After Rites

The day after the birthday party. Every year I forget, and then on April 6th I remember. 2 days before my son's birthday I start getting flashbacks. My son spent his first 3 days unconscious, with my partner (barely able to walk after the caesarean) and myself spending hours sitting by his hospital cot, willing him to wake up … before being forced away from his cotside by the practical imperatives of life.
For many families, this would be a time at which everyone would pitch in. My partner's cousin was a terrific source of support, but apart from her, the phones remained silent.
You see, we both come from military families, where the over-riding attitude is "deal with it yourself". So we did.
Today, as the flashbacks subside, I had planned a day on site with a customer. This was to have provided my week's income, but a mis-communication with my partner means that she needs the van today to return the participants of the party sleepover to their homes. I'm stuck in Oxford, with the customer in Banbury.
It's one advantage of self-employment, that one can cancel a day's work whenever it suits (as long as the customer isn't too pissed off). The disadvantage is that the days off are unpaid, and the work still has to be done … in this case I'll be squeezing it in next week.
Now I've spent half the entry explaining why I've got time to make an entry. Let's get to some substance:
Jan, my Wolfson contact, needed 15 more private view invites. 2 hours to get to the printer, and then deliver 15 invites – time I didn't want to waste.
"Will a pdf version by email be any use?".
Yes, all the remaining invitees are on email (it's amazing how many people still aren't), so a pdf attachment was acceptable.
I've finished my artist's statement, and the documentation of process … still kicking myself that I photographed my last event without film in the camera. Time to go digital, but the cost of a digital SLR (even second hand), with all the required lenses, still seems daunting.
I'm considering spending my spare time over the next 17 days working on a performance for the Private View, something I used to do as a matter of course. I'd like to do a digitial music improvisation, but have just found that my new computer's sound card has no midi interface. I can't believe it took me a whole year to realise this! I used to tinker with midi every week. More outlay, but this is essential, I just can't do serious music without midi.
There should be time to get back into keyboard practice. But I now have a huge gash on the back of my left hand, and a swollen index finger, from a bow-saw blade while cutting wood for the campfire for my son's party. Circumstances are stacking up against me … but that's OK, I'll deal with it.