Feeling Down in Diary

This week has been dead on the work front again. Apart from Roxy, I’ve again only had two appointments all week. Except for tomorrow when I’m going to be busy from 9:00am-3:30pm with five different dogs. Why is it all on Friday, why can’t every day be like that?

So I’ve been sitting around the house feeling more and more down as the week goes on and feeling less motivated to do anything. It’s getting really cold now but Jay says I’m only allowed to have a small oil radiator on in the living room as it’s too expensive to have the central heating on all the time, which I agree with. This small heater doesn’t really do much, so I’ve taken to ensconcing myself on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket, reluctant to go anywhere else in the house or outside. I do not function well in the cold and it’s leading to me being highly unproductive. And it’s only going to get worse for the next few months.

All I’ve been doing all week is online advertising/ SEO work. I’ve managed to do enough SEO so that, if someone now searches for “Dog walker” or “pet sitter” and they are in my local area, then my website is the very first one that comes up on the Google maps search. This is great, I was very excited when I discovered this. But it hasn’t led to any more new customers.

Answering surveys and crocheting/ knitting in an attempt to earn a few more pennies.

I’ve applied for two more medical trials but I’m not holding my breath on those as they both probably require me to have two canulas, as with the one I was rejected from, so I won’t be able to do them.

I bit the bullet and asked 63336 if I can go back on their books (internet researchers) but they have enough people working for them at the moment. I’m not surprised, I don’t understand why anyone would pay £2.50 to ask a question over text message when most people have smart phones and can look up anything they want.

I also bit another bullet and emailed the assignment editor from my photo agency asking if they have any work for me. She also said they have enough content at the moment, but I can send them anything I do that they might find interesting. Mmmm, I can’t see this happening.
1) The only way I can get any work in the first place is by using the Wireimage name. I’ve shot One Direction, The Jacksons, Roger Waters, Motorhead, Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber by having Wireimage back me up as an accreditor. I can’t just walk to the front of these gigs on my own and then be able to send them to Wireimage.
2) They retain the copyright of ALL images I send to them. I’m not going to the trouble of trying to sort out my own photo passes only to pass over the exclusive copyright to someone else. It was fine when they were sorting out the passes for me, but doing it myself? I won’t be able to send the photos to anyone else or sell them myself so it would be a complete waste of time.

I signed up with Alamy, a stock image agency, ages ago but I never got around to submitting any test images. I really should get around to doing this. Stock photography sounds easy for many reasons. I maintain the copyright, I can send as many or few images as I like whenever I want, I can choose the subject and it can literally be anything in the world. I really must pull my finger out to try and earn some extra money while the dog walking is staying stale over the winter. I just need to think of some interesting subjects I can shoot.

I had my first shift as a spooky actor on Saturday and I really enjoyed it. Dressing up as a vampire, standing in a dark cave surrounded by free flying bats and scaring everyone that came in. It was goth heaven! When there was no one in, I spent ages watching the bats, they were so cute. The fruit bats were really possessive over their food; one was hanging there hugging an apple peel without eating it, and another one was draping itself over a slice of melon whenever another bat went near it.

Most people enjoyed my scariness, I got lots of screams and laughs. Some people asked me questions, thankfully they were easy like what time does it close, and one boy saw the bats climbing and asked me if they were monkeys…(!) One girl said to me “I’m not scared of you because I know you’re a person.” I said to her “No I’m not, I’m a vampire!” and her MOTHER snorted and said “Yeah right!” Really, woman? I don’t expect YOU to believe I’m a vampire, it’s all just supposed to be a bit of fun!

We have to play a different character each week, though. I really enjoyed standing in the warm cave, but this weekend I might be wandering around the fairground in the cold rain.

It’s my birthday on Sunday so tomorrow night Jay is taking me out for a nice meal and drinks, as is traditional (I return the favour on his birthday). On Sunday we’re going for another meal (cheaper this time, at Chiquitos) and using our free cinema tickets to go and see Dracula Untold.

33 years old. Now I’m hurtling towards my mid-30s and there’s still no talk of weddings or babies. This upsets me greatly, I’m beginning to think they’ll never happen.