AFTA Con Update and On Speaking Too Soon

The AFTA Conference in Milwaukee was delightful. Highlights: art education peer group session where I got to meet many fine folks from the region (Milwaukee and the surrounding area is one of my targeted cities to move to when/if I decide to depart my wooded holler in summer 2007); and visiting Madison, which I believe is my version of heaven on earth. Old World Wisconsin was also a hoot. I bought WAY TOO MANY books re: arts management and education, and was able to spend a good part of Tuesday in the Milwaukee Art Museum (http://www.mam.org/) which has the terrific Calatrava addition, and the temporary exhibition was Masters of American Comics. Getting to see the works of Will Eisner, R. Crumb, and Chris Ware in person, viewing the originals (I'm into pencil marks) was amazing.

On Speaking Too Soon: Flew home to the fine state of KY, went to the post office, and low and behold, there's a envelope from my bank. What was in the envelope? A stop payment document in regards to the University of Kentucky check I received a few weeks ago (and was so pleased about) as stipend payment for a visiting artist residency I did in February. So, besides this just being a general pain in my ass, esp given my personal situation where it would be NICE to have some financial security, the other WONDERFUL elements associated with this transaction involved BANK CHARGES to my acct due to what I think I am fairly perceiving as INEPTITUDE on the part of the UK accounting office.

Or maybe I'm being too demanding here. It's probably too much to ask that 1) I'm paid in a timely manner for a week's worth (it was almost 3 months later that I received the check), and 2) when I receive it, it actually is able to be deposited in my account, and the money can, like a trading unit in our capitalist system, be traded to obtain materials like all the books I bought at the conference with the money I assumed I had in the bank.

I suppose I just might be confused here.

The saga continues. I put a call into the art dept office and will be checking back in this afternoon. Being that the end of the fiscal year is upon us, I'll either receive another check asap or, and this is a scenario I am not cutting out of a future reality, won't be paid at all.

Won't that be grand?