Color my world

A couple months ago I saw a facebook post from an artist named Brenden Sanborn, along with a sample of his work.  I followed the link to his website and started falling in love.

To me, there is something so soothing and relaxing about watercolors.  But then to find that this gay artist creates watercolors of men and male couples just pushed me over the edge.  The signed prints were so reasonably priced I had to order a few!

They arrived before Christmas (with a hand-written note from the artist, thanking me for supporting his art) so I thought I might frame them and give them to Spouse as a Christmas gift, even though we don't really exchange gifts with each other anymore.  This would have been more of a gift for both of us.  But I wasn't able to decide what kind of frame I wanted, nor had I settled on exactly where these were going to hang, so I postponed the frame purchase.  Every week or so I would check the frame selection at HomeGoods but nothing really made me pull the trigger until this week.

I found these weathered-looking painted wood frames at HomeGoods for $9.99 each and I knew right then and there that they were what I wanted.  I brought them home and yesterday I inserted my signed prints and hung them in our bathroom.  

These are hung above our bath towel bars.  (Click the photo to enlarge.)

Left: "Timeless Love"  Right: "One Last Summer Swim"

I especially love the one of the guys on the beach since going to the beach is a big element of mine and Spouse's life.

These are also hung in our bathroom but these are in the water closet.  (Click the photo to enlarge.)

Left: "Let Me Be Your Shelter"  Right: "A Night In Paris"

The one on the right is especially apropos since Spouse took me to Paris for my 50th birthday.  

I really like all of his watercolors, and it makes me feel good to support an artist who makes a living from creating art.  When Spouse came home from work and saw them on the wall he was very pleasantly surprised.  He confessed that he wasn't as fond of them the 1st time he saw them (unframed, in plastic), but he said he really thought they looked great in the frames I selected.  

Check out his work and see if you don't find yourself ordering some!

While in Richmond

The dinner on Tues evening with my boss' new boss and 2 of my colleagues went rather well. Fortunately we were not asked those annoying questions like "What motivates you?" and "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" However, we were given fair warning that we would be asked at some point about our "aspiration". Good lord...

My boss' new boss told us a bit about himself, his family, and his professional life since we'd never met him before. He made quick work of letting us know how he 'operates', which is a good thing, because even if you don't like how he 'operates', at least its not a secret. After the dinner I wasn't able to meet up with Kelly, as he'd gotten home late from work and was having trouble with a leaking dishwasher. But we'll have another opportunity to meet up next month when I return to Richmond.

Wed afternoon my 2 colleagues and I met with our boss' new boss and talked about some of his ideas for changing our structure, duties, and compensation. It was kind of a lot to take in at once so I didn't have a lot of questions for him when he asked 'what we wanted to know'. Just as I expected, as a new boss he wants to come in and change things because his ideas are obviously better than those of the people who set things up to begin with. We were told that if we thought he was off-base we should say so, but who wants to risk that with someone 2 levels above you that you've just met? Looks like I will be getting more clients to manage and more pressure to make or exceed sales goals. I'm not exactly "happy" about that since my position has never been about making or exceeding sales goals, being that I am not a sales person. But as is with most corporate situations, I see my choices are to complain, adapt or leave. Complaining rarely works out well in the long run and leaving is not an option in this economy, so it looks like I'm going with 'adapt'.

Something amusing (at least to me) happened during my visit to headquarters in Richmond. Apparently some ingredient in the sandwich I'd eaten for lunch didn't quite agree with me. After the last presentation I was hoping for a bathroom break before we discussed anything else, but that didn't happen. So there I am, sitting in this conference room with my 2 colleagues, my boss' new boss, the CEO and the CFO of the company, and 2 other upper management folks, and my stomach starts churning. Hard. No one could hear it, but I sure could feel it.

After several more minutes I became afraid that I may be in danger of exploding in my pants if I didn't get some relief. I wanted to whisper to my boss' new boss that I needed to use the restroom and would be right back, but it was at that point that the CEO was enlightening us with his wealth of knowledge. I really, REALLY didn't think it wise to walk out of the room while the CEO was talking, so I clenched my cheeks and prayed to the sweet baby Jesus in heaven above to help me hang on. Finally, the meeting ended and I made a bee-line to the nearest restroom.

So I'm in the stall having accomplished the urgent purpose for being there, but wasn't quite sure if I was finished or not, so I sat quietly and waited for internal confirmation. Then I hear the restroom door open, a man take a leak in the urinal, wash his hands, and then as he leaves the bathroom, he switches off the light! Presumably he didn't know I was in the stall so he turned out the light to save electricity, leaving me in pitch black! I was able to find the toilet paper in the dark, since it is strategically placed on the wall next to where I was sitting.

Once I'd gotten my pants up I exited the stall and turned the light back on, but before I could make it back into the stall to adjust my clothes, someone else walked in. So there I was, standing in the middle of the bathroom with my belt undone and shirt tail hanging out. Awkward! I couldn't think of anything witty to say so I said nothing. I just tucked in my shirt, fastened my belt, and washed my hands while the guy took a leak.

Crush du Jour: Lucas Gil