I contacted the DMV regarding my permit which expires tomorrow, and I'd need to be in-state in order to renew. There is a 30-day grace period. So ???.
...
Okay turns out that like there's a $50 rent for staying Spring Break, and I wasn't supposed to be here the whole time. But if I pay that $50 by tonight, then I'm good and everything's cleared up. And I'm good for the $50, but...
I really really don't want to have to spend money on avoidable stuff like that, right now. The semester's coming up, and there's still major credits that I'm not taking because of that whole late-signup thing. I wanted to take advanced typography this semester, darnit! I've signed up for a class instead of that, already, but there's still 3 credits of on-hold-ness from a class I signed up for that might not get off of hold, so 3 credits I still need to sign up for. Maybe.
Meanwhile alongside the $50 thing. The only 20 amp outlet in the whole apartment complex (need it for the flash heater to cure the ink after it's been printed) is in the lounge, and I need to work something out because it's heavy and I can't lug it up and down all the time but I can't keep it in the lounge either. And what's the deal with my keeping my printing stuff in my bedroom anyway? There's not enough room to swing all four print stations around, in the bedroom, unless I lift the press off the ground and onto the exposure unit- that would give enough room to clear the bed so that I'd be able to rotate all arms freely. Theoretically. But I'm not sure, and heaving heavy-duty equipment onto a glass surface, even one protected by cardboard or a styrofoam flat or something, doesn't strike me as the wisest thing.
So yeah, my real question is, would it be worth it to keep everything in-house, or would I be able to locate a studio for myself off-site? I'm considering my options, seeing if there's a place I can relocate to, and for cheap...
There are a few places nearby that look promising. For one, there's the old beauty college on College Avenue, a couple of blocks away. I've seen it rented out for parking for food trucks, and there's a sign there now that says something about Porter's employee parking only (Porter's is the craft and frame store a few blocks away from my apartment; I haunt it quite frequently.) So that seems like a great option, but with no guarantees of exclusivity.
There's a violin place not far away from that that's changed locations, leaving the old shell behind, an empty building with no inhabitants. I tracked down the new location to talk to the guy, but it's changed hands again since he's sold it; he gave me a phone number for the county in order to track down the current owner, and now I finally have a name on the current property owner: a certain Dennis Butterfield, no address on file, no phone number on file.
And then there is that house that's apparently being moved out of right next door. But all I need is a studio, and I'm not sure renting a whole house is worth it for that...
So that's where I stand right now. On Thursday I'm about where I am right now in printing as I'd planned on being by Tuesday, plus I've only a limited amount of t-shirts already purchased upon which I can print. I'd need more, which means purchasing them, and then I'd need to flip them and sell them for money but make none of it tangibly because there's still a couple thou left to get myself out of the black.
Everything's heavy right now. Everything's so, so heavy.
Literally, everything is heavy. It's my nap time, and I'm having trouble lifting stuff... my head, this laptop, my hands...
ONE BATH LATER: I'm looking at all the brony and furry conventions within driving distance which take place this year, preferably not during the semester but it's increasingly looking like sinking the cash into getting a booth at BLFC in June is a good investment: the second-most-likely candidate, Crystal Mountain Pony Con, is in Layton Utah this summer, which seems doable, but it's in July at the same time Ryan and I are home for Independence Day/the dentist's, so really it's out. I like the idea of grabbing a booth (if there are any still available) at BLFC, though: it was where Hyena Agenda, another furry t-shirt designer and a pretty major/popular one, launched; it's the third-largest furry convention in the United States and getting bigger so that's greater exposure over any of the littler guys; and there's no need to spend exorbitant hotel fees when you're just an hour or so away from home and the gas money for that is still way cheaper than the going hotel rates these days.
But it'd still cost money to rent a booth and find a ride down there and back up again, not to mention the materials cost like I already said, and I'm still in the black, and my business model of "extra gravy always" does not pay for itself very easily, and I'm still considering paying money to rent I'm thinking the violin place, and have myself a well-situated studio... (but maybe making that money back in rent by renting the space to other students who may need studio or storage space? so maybe that could be my real business for a while, with the printing thing as a hobby... (which it already was anyway, like the whole t-shirt thing isn't even why I'm into printmaking but it is what sells.)) Why is the future so expensive!
First I need to track down this Dennis guy and see if the place is even available...
Oh and also pay spring break's rent.
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