The 2010 20K: Day 15 - Sometimes the Odds are Against You

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Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.doc (29 KB)

http://www.geist.com/contest/6th-annual-geist-literal-literary-postcard-story-contest

Oy, what a day. So I tried to enter this contest which needed to have its entries postmarked today, key word being TRIED. Let me tell you alllll about it.

So yesterday, I bought a postcard to enter this contest over at Midoco - which is likely my favourite art store in the city. (You'll often find me there fawning over their Copic Markers - some of the most coveted and overpriced art supplies known to humankind.) It's pretty cool - it's one of C.M. Coolidge's pieces where he painted dogs doing human things (you know the most famous one where they're all playing cards) - this one in particular is called The Reunion:

Source: http://ibdennis.com/reunion.html

So, awesome. I ended up writing a story on it, called "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", which you'll find attached to this post. Here's what my schedule today looked like:

• 9:30 - 6:15 work
• 6:15 - 6:55 travel to Sarah's, which took 20 minutes more than usual due to delays and our ever-reliable TTC subway system with which Toronto is graced [/sarcasm]
• 6:55 - 8:15 work on developing "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", pretty much from scratch - I only had the concept of what I wanted the story to be about, and then I just started writing from there
• 8:15: head out to go find the nearest post office - the one around the corner had closed up shop some weeks ago; so the next closest one according to the Canada Post website was a Shoppers Drug Mart by Pape subway station
• 8:35: arrive at the Shoppers only to realize that they NO LONGER HAVE A POST OFFICE. Talk to the guys at the store to find out where the closest post office is, confirming on my BlackBerry...
• 8:45: After a bit of a walk, arrive at Postables, only to find that it closed at 7 pm
• 8:46: Call Sarah to let her know I'll be going to the Shoppers near Spadina station, as I distinctly recall it closing at 10 pm back when she lived close to there - she offers to look it up to make sure
• 8:47: Realize that my stupid BlackBerry needs a new battery as it doesn't seem to be able to hold a charge and died mid-conversation (I'd charged it up at work)
• 9:02: Arrive at the Shoppers near Spadina, only to find out that it closed at 9

So, to my chagrin, the story was never sent. My chances at a $250 prize shot! But perhaps this is divine intervention - God telling me not to spend the $20 entry fee unless I'm damn sure that I'm sending my top quality stuff in. Oh well, at least it made for a good story. So here I sit, listening to Shalamar, typing this up in order to vent and get it out of my system. Canada Post and I need to have some WORDS. This isn't the first time they've led me astray!!!

Anyway, this weekend will be filled with sketching, working on updating my resume and portfolio, and just figuring out what opportunities lay before me. I've far from forgotten that the Threadless 2K10 challenge's deadline is around the corner, and that I need to get something on paper - IMMEDIATELY!

Hope the rest of y'all have had a far more restful evening than I have.

The 2010 20K Running Total = $62.20
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And that's about it! Please let me know what you think of the short story :)

T-t-t-that's all, folks!!!

--case p.

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