Artemis Sere’s Weekly Thirteen (Week14, 2013)

1. “I wish them all the luck that accompanies such malevolence.” (Carrey)

2. Did a Facebook promotion for my Art of Artemis Sere Facebook page over March 2013. Netted around 60,000 impressions and 30 new page Likes for the effort. Since the Campaign has closed, I’ve lost 70% of the Like count gained, almost nullifying the effort. As an active Secular Humanist, I suppose I sometimes have challenging content. But the net value is disappointing as I’m also trying to promote a global artistic brand. The tough part of social media for an artist is sowing the planted seeds, maintaining the myriads of personalities and presences across the digiscape while also spending as much available time as possible on production. The greats spent little time on self promotion, the majority of their time on their craft, which ultimately drew the attention of fans of their work. Given the slate of projects I have, my judgment is canvas and pixel, regardless of how much I’d love to be social, grow a circle, find a steady love, relax.

The Artemis Contact currently won’t allow thus.

3. “To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try.” (Ebert)  Rest in peace, Roger Ebert. You and Siskel informed much of my film passion when I was younger. Immortality comes from being remembered, and your influence on the Entertainment industry will not be soon forgotten.

4. Seeing both Aziz Ansari and Modestep this week. Bought tickets for Limp Bizkit and DJ Shadow. Missing Exodus and Anthrax tonight, though it’s been a long time since I was an Exodus fan, and lately I’ve realized that I am more of a John-Bush-era Anthrax fan, than I am Joey Belladonna (who I grew up with as the lead singer for Anthrax). Evidence that my musical tastes have changed, I migrate toward the grittier, edgier vocals, as opposed to the high-soaring pitches of the 80s big-hair greats. It seems like my personal tastes continue to evolve, but regardless of the changes, the edge is still prominent. 8)

5. Could really use a vacation. Last year, I made it a personal goal to have a “Getaway Vacation” (ie. romantic) with someone special. It’s April, and I don’t see that happening in the near future. I suspect it’s a goal that I’m gonna have to move to 2014. I just can’t seem to get that part of my life on track, no matter how hard I try. But I’m not going to wallow in the disappointment of relationship failures. I spent too many years on that kind of frustration, and I’ve wasted far too much time. I hark back to the wisdom of “It’ll happen when the time is right”.

6. Accidentally dropped my Samsung Galaxy S2 in the toilet this morning while I was getting ready for work. Lesson learned: Don’t try to perform tasks that require cat-like dexterity within minutes of waking up. It was a regrettable accident that probably cost me $500.

7. Learned last week that I’m getting sued by the person whose car I collided with in February. Her account of the accident is strangely off, stating that there was a cop car parked behind her vehicle. I’m not sure how I could’ve hit the back of this person’s car if there was a cop car parked behind it. Further, as I have insurance, I’m a bit confused why I’m being sued for an accident. All around, a strange scenario.

8. Black Coffee Commitment, as well as other focused health initiatives, including getting myself back to the gym on a regular basis, have helped me lose 10 lbs since January. By staying hungry, instead of living full, I am back on track to feeling better. I still have a long way to go. Now that the weather is turning back to awesome, I hope to start running on a regular basis, and will focus more time on closing the gap of another 10 lbs.

9. Painted 10 pictures this week, with skill that looks to be evolving. Really impressed myself with my abstract creations in my last session. Channeling visual chaos has been exciting, and I look forward to Lake Art this Spring and Summer.

10. Kicking off a human subject photography project this week called “The Behelders”. Over the next 6 months, I will engage in a creative photo shoot with 40 individuals of various ages, ethnicities and genders. The objectives are to expand my own human subject photography experience, offer friends and family professional shots for their own use, and to influence my “Beheld by Hell” project, possibly find the model that I would like to use/hire for the central character of Persephone.  If you’re in the Twin Cities area, and are interested in being a participant in the Project, contact me over Facebook (Artemis Sere).

11.  Klout Score: 66. Instagram finally integrated as part of the Klout Score, even though my Instagram channel dominates the Artemis Sere search in Google. I received an 8-point bump from the Instagram social signals, and Instagram is fast becoming my most influential network. I have more friends and followers on Instagram than I do on either Facebook or Twitter.

12. Finished my first blog on the S.E.R.E. acronym, “Sentient“. Still have “Evident”, “Resident” and “Evolutionist” left to do. Someday soon.

13. RIP Genelle Bentley, mother of my friend and creative partner, Terry Bentley.