Tom Petty was right. The waiting is the hardest part. I have 59 more days to wait until my next picturebook (see above) comes out. I finished the artwork for it a couple of years ago. I finished the writing of it well before that. Sure, I have had little teases of what it'll be like - the proofs look ultra cool. But that's nothing compared to the real deal. Nothing at all.

I hate to wait. Waiting is boredom and anxiousness all wrapped up into a new nasty package - a package that requires opening again and again until the waiting's over. And these days it feels like it's ALL about the waiting. Waiting to see what's going to happen with our economy, our country, my city, neighborhood, family and friends - me.

I know there's a remedy to waiting. In writing, if you're waiting to hear back from an agent or editor about a project, make sure you're working on a new one. And I'm doing that, but a little lackadaisically I admit. This time the waiting feels heavier and the writing's getting bogged down with it. This is a time when I'm glad to have experience on my side. The writing will make its way up and out of the bog - eventually. It always does. But in the meantime - I wait.

So I've been watching TV and Six Feet Under has had my attention for the last few days. Really, when you think about it, it's a perfect choice - enduring waiting by watching episodes of a show that's all about waiting for the ultimate end - death. And here's the best part - I'm watching this one scene where a little girl's just had surgery and her uncle's waited all night at her bedside until she wakes up. He leaves her and goes out into the hospital corridor and finds his friend asleep in a chair. And on the walls of this corridor is my artwork - one big poster opposite of him and three more above his head.

My artwork - on Six Feet Under - surrounding a character that's.....

waiting.