Hmmm so where have I been?

Yes it is me and I just took it the other day.  Also, yes it is filtered.

Well it has been over a month now since I posted anything here.  The simple answer to the title of this piece is right here, why so quiet for this long is complicated.  Early on in May I was depressed, depression turned to anger because of further perpetrated mental abuse, and I found myself once again blocking someone out of my life entirely that I felt I could trust.  From there I have been working on myself & toward the goals I mentioned in my last post.

I have begun acquiring my sound recording gear--had a really high end microphone already, but no pop filter--having a record producer friend has helped on that front as I've been able to explain my sound issues and he's like "Oh you need these two simple things and that all pretty much goes away without a lot of digital filtering."  It's been a long time since I really played with recording anything and then it was on cassette tapes with sound boards cobbled together from Radio Shack and hardware store pieces.  So when one more item is either made or bought--Temu is so cost effective I'll probably just buy it--I can start recording Victim 18 and Love, Lust, & Trust as well as Space Trucker.  The goal is to have Victim 18 ready to roll in every format at once; audio, Kindle, paperback, and hard cover--I've actually hired a proof reader for it.

Costumes/wardrobe for video work is moving along okay.  Mostly they are sitting in a wish-list to be bought in phases (phases equals what my mood says to do at the time) as my budget allows.  Most things are not too special and I'm just as likely to wear them to Walmart as in my videos.  For example the swimsuit pic I posted the other day was something that with the addition of a denim skirt and a sheer swimsuit cover was worn to the laundry mat.

With more time invested in plotting this new path I will probably be working on "Cooking with Maura" more than construction and repair at this time.  Again it could be a month or two before I get things rolling again due to production scheduling, and getting recipes correct before recording them, and I want 12 episodes in the can before they release, plus having them written up for Ordinary-Times so they go out concurrently.  Unless my kids are going to be over I usually only make one bigger meal a week that will cover three or four days so I will also have to cut recipes back to prevent dietary burnout.  That said odd things will take time to work out and get correct before I make them for video.  I may gather the modified foods into a cookbook at some point too.  To that end I'll give you a short list of example food that for me has to be modified either because of my capsaicin allergy or for my diabetes:

Tamales

Kung Pow chicken

Hot Sauce

General So's chicken

Enchiladas

Nacho cheese sauce

Sweet & Sour sauce

Ice-cream

Brownies

So all in all a good jumping in point, with a lot of research involved before I even get going in the kitchen.  I also have to adjust to cooking around the video gear as my kitchen is galley style and not laid out well at all.  (If you have ideas to add to the list please leave a comment below as they will be easier to reference from here than off of twitter.)

Speaking of video gear...the first of my new photo gear came in and will be useful at points with recording in the kitchen as the lighting in there is not very even yet.  One of the panel lights I got will light up my entire dining and living room on it's own, this could be useful during a power outage but wow is it bright!  Yes there will be more photo/video gear to order in but for now I should be good, short of a second camera--although I do still have my previous smart phone that works...

If I can get the combination of views, reviews, and sales, right.  I should be able to invest money back into my projects.  Right now I am completely self funded so as I said on twitter this morning "I'm moving slowly but even a space ship starts off kind of slow."  Once things get moving and revenue shows up I can move to the next step, then the next.

Keep half an eye on the footer of my web page as I have added other social media pages and with the mess twitter is those may be needed soon to keep up with each other.  I'm still found the easiest on twitter but cross post most stuff to seven different platforms regularly and once I get my Discord back online I'll be there as well.  Short videos are now going up on YouTube and some of my bloopers/outtakes may wind up there or elsewhere as well.

So I may be quiet at the moment but only because I'm setting up my hustle ;)

Maura out

MauraAlwyen.com

I'll leave y'all with a quote that I need to focus on more:

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light"

--Aristotle 384-322 BCE