Tasks accomplished

It's been a week for dealing with "stuff".  On the work-front I worked diligently on the paper we've been invited to submitted to Creativity Innovation Management.  Ulla and I had a long Skype on Wednesday to discuss our approach, and since then I have been dealing with stuff like linguistic editing, checking references and formatting the paper according to the unique style required by this journal.  By week's end I've completed what I needed to do, and am ready for our next author conference on Monday.

I also took time to review instructions for our upcoming Botswana safari, and realised, to my horror, that the (expensive) rainwear we purchased (and wore two times) for the Galapagos/Machu Picchu trip this time last year would not do -- it's too brightly colored!   On-line sources were of no help, and Target did not have any rainjackets for either men or women.  Lands End at Sears in the Waterford Crystal Mall came to the rescue with suitably subdued "water resistant" jackets - on sale! I hope this was our last clothing "surprise".  From my reading I also gathered that we are unlikely to have opportunities to charge our camera batteries while in Botswana, and that commerically-available solar device charges would not answer the need.  So, having bought one spare battery, I'm putting myself through a crash course (using on-line information) in photo composition, so I make every click of the shutter a prize-winning shot, rather than snapping half a dozen shots in the hopes of getting one good one.  More work is definitely needed here.

I haven't forgotten my drawing.  After my last tree attempt I decided I needed more practice shading basic shapes, and remembered early compositions from my drawing class last Spring. I gathered together a bottle/cylinder, schnapps glass/cone, and sphere/tennis ball.

But when I used my online drawing instructions, I discovered that I needed more basic work in shading technique, and this required considerable time and concentration. Here's what I accomplished.  I'll try the "still life" tomorrow.