I just hope it's the right kind of storm.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024;
all rights reserved.

Ready for climbing the stairway to heaven? That was this morning, when there was still sun sun behind the cloud cover. Now, it's a much darker, heavier, lower gray, and the winds are here. Supposedly, a storm is coming.

We'll see. I just hope it's the right kind of storm. Because lately? It's all the wrong ones, the deadly ones.

Two deaths in different circles of our broader communities yesterday. Lots of illness [of course, we all know why that is]. And today is the ninth anniversary of my mother's death. It's not a good reminder. This is a hard day in a hard week in a hard month in a hard year, and it's showing no signs of letting up. 

In the meantime, everything else has to get done, and all the expenses have to get covered. I've spent hours every night lately on tax shit, hours writing [my brain works better if I write everything by hand, then transfer it to computer files, because it's another opportunity to check for errors as I go], and my hands are killing me. But I'm determined to get the taxes done by the end of the weekend, so that we can take them in the first of the week. That's going to be a nightmare expense, since we could never build up enough of a cushion to prepay last year. And for those wondering (when they're deducted from your paycheck because you work for someone else, people don't have a good feel for how much it actually IS, and since we we work for ourselves and don't get paychecks, deductions or no, we don't have that luxury), for our little Native-owned small business? About 33%, straight off the top, ameliorated only by whatever deductions we can manage. On years when can't afford to invest much in equipment and supplies, that's not a lot. So I need to bring in enough to cover that at one go, this year, and that means this week and potentially next for four figures' worth [yes, we have some of it, but not all of it].  If you're in the market for Wings's work? Now's a really, REALLY good time. I'm the new earrings up last night, and both bolos will follow by tonight; if I could sell all three, that would probably be 75% of what I think we'll still need. 

In the meantime, I'm losing my mind; we gave away [for us] so much money last year, because there were so many, many people needing help just to make it on the barest terms. none of that is tax-deductible, but it's all cash out of pocket. And yes, I'd do it again. I'm more interested in our communities surviving than I am in this tax bullshit. Because see the bit about illness and deaths up above, and realize that nobody's coming to help our communities, so we all have to step up when it's required of us. But I have to make that up now o the tax front, and WE NEED SALES TO DO IT.

Next thing after that is replacing my dying laptop. I'm babying it along right now, but I have no idea how long that will last. The climatic conditions here and the pace I keep are punishing for laptops, especially the sheer volume of imagery I work with daily. The one that I want to get to replace it is Mac's newest top of the line, which should be able to withstand this kind of work for several years. Of course, it's $4K, and until I bring that in in sales, nothing's changing. But I now know we're getting very close to the point at which I won't have a choice, either, because this is clearly not going to last much longer. The wheelchair has to wait. If I can't do my work, there's no income.

So go look; there's phenomenal work on the site, both new and less so. Even with the sales from last weekend, there's still A LOT of incredible work available, and very soon I'll have two new pairs of earrings (one with stones; one all silver), two bolos (one large, one small), and four apparently five? Warrior Woman pins posted, probably by Sunday or so for most, if not all. And as always, all the regular links are listed below, with sales, as always, being the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here ( we'll always need the liquid soaps that I can't get here, the dog treats for the monsters, and Amazon and Lowe's cards [the Lowe's cards are probably going to have to go on a new fridge, so I'm hoarding them]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim 2023, we really need to get this year moving onto a better footing, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.