tubaart

I'm putting studio-cam on now -- anyone who wants to watch me work can add me on Yahoo Messenger (artsmithphotography), and view my webcam.

12:30 AM (Central) - done for the night. I'll try to remember to turn it on more while I'm here and doing stuff, though.

Well, at long last, it's done. I signed the lease on my commercial space about an hour ago. ArtSmith Photography (and Su Casa Studio) will be located at 504 E. Broadway, Columbia, MO 65201. I should havve the key tomorrow!

Now I get to stat a whole new phase of hurry up and wait. This time, though, I'll have more people to wait on (architect,...
Read More

Wow. I'm about to turn in my letter of resignation. 17 years (almost) I've been working here at the MU Vet School. That's a long long time. And at the end of this month, it'll be over. No more regular paycheck -- instead I'll have to earn $42k/year just to pay the rent on the commercial space.

It's exciting. It's terrifying. It's sad. I'm feeling...
Read More

Things are getting closer! We have a lease from their lawyer now, and it doesn't have any huge surprises in it. It's not quite where we want it, but it's darn close. At this point we have just a little negotiation to do, a few hoops to jump through (insurance (in process) and documenting the changes needed (a little tough until I get in there...
Read More

Grrrr!

I hate dealing with adversarial relationships. After orally agreeing on the lease terms, the landlord now comes back with a counter proposal? WTF? That's bullshit! Nothing is a deal-breaker, but it's just fucking irritating. We told them we're done negotiating on proposals. Draw up an actual lease document and we'll negotiate from that. Everything from here on out is going to be in the...
Read More

Wowee!!

It looks like I'm going to get the space I wanted for the studio!!! At less than we hoped for, too. They basically accepted our low-ball proposal with just a token counter (raising the rent in the optional second 5 year lease renewal)!! Unbelievable. I'll be paying about $7/sq. ft./year for PRIME downtown space. They're putting in the air conditioning we asked for --...
Read More

I keep hoping I'm going to have BIG NEWS to report here, so I've been putting off updating....but so far I'm still waiting. So I just decided I'd update anyway and maybe that'll bring the news!

I've got a lease proposal out on commercial space for the studio, and just waiting to hear the response back from the property owner. Hopefully in a week or...
Read More

Gah! Why can't life be simple?

Good enough is good enough, things don't have to be perfect. Why is that so hard for some folks to understand? Why do I have to feel bad about a good choicce that's maybe not the best choice? At what point am I allowed to say " yes, I could do better, but this is what I'm doing"?

I...
Read More

Holy fucking mother of god!

Things may be moving faster than I could have thought imaginable on the photogaphy front. It seems that a local and really excellent portrait photographer (senior pictures, weddings, etc.) has decided after 20 years that it's just not fun any more and he's looking to get out of the business. He's got a 4,000 sq. ft. studio (2 big shooting...
Read More

Things are continuing to move forward for the photography business. It's slower than I'd like, but at least it's still moving forward. I'm busy folding brochures at this point -- I'll be sending out 1,000 of these suckers, and each one needs four VERY precise folds, so it's taking a lot longer than I'd like (all told, it'll probably be like 20 hours of folding...
Read More