weekly retro: the one where i accept that i can't have a humanoid body like krang
this was a week of processing the blues of my prior week and trying to push myself through the discomfort by saying "yes" to opportunities that get me outside and away from screens and even wax. i started feeling a creative block coming, but i believe it was largely in part to my frustration with the weather going from warm to cold and shitty like a haunted see-saw.
drawing or painting every day has been a tough challenge, but i think that's because i've been doing too many "challenges" and so i'm working on giving myself more credit. i'm staying active, i ate the very spicy roll that my friend challenged me too - and won $5 for it - and i've been writing this weeky retro series for 10 weeks now. i have routines and i'm challenging myself!
i know that krang's needing a humanoid to get around is not ideal, but how nice it feels sometimes to think about what it would be like if i could get around with a large humanoid. don't tell the tech oligarchs.
speaking of challenges, last week i mentioned wanting to start running, inspired by chino moreno of all people lol. i did go on a treadmill jog, but realized really quickly that i need a better supporting bra when running than i do when walking uphill or doing aerial yoga. every day is a winding road with lessons at every mile marker.
we had a couple of really gorgeous days that are teasing spring. i keep having to remind myself that "april showers bring may flowers" so not to lose hope at getting a proper spring season before the temperatures hit 90s nonstop like last summer. that was a brutal one and i'm not sure if i'm prepared for a repeat of it.
the squirrels this week were out in full force. i saw them eating, stealing from delivery bikes, and fucking on stoops - real jersey shit. i used to want a pet squirrel so bad when i was in my 20s but knew that wasn't a normal, civilized or humane thing to act on. no squirrel, no humanoid...women truly can't have it all.
i took my first bike ride of the season, only because i was in a rush to make it to an event at the library that brett told me about. a bike, i figure, is about as far as i'll get with getting a humanoid body to move around. anyway i made it in time - early even - to see librarian of the year, lisa varga, on stage for a q&a. she's a great storyteller and advocate against the banning of books.
that was an inspiring day, not only because of the bike ride, the library and jerseyscript after, but because i had a breakthrough on my issue with trying to get my scented candles to "work". i realized, why am i making boring ass tin candles when i should be sticking to what i've been good at: sculptural wax. i went back to the literal drawing board, prototyped and tested...i feel like i am back on the rails, baby!
naturally, the weather went back to cold and shitty just in time for me to have a whole day out on friday. it was therapy, spicy sandwich and robot karaoke time. jamie and i hosted the show at LARPA for their "tax haven" event and it was a really fun time, as were the gallery and the screenings before the singing began.
friday was such an active day, i rotted through the cold and rainy saturday. sunday was still gray but nicer and drier. we didn't wake up early enough to catch the peak of the jersey marathoners passing through a couple blocks away, but we did spend some time in the park trying out andy's new ham radio transmitter. i was hoping to give some craisins to the squirrels, but it appears they were also rotting after such an active week of eating and fucking.
i can tell that pumagreg is also excited about the nicer weather coming, when we can open the windows and he can listen to the birds that occasionally dare to fly to our–i mean his window sill. after his 15th nap of the day, he crawled and passed out again on my chest as i finished the weekend with a reread of giovanni's room instead of writing this weekly retro on time.
things i enjoyed this week
- if your favorite luxury store or tradwife (derogatory) tiktoker sells adorable beeswax fruit and veggie candles, they're probably from happy organics. i found them through my market research and have not yet bought from them, but will very soon after i recover from post-doing-and-paying-taxes anxiety. the berry birthday candles are genius.
- i heard a rumor that lorde will be releasing an album this summer. i love lorde and discovered her on tumblr when royals first came out. unfortunately for her and i, i am unable to stop thinking about this "cover" (yes, i still actively use tumblr).
- it's not that i enjoyed the (semi-failed) process of migrating my mastodon account, but i do enjoy that i had the opportunity to migrate to a good instance - run by my friend stefan, so i wanted to give him a shout-out. the failure is on the part of mastodon the software, not the instance, and i'll be writing about the entire experience soon.
another routine i'm starting is going back to doing aerial yoga 2x a week instead of once. light a candle and hope that the studio's app processes my registration in time for me to get a spot in class tonight. make sure not the leave the candle unattended, trim the wick to 1/4" before burning and never burn it more than 4 hours at a time unless otherwise stated by the candle's warning label.
xoxo jenn
