I was recently asked to judge a "Paint a Puppy" Contest, an event that was part of my town's Old Home Days. It is a fun event, sponsored by Rotary, and includes free cake and ice cream for all the residents who come to see the paintings.

For many years now, I have written out my goals for the new year. I don't refer to them as 'resolutions', I refer to them as goals since they are actually chores or activities or accomplishments I definitely want to do. My list is long; it seems to grow longer each year! But it is full of all the wonderful things I still want to do in my life. Of course, a lot of them revolve around writing and still a few around painting. And then there is the 'self-improvement' category and also the house-projects, etc.

It seems that resolutions are made to be broken. It is almost a standing joke with people and many will talk about resolutions that they made at the beginning of the year but by February they are long forgotten and now they can laugh about it. Of course, this is when there is a surge of sales where people buy treadmills and other workout machines that soon become a place where they throw their clothes when getting ready for bed.

Although the internet, particularly Facebook, can be a huge time suck, I do sometimes find something worthwhile and educational. And that is the case when, while looking at Pomeranian puppies on a Facebook page, I came across an artist whose work, which looked like either pen and ink or graphite drawings, was extremely photorealistic and very well done.

As of Friday, August 25, I am no longer in the Lakes Region Art Association Gallery. This was a decision I made based on changes I see coming in my life. Jim and I recently signed up with an online marketing guru to help promote and sell my books. Since I have five books (well, one is waiting in the wings) and mostly only my friends and relatives know about them, I thought it was time I put more energy into getting them on the internet where you can literally reach the world.

One of my regular places to paint now is at the LRAA Gallery in Tilton, NH when I am gallery sitting. I certainly make good use of my time there, particularly if it is a slow day. Sometimes it is quite busy and I never get to my painting - since the goal is to sell the artwork at the gallery, I certainly prefer having customers to painting.