My Beautiful Stranger

Well, it's happened. I've sold myself.

I am now making a small amount of money off my fractals. I'm not talking about a salary here, though. Until my portfolio grows with more images, I'll only make a little bit. Maybe I can buy myself a CD every month. No, not the Certificate of Deposit CD. I mean a music CD. :) A fellow fractal artist is currently making $150 a month and she's been doing it for about two years. It starts off slow and easy, so it might take me a while to even see my first $50. To begin with, you have to submit ten images of "stock photography" to the website. They have someone review them and they can either get accepted or rejected. I've been told that usually everyone has some of their images rejected. You have to get the first ten in to be a seller. I was surprised that all ten of my images were accepted from the very beginning! OK, well, maybe I wasn't surprised. I have to admit that I feel a sense of pride about my art. I can allow myself this, though, because I don't feel pride about anything else.

On another note.... My dad called and made plans with my husband to go out tomorrow night "for a beer". I'm a little worried, because neither my dad nor my husband drink. Secondly, the last time they went out "for a beer", was the day my husband called my dad eleven years ago to confess he was dating his daughter. He did this without telling me. I was wanting to hide it from my dad, in fear that he would be upset that I was with a man 32 years older than me. But that's beside the point. The point is, my dad is planning this rare event with my husband, PLUS my dad has been having health problems that I am very concerned about. Sometimes my dad tells my husband things and then tells him not to tell me because he's worried that I'll get worried or upset, even things that are related to his health. So I'm hoping and wishing that he doesn't have something very wrong with him to confide with in my husband. It would kill me if something serious was wrong with my dad. I was in tears the other day just imagining all sorts of things about what it would be like without him or my husband. I just don't want to see my dad in discomfort. I can hardly bear seeing him walk these days. In the past few years he's developed a horrible limp because he's having problems with his foot, despite several surgeries. He refuses to use a cane. Sometimes it looks like he's going to trip, and when I'm with him I catch myself grabbing his arm to steady him. He's only 58 years old.

No more sad stuff.

My beautiful stranger, where did you go?