Indulge me. I have things to grumble about.

Grumble Number One: Jon & Kate Plus 8. GO AWAY ALREADY. Jon, grow a spine, Kate, shut the fuck up. You're an attention whore, and while I'm not for anyone smacking anyone around, you need smacked. If Jon screwed around on you, no wonder. You're a nasty, nasty woman. You've made yourself into a media sensation, and now you hate it. Too bad. This quit being about your kids a long time ago. This is all about YOU and your quest for stardom. Karma's a bitch. I'm not alone in my judging of you, some of America is judging you. And apparently a fair number of them aren't quite happy with what they see. GO AWAY.

Grumble Number Two: Art. There's an art festival in The Big City this weekend. Artists from all over the country are here, displaying their wares. Art shows are a pain in the ass. There's a lot of hard work that goes into them, set up at the crack of dawn, sit for days smiling and talking to half interested people about your passion, listening to comments about whats good or bad about your work, watching people gasp at your prices, or hear the inevitable, "Oh I can do that!"

It's not easy. And to be successful, you have to get out there and do it. So our local newspaper, a sponsor of the art festival no less, ran a story in Sunday's paper about a local artist and her struggles with her art. She's edgy, she's not mainstream, and she makes very interesting, statement pieces. The article could have played up all this in a positive light. But no, the article had her speaking how she had recently been to a show in NYC, and how for the $50 admission, as was fed 'Crap' instead of a real meal. The jist of that was the fact that Central PA is actually a very art-friendly place. But the article comes across very negatively. The article touched on how the economy is hurting her as well, but again, that was lost (to me) in the negativity.

Back to the artists at the Art Festival, two of the three news channels and two local papers wrote about how the economy is affecting artists. They interviewed several who spoke at length about how they're hurting because of the economy. People simply don't have the disposable income to buy a $400 'architectural ring', no matter how beautiful it is. But they will buy the smaller priced items. So why does the media obsess on the "OH MY GOD NOBODY IS BUYING", but not saying "OH MY GOD NOBODY IS BUYING EXPENSIVE STUFF but boy are the shopping the hell out of the lower cost items"

I had the biggest show of my life last weekend. No kidding. Nothing on my booth is higher than $75. I keep my prices reasonable, because if I don't sell it, I don't get any money. The Beadwhisperer is supposed to be a money making operation. If I mark my stuff according to the 'wisdom' of the 'experts' online, I'd be hauling the same stuff around show after show after show. Being able to say I sold one bracelet for $25 does not seem as good (to me) as being able to say I sold eight of my bracelets for $18 each. So maybe making some less expensive things to sell isn't such a bad idea.
Again, it's my opinion. It's none of my business who sells what for how much, all I need to do is make and sell MY items, not anyone elses.

That's it for ranting. Thank you to all our veterans, and thank you to those who have given their all so we can be free. Thank you. I'm humbled and honored to know soldiers and sailors. Take time out from your picnics, races, cocktails, yard work today, and think of how and why we are able to do whatever we do here in America. Thank a veteran today.