Woke up from the most bizarre dream that I was wasting away into a skeleton. The last memory I have of it before waking was of me, a bag of bones in a thin layer of skin, lying naked in a fetal position on my left side on a surgical steel examination table in the middle of a big, cold, dungeon-like room where I could hear the distant sounds of water dripping, surrounded by faceless/headless people in white coats. I couldn't move or shiver - I could only see their torsos and legs in the white coats and their hands in front of me. I don't know what that means. I didn't feel scared or cold or anything - though I knew the situation was scary and the room was cold, I just felt a strange combination of sadness, hopelessness and apathy.

In other news, I have this great idea for a t-shirt design I'd like to create - and I hope no one else has done it yet, though I'm probably too late. I guess I will find out. I only hope my drawing skills are up to snuff. I also have a couple more posters I've been working on - nothing exciting, but hopefully, someone will like them and buy them. I need all the help I can get financially right now. Times is hard! I managed to wrangle up a few more graphic design positions to apply for - hopefully something will come of all this work. I've not heard back from any of the places I applied to within the last two weeks. It's a little discouraging, but I remind myself that it is the holiday season right now and I probably won't hear from them until the holiday season is over. I just hope and pray I can get a job before January 7, or that my Etsy business takes off by then and pays me at least as much as I make on unemployment (hopefully a bit more!) so that I can survive without being a burden on friends or family. 

Something's got to happen soon. The breaking point is near. 

Next post, whenever it may be, will hopefully be more cheerful! :)

Oh, xanga. My long-neglected, first-love of a blog. How have you been? Facebook and, in earlier years, Myspace have led me astray, but I am making the commitment to come back. You see, xanga...not much has happened for me to really talk about of late. Well, I guess if you look back on it as a whole - maybe there has been a lot. 18 months ago I was laid off from my job. It was ugly. I'm still unemployed, finding it difficult to navigate this economy that is almost as bad as the economy I graduated in to - the post-9/11 economy. It took me about 4 years to find my first "official" design job (that wasn't freelance) post 9/11. I'm hoping, that 18 months will be my magic number and it won't take me another 4 years to get a full time design job. Because, quite frankly - I'm a kick ass designer and art director, and any company would be lucky to have me working for them.

I did update about bringing on a second cat. Completely unplanned. It's been over a year now since I've had her. Named her "Myfanwy". Hobie and she will never be buddies, I'm afraid. But they've learned to tolerate each other, and he is still top cat so that is all I can ask for.

I'm now on my fifth year of BSF membership. I really love Bible Study Fellowship. I feel so blessed to have found this fellowship of young people to get together with every week to worship and learn more about my Heavenly Father and my saviour Jesus Christ.

I previously updated about my foray into the world of running barefoot! I've definitely fallen hard for my Vibram FiveFingers. So much so, that after one short year of running, I managed to wear a hole in the sole of my beloved first pair!

As a result, I had to retire them which was sad - however, it meant an upgrade to a brand spanking new pair! I loved my KSOs but decided to try out a different model with a slightly thicker sole. This time I'm stylin' in a pair of Speeds.

Love them! I wish I could have one of each style Vibram makes! I will never go back to standard trainers. Vibram FiveFingers for life!

Recently, while pursuing every possible avenue of making an income during this time of unemployment, I opened an Etsy store that I have called Heavenly Geekdom. My mission is to create and sell all sorts of geeky goods to sell to my fellow geeks. At the moment my product line is prints I've designed and produced that are based off quotes from Doctor Who. I am working on diversifying my offerings and hope to have more geeky wares up for sale in the next couple weeks. Cross your fingers for me! Oh, and check out my goods, pass the link around - and buy if you like, please!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/heavenlygeekdom

If you know of anyone looking for a really talented designer and art director, please pass along my portfolio link! You can find me on cargocollective, here:

 http://cargocollective.com/kristimcarlson

In other news, a ghost from my past that I used to blog a lot about has re-appeared in my life. That is all TBD yet. I have no idea what is happening there, but I'm intrigued and it's not an unwelcome reappearance. So we shall see what happens! My plan is to be more faithful about blogging here, even if there is no one to read it. It's good to get things out.

I hope all in xanga-land are well. I have no idea how many of my old friends are still on here anymore - most of us are now connected via Facebook. So, I will see you around the interwebs!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all my US friends and family!

xoxok

Today will prove to be an interesting day. Through an interesting (or maybe not) series of events, Hobie may or may not be getting a little sister - or a cousin. There is a little black kitty, named Miss Kitty - who looks like Hobie's doppleganger that is in need of a loving home. So, she is coming today for a "play date" with Hobie. Not sure how he will handle this, as he's had me all to himself for the past 6 years or so. He's about 14 now and even though he doesn't look or act like the senior cat he is, I'm not sure how adding a new cat in to the mix will affect him. I know that prior to coming to live with me, he lived with a large dog and another cat (named Kitty) and that when Kitty passed away, Hobie was very sad and lonely. So I'm hoping he'll remember what it was like to co-habitat and after an adjustment period will love having a little cuddle buddy.

Failing that, my parents want the kitty - but either way, she'd have to stay with Hobie and I for awhile as my folks are babysitting a little dog named Vegas, and we're definitely not sure how Vegas and a cat would get along - even though they'd be about the same size. So...we'll see how this goes! I'm hoping it works out, but either way, Miss Kitty will have a loving home. Either with me and Hobes or with my Mom and Dad.

The only thing I'm not sure of is the name - I know it's her name but what would I shorten it to or call her? I'd like to give her a different  name. "Hobie" fits both Hobie and myself, "Miss Kitty" isn't a name I'd choose at all though it's perfectly cute. I'm sort of leaning towards "Myfanwy" which is Welsh for "my pretty little one". We'll see!

Oh, and here's a little comparison I whipped up in Photoshop. If it works out, I'll certainly be having to keep up with a lot of loose hair between Hobie, Miss Kitty and myself.