But the real purpose of this post is to share the news that my Etsy shop is now open and I’ve sold 9 buttons to 4 different people. Whee!

I’m still in the process of uploading more and more buttons (I have hundreds, and the Etsy listing process is quite a chore). So keep checking back to see what gets added. Plus, my prices will go up once I figure out how much to charge, so take advantage of my cluelessness while it lasts.

Oh! And check out the new look of my blog. This may change from time to time as I try out different looks, or when I get sick of a particular look.

I’m also looking into migrating to a new host (Doodlekit), which seems very friendly to me and has all the features I’ll be wanting (shopping cart, etc.). I’m not sure if that means my Wordpress blog (which you see right now) will go away or not. I’m still an idiot about all this stuff and don’t know if I can just move Wordpress over or what, but that’ll get sorted out in time. I’d like to keep the functionality of Wordpress where my blog is concerned, but I’m not sure about all the technical stuff it would entail.

I wonder why I resist writing blog entries so much. Once I’m here, I just can’t seem to shut myself up. It’s just the idea of logging in and finding something worthwhile to write about that’s daunting. I’m still hung up on the idea that every post has to be a work of art with a theme, motif, plot, and fascinating characterization. But it’s not like I’m getting paid to do this, so I can write whatever I feel like writing.

I guess I should get back to work. It’s crushing me, along with my Zonta responsibilities, because I don’t want to do either of those. All I want to do is work on my Empire, but there’s so little time, and when I do have time, I don’t have the tools I need (Photoshop, etc.).

Only 118 days until I get my laptop, and then there’ll be no stopping me. Until then, I’ll have to focus on doing the things I can do now and stop dwelling on what I wish I could be doing now.

I’m actually at work right now, so I can’t write much, but I wanted to check in and let y’all know that I’m surviving.

I am The Marketing Department. I guess I need to learn about marketing now. Right now my priorities are to create a marketing plan, to get hooked up in various social networking avenues, (re)design a promotional postcard, and find ways to tap into the LGBT market.

So, basically, I’m getting paid to surf the web and learn about marketing. And figure out Facebook and MySpace. Hopefully, I’ll actually be able to implement stuff soon. Having a company email account will help. As will reading the 32 books I have checked out from the library.

At some point, I’ll be helping to design the new e-commerce site, and write item descriptions, and figure out cross-promotional stuff and participate in the ArtWalk, but for now, I’m just soaking up knowledge. It’s definitely overwhelming, but it’s good. I’m using my brain for the first time in a long time (at least related to work), and it feels good.

In other news, I have a billion buttons ready to be photographed and listed on Etsy. I have a handle on shipping costs, and how I’ll list the buttons. I just have to get a chance to do it.

Oh, and I have to start working on the Zonta newsletter, which I’m the new boss of. The June issue will be my first, and I’m redesigning the whole thing to suit my whims, so I have to start thinking about that soon.

Now, if only my house would sell, my life would be right on track.

So, to sum up, I’m quite busy right now. Lots of things swirling around in my brain, making me slightly nutty. Whee!

I’ve been using every spare moment lately to make button designs on Photoshop. Well, compiling ideas for buttons and then actually making the button designs. Next, when my circle-punch is ready to pick up, I can actually make the buttons. I can’t wait to see what they actually like under mylar with a little pin-back.

So far I’ve made about 80 button designs. And, if I may say so, I’m pretty darn good at this. And I’m having a ridiculous amount of fun.

Once I actually have buttonized samples of all my buttons, I’ll take pictures of them (using my nifty little photo-studio-in-a-box) and put them on Etsy. It’ll be interesting to see which ones other people like.

It’s so much fun – way more fun than I thought it would be. I get to use some of the billions of fonts and dingbats I’ve been collecting for no apparent reason, and I get to use some of the billions of quotes and sayings I’ve been collecting for no apparent reason, and I get to put them all together into something little that makes me happy. And if it doesn’t turn out how I’d hoped, I can fix it. Or ditch it and move onto the next idea. There’s not a huge investment of time on each button, and it costs nothing to play around with designs on my computer.

Of course, now I’m having second thoughts about wanting to ditch this job so fervently. After all, my work laptop is where Photoshop is, and my workplace is where I frequently have giant swaths of spare time in which to insert button efforts. I wouldn’t be nearly as productive if I had a job that actually required concentration or time.

It’s weird, but I can see myself not getting bored of this, because every button is such a new adventure, and there are so many zillions of ideas out there I still want to try. I could sit here for 10 hours straight just making new buttons, and thinking up new ideas, and figuring out ways to market and sell the buttons. If only it could bring in some decent money. Maybe, someday.

Oh, and it’s not just buttons. I can buy the accessories to turn the buttons into magnets, zipper pulls, key chains, tie-tacks, or earrings. Although 1″ round earrings does seem a little odd.

