Most recent update
So its been a rough summer so far. At the end of the semester I was sitting at a stop light and a woman who wasn't watching where she was going ran into me, totaled my car and then told her insurance company that I ran a red light so they're refusing to pay. I have to take her to court now. I wrote a demand letter, which is the first step of the legal process and I have to send it registered mail this afternoon. Then I have to get a court date and file a subpoena for the police officer who arrived at the scene of the accident.

My Mom had been having problems breathing and chest pains so she ended up having to have open heart surgery. She got out, was beginning to recuperate but is unfortunately back in the hospital again, I'm scraping along barely existing at this point, its hard enough trying to handle all this crap of just being financially insolvent with no car but tack on the added responsibilities of dealing with my Moms crap and it gets really challenging. A lot of my time has actually been spent at the hospital visiting with my Mom, just trying to make sure she keeps her spirit up, or actually at her house cleaning it and trying to get it ready for her to come home to. She's a hoarder and has saved so much crap you can barely get around in her house if you're in good condition, for the condition she is in its practically paralytic. Courtney, my old roommate turned me on to this TV show called Hoarders and watching it has really helped me understand the behavior a lot more. I also began to understand a lot of those same impulses in myself as well. My brother Daniel and I have been going to her house about twice a week for the last month and we've almost got her bedroom emptied out. She has a fairly large house and unfortunately there are other rooms in the house more packed then her bedroom is. I took some pictures of it when we first started cleaning in case she tries to have us arrested or something we can show the images to the authorities if she attempts to have us arrested or anything. The TV show depicts people that are far worse then she is in my opinion, you don't have to literally climb over stuff to get around in the house for example but it is dirty and filthy and horribly cramped for a house that size.

Every once in a while I have an opportunity to make a little bit of cash but for the most part not having a vehicle really makes things difficult in a city the size of Houston. We do have a public transportation system but its barely adequate to get anywhere and whoafully inadequate for getting anywhere on time, unless you leave three hours before your intended arrival time of course. Unfortunately I burned out my flash at one point and had to replace it, that was $400 I wasn't prepared to spend on equipment. I need a new camera and my next one really needs to be a full frame dslr and unfortunately the cheapest full frame that Nikon makes is almost $3,000. I have been shorted on payment by two different clients for a total of about $400 and I still owe my old room mates $2000 in back rent, I have every intention of paying them back but I really get the idea that my clients don't have the same good intentions I do. I did learn a valuable lesson though, don't release the images from a shoot until after you've been paid. Because I made the mistake of trying to start my own business I am no longer qualified for unemployment, not because you can't collect it if you do but because the clients that screwed me out of payment didn't give me an address. This goes back to February btw.

On the bright side I've been doing driving for a mechanics shop named Kacel's (Kah-Cell's) and that's put a little bit of money into my hands and basically allowed me to keep from having to go to go to a sell blood plasma for money. I've already sold off a lot of my stuff, but I've still got more stuff I can get rid of, its just a matter of getting to it in order to do so. Its in a storage warehouse on the other side of town my Mom has.

In other positive revelations, I've begun to develop a bit of a following in order to get photo/design clients. Its not huge and doesn't provide anything in comparison to a livable income at the moment but I'm on my way to building an actual client base and going to school for photography has taught me things about it that I didn't even consider before.

All in all I can say that the adversity I've dealt with over the course of the last year has chiseled things out of me I didn't really expect to be there. In another years time I hope to be in a much better position then I am in currently.

Wish me luck

Most recent update
So its been a rough summer so far. At the end of the semester I was sitting at a stop light and a woman who wasn't watching where she was going ran into me, totaled my car and then told her insurance company that I ran a red light so they're refusing to pay. I have to take her to court now. I wrote a demand letter, which is the first step of the legal process and I have to send it registered mail this afternoon. Then I have to get a court date and file a subpoena for the police officer who arrived at the scene of the accident.

My Mom had been having problems breathing and chest pains so she ended up having to have open heart surgery. She got out, was beginning to recuperate but is unfortunately back in the hospital again, I'm scraping along barely existing at this point, its hard enough trying to handle all this crap of just being financially insolvent with no car but tack on the added responsibilities of dealing with my Moms crap and it gets really challenging. A lot of my time has actually been spent at the hospital visiting with my Mom, just trying to make sure she keeps her spirit up, or actually at her house cleaning it and trying to get it ready for her to come home to. She's a hoarder and has saved so much crap you can barely get around in her house if you're in good condition, for the condition she is in its practically paralytic. Courtney, my old roommate turned me on to this TV show called Hoarders and watching it has really helped me understand the behavior a lot more. I also began to understand a lot of those same impulses in myself as well. My brother Daniel and I have been going to her house about twice a week for the last month and we've almost got her bedroom emptied out. She has a fairly large house and unfortunately there are other rooms in the house more packed then her bedroom is. I took some pictures of it when we first started cleaning in case she tries to have us arrested or something we can show the images to the authorities if she attempts to have us arrested or anything. The TV show depicts people that are far worse then she is in my opinion, you don't have to literally climb over stuff to get around in the house for example but it is dirty and filthy and horribly cramped for a house that size.

Every once in a while I have an opportunity to make a little bit of cash but for the most part not having a vehicle really makes things difficult in a city the size of Houston. We do have a public transportation system but its barely adequate to get anywhere and whoafully inadequate for getting anywhere on time, unless you leave three hours before your intended arrival time of course. Unfortunately I burned out my flash at one point and had to replace it, that was $400 I wasn't prepared to spend on equipment. I need a new camera and my next one really needs to be a full frame dslr and unfortunately the cheapest full frame that Nikon makes is almost $3,000. I have been shorted on payment by two different clients for a total of about $400 and I still owe my old room mates $2000 in back rent, I have every intention of paying them back but I really get the idea that my clients don't have the same good intentions I do. I did learn a valuable lesson though, don't release the images from a shoot until after you've been paid. Because I made the mistake of trying to start my own business I am no longer qualified for unemployment, not because you can't collect it if you do but because the clients that screwed me out of payment didn't give me an address. This goes back to February btw.

On the bright side I've been doing driving for a mechanics shop named Kacel's (Kah-Cell's) and that's put a little bit of money into my hands and basically allowed me to keep from having to go to go to a sell blood plasma for money. I've already sold off a lot of my stuff, but I've still got more stuff I can get rid of, its just a matter of getting to it in order to do so. Its in a storage warehouse on the other side of town my Mom has.

In other positive revelations, I've begun to develop a bit of a following in order to get photo/design clients. Its not huge and doesn't provide anything in comparison to a livable income at the moment but I'm on my way to building an actual client base and going to school for photography has taught me things about it that I didn't even consider before.

All in all I can say that the adversity I've dealt with over the course of the last year has chiseled things out of me I didn't really expect to be there. In another years time I hope to be in a much better position then I am in currently.

Wish me luck