or written a brand new short story, or any manner of other things. I’m good with the mixed drinks, movie, snacks, shower, and internet video rabbit-holing on YouTube. Five hours isn’t that crazy an amount of time. Kids will be home in an hour, so staying up WAY later would have been a bad choice to make.

I didn’t order any food, my wife was kind enough to bring home take out for us all prior to their evening camping event with Guides. So I was pretty full and didn’t need more than a few biscuits to get me through the evening stretch. Glorious.

Plus now I need to mow the lawn, and I don’t fancy doing that hung over. That’s an awful job to do with a turned stomach, pounding headache, and a desire to lie down and vomit. Those days are 97% behind me now. Ha. Happy Saturday.

What to watch?

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Looks as though I’m going to have an evening to myself, and now I need to figure out what I want to watch. Do I want to do a re-watch of Dune, Bladerunner 2049, or Aliens? Should I switch gears and go for Bridesmaids, Pineapple Express, Knocked up or the Forty Year Old Virgin? I don’t know. It isn’t that much time. And I know myself, I won’t stay up beyond 11:00pm just to watch more than one movie. So I need to choose a real banger. Plus I want to play some guitar (loudly) and fix myself a mixed drink or two. I already went out earlier this week to pick up the orange juice (no pulp), cranberry cocktail, and some 7Up. I’m skipping the ice, in favour of blending in some blue raspberry Freezies into the mix. Maybe the sugar content will help me make it to 11:00pm without falling asleep on the couch. I have my bluetooth speaker all juiced up for a lively play along session too. Ha. Living on the edge here my man! Do I order a pizza? Grab some chicken wings that I have gift certificates for? Who knows? The evening is wide open, at least for now. Maybe I’ll play on my Xbox for a change? That’s always fun. Or catch up on some reading? Start a new sculpting project? Or, now hear me out here, mask up and start air brushing the prepped parts of my resin model kit. So many great options, it’s hard to choose.

I have more photo editing to accomplish today. And probably some sell sheets to tackle aswell. Best finish up with my breakfast, and my day dreaming and get on to working. Ciao Bella!

Sobering moment.

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Last night my oldest fell (for a silly reason I won’t mention to avoid further embarrassment) and cut herself fairly badly on a tin can from our recycling. What saddened me was she was so afraid I’d be mad that she hid the actual scalloped wound and only showed me this very minor scrape on the outside of her shoulder. But as she became very pale, I asked her to go lie down, and if she needed a bucket, because she is prone to vomiting at blood/pain. This should have been my first clue to stop and really examine her. But I asked and asked “are you ok?” And didn’t pry or really focus. Her ashen face really should have twigged my senses and I dropped that ball, badly. It wasn’t until later at night when she wanted to replace a bandaid for bed, which she had secretly put on earlier, that my wife and I saw the true extent of her real injury. A 2.5 inch long gash, nah! Scalloped divot cut out of her arm pit (or near enough) that was still bleeding 2 hrs in. We dabbed it, and added Polysporin, and applied a larger sterile pad, and sent her to bed. But it bothered me that she was more afraid we’d be mad, than seek help for what very nearly could have been a horrific injury. Had it of gotten into her actual armpit, hit a lymph node, or worse an artery, she’d have hidden it and bled out before we knew enough to apply a tourniquet which I have in the house for lacerations! I was terribly angry at myself, one; for the cut lids being up on the cans I’d opened that day, and two; my child being afraid I’d be mad about a little mess on the floor rather than being concerned for her well being. I realize I harp on at them for making messes, and their lackadaisical cleaning efforts, but I’d hoped they knew I loved them more than I care about a clean kitchen floor.

Seems I have some revaluation of my demeanor to look into. I say “I love you”, lots, but do I show it enough? I realize I’m not terribly sympathetic. Usually it’s a result of people hurting themselves by doing exactly what I have asked them not to, in order to avoid injury. So… I should work on that. By being more sympathetic, and having greater empathy for little kids trying to learn by doing. Gotta make those mistakes to learn the hard lessons I guess. I wanted to shield them from all that pain, but they do it anyway, much to my annoyance. So there. Yes. It’s all me. I definitely need to work on that. Seek out to comfort first, before being annoyed or upset. Leave the lecture for after we’ve all been patched up and looked after. Sounds reasonable. What a way to learn that lesson for myself. Yikes. I feel terrible about it. I’m writing it down, so it won’t soon be forgotten. Cheese. Huh.

Yeah – so welcome to Thursday. Talent show today. Hope that goes ok, as we’ve got more rain and storms coming. Not to mention my daughters injury to contend with for her act. I need to go edit some photography, and look over my daughters book report. Take care. Feel free to be introspective today too. Ciao Bella!