The Amazing Mr. One-T is also on the button bandwagon. He actually has a real job that demands his attention, so he hasn’t made quite as many buttons as I have, but his are awesome too. Plus, he’s able to make little pictures using Illustrator, so his get a lot more creative than mine.

So, if you have anything you’d like made into a 1″ round object of desire, let me know.

I’m going to eat that taco, and I’m going to live to tell about it.

But that’s not all.

Then I’m going to travel around, eating at all the taco buses I can find, and write a comparative study on the subject.

Then the world won’t be so afraid of taco buses. Maybe I’ll even get a government grant. I’ll write articles about it. Then books. Speak before the United Nations. And of course I’ll get tax-deductible trips to Mexico for research purposes.

Taco bus franchisees will line up around the block to thank me for causing their sales to skyrocket.

The smell of refried beans will spread to all corners of the earth and soar to the heavens. The juice of pico de gallo will fill the halls of justice and stain the ancient monoliths with its piquant glory.

I will be worshiped by connoisseurs of Mexican cuisine, and they will carve my initials in their bumpers and their chests. I will be known as the savior of taco buses everywhere, and the whole world will know of the good I have done.

Just you wait.

When that book ran out of entertainment value, we started reading some of the 1001 Dumbest Things Ever Said. And I even read aloud some anecdotes from a book I was inexplicably reading about coming up with ideas for advertising.

But all that was Day One. And there was a whole lot more boredom stretching out before us. Despite the abundance or rude and/or stupid people to make fun of (behind their backs, of course — we are in the customer service industry, you know), and despite the fun rubber yoyo toy that looked like a jellyfish, we needed more distraction.

Yesterday, our desperation reached junior high levels, and we made cootie catchers and played MASH.

I threw away the cootie catcher, so I can’t remember exactly what the outcomes were, but I do recall something about Mckenzie’s future involving an unfortunate rash. But I saved my MASH sheet. It’s nice to know what the future holds, even if it holds crap.

So here’s the rundown.

I’m going to marry the cute Australian exhibitor at Coffee Fest, and we shall honeymoon in Australia. Quite fitting, I think. Have to meet his family and all that. Then we’ll be back to live in an apartment in Canada, where I’ll have the exact same job as I have now (oh joy), except that my new salary will be one billion dollars a year. Canadian dollars, I suppose. My car will be a limo (I hope I get a driver, too), which is good, because I’ll have seven kids and a pet lion, so it’ll be important to have a large vehicle.

This isn’t exactly ideal. I mean, I was really hoping to snag Johnny Depp or Christian Bale, and earn my billion dollars a year as a best-selling author, but it could be worse. I could be earning minimum wage, honeymooning in Beirut, driving a Segway, or taking care of a colony of spiders.

It’s nice how MASH can really give you some perspective. Yes, things could be better in my life. But they could also be far worse. Segway worse.

Thank you, inventor of junior high boredom relievers. I salute you.

Well, it probably goes without saying that today is one of those scattered days. I want to suck all the information in the world into my brain all at once, and settling on only one thing to think about or learn just isn’t acceptable.

Let me share with you some of the things that are bubbling around in my head right now.

First, I have checked out from the library, as usual, far more books than I could ever hope to read. It’s a sickness. But at least it keeps me from purchasing all those books and sending myself to the poorhouse. (Wait, I think I already am in the poor house, but that’s beside the point.) Here are just a few of the books currently littering my bed, floor, car, desk, and bookbag: Digital Designs for Scrapbooking, The Rough Guide to Ebay, 8 Minutes in the Morning to a Flat Belly, The Little Capoeira Book, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (book on CD format), and Quick and Healthy Cooking for Dummies.

Oh, but there’s more. Here are a few of the books I’ve put on hold at the library: 201 Icebreakers, Get Hired Fast, and The Dangerous Book for Boys.

Naturally, I’m currently reading a book that I didn’t even get from the library, but bought at Half Price Books many moons ago, and yesterday I decided to rescue it from my bookshelf of neglected books, which includes books about career tests, the advantages of being an introvert, boosting creativity, things to do in Seattle, and endless other topics.

There are 358 items on my list entitled “Big List of Things to Write About.”

My To-Do list is three pages long and includes everything from filling out my absentee ballot to learning how to use the edit features in Adobe Acrobat.

Oh, and there are about 700 ebooks I want to write. And I have 18 jobs in my stack of jobs to apply for. I’ve already applied for 10 this week, but I keep finding more!

Luckily, my actual paying (ha) job requires minimal thinking and effort, so I can zip through most of that work in drone mode.

So, here I sit. Writing about how many ideas and thoughts and plans I have, and yet still not making headway on any of them.

Oh, but I have succeeded in picking out most of the cashews from my Costco jug of Extra Fancy Mixed Nuts. At least there’s that.