Ryan Spires

Halfway through November and a fine time to assess the 50,000 word goal proposed by NaNoWriMo enthusiasts. My own battle is a mixed result. Thus far, I have written every day in November. I typically don't clock in on evenings and weekends, and the extra work has piled on the words. However, I'm more on pace for a 30k finish. In order to hit 50k, I would need to write more on the weekends and thus far, I haven't been inspired to whittle away the weekend hours with writing. That's fine. I can find satisfaction in working harder than usual and hitting 30k. One of the cool things is I know a first-time NaNo participant that is using the structure to finally commit to writing a story that has been existing only in her head now for some time. The premise is fascinating and I for one am looking forward to reading it. That's the best part about a public event like this and sharing it with others. It can open doors and encourage a person to embark down a creative path t...

Our condo is relatively small, but 12.5 foot ceilings produce a considerable amount of wall space. We've lived here for nine years, and have slowly started decorating the walls. In part, the reluctance was birthed from the daunting task of finding art to scale the seemingly endless drywall. Rachael broached the idea of using coffee bean bags as frame-worthy art. Though I like the idea of using things not intended as purely visual art, as art, I was a bit skeptical. She collected a handful of bags over the years. Here are a couple of them for reference: The burlap wonders are roughly 18" X 30". We narrowed the seven down to five, cut them, and loaded them into some ordinary black frames. You can sort of tell that from this horrible picture: Next up, climbing up and down a ladder to hang them perfectly level over our kitchen cabinets, while attempting to maintain my fragile patience. Wish me luck. How about you? Any recent art projects?