Busy Weekend of Sitting Down

 Got everything done last week that I intended, except for painting G Moon. But that's fine considering instead I made some jam and got started on a decoration for the bike bag.

Biked out to the farmer's market on Saturday. It's not the easiest 5 miles to get out there and definitely wasn't any easier in the pouring rain. Really glad I splurged and got the waterproof rack bag or my phone would've been toast. That aside, everything worked out great. Bike handled the country roads well enough and I picked up some nice stuff at market.

Just...maybe get out on the road before 8 am. Somehow traffic is already shockingly heavy by then.

Speaking of the bike, the duck cotton for the carrying bag should be arriving today or tomorrow. That's my only regret about this bike, really. It's a great folding bike--sturdy like an ox when latched into place--but the bag you store it in is incredibly cheap. Not even a year old and there are already tiny rips. 

Doing the Barbinheimer thing this weekend with some friends. Well, doing it over the course of two days. Even back in my twenties my butt probably couldn't stand being in a theater for that many hours straight. We're planning on watching movies at home as well (Shin Ultraman and One Piece: Red), so it's going to be a cinema-heavy weekend.

So, lol, these belly scales probably aren't going to get sprayed this week. Totally forget what the mix ratio is to make paints into a transparent coat anyway. That'll be fun.

WFH

 Having a journal and not updating it is somewhat self-defeating, but things have been busy. The last several months of work have been a nightmare. After getting sick twice in one month and nearly having a nervous breakdown over all of it, I asked my boss if I could switch to WFH.

(We did this for the entirety of the pandemic and then some, so don't ask me why they decided to drag everyone back in to begin with.)

So I'm back to working from home and the night-and-day difference of it all is a little unnerving. A 30-40 min commute eats up a surprising amount of time, money, and energy beyond the actual act--but there's also not dealing with whatever in-office bickering is going on. Is that a problem in other places? Seems since coming back many in my office are entirely too eager to pick fights with others. Over nothing. At work. Where time and pressure dictate some base level of cooperation.

But there's also ending the workday and still having enough energy to anything beyond "make dinner/watch TV". Case in point! I have plans to go see a movie with some friends and I'm not reflexively cringing because of how tired I'll be by then. Amazing!

Along that line though the following things should be worked on before Sunday is out:

• Finish B/W striping on dragon kit belly
• Paint G-Moon
• Measure and order fabric for bike bag

There's more, but there literally always is. Took a trip to California and Oregon. Should probably jot that down at some point. But not now.

Here, have a pic of the garden strawberries that are finally starting to ripen.

Book Club

One of my goals for the year is to do more reading. Which makes me feel a tad guilty because it doesn't feel like that is something that should ever get to the point of needing to be a resolution. But life is what it is and this kind of explains why I'm a good ways into April before finishing anything.

There is a list, of course, and the first one up was Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I'm not going to do a full review of the book (or any of them--you can look that stuff up yourself) but I will say it's a great read. An environmental book that is honest, but avoids veering into annoying fatalism. The storytelling method interspersed with scientific information helps explain the whys and hows of how different ecosystems work, but never gives you a bulleted list of no-fail steps.

Because there aren't any. Ultimately it's up to you to piece together what any of that means for you.

That's kind of a lot. Usually I can only think of smaller things. Growing up, we lived on a smallish plot that was long-forgotten about farm land. And said land was littered with remnants of the previous tenants. Well, littered is too strong of a word. Native or not, no one in their right mind would consider raspberries, mulberry, crocus, crabapple, or osage orange litter. But the outline of the previous owners were there, plain as day once you looked. For both better and worse. And it is worthwhile to stop and think about the land you live on. What it once was, what it is now, and what it could be in the future.

EDIT: This book is strongest when it uses concrete examples (be it natural or socioeconomic) and that's probably what the vast majority of people are looking for when they reach for this book. If we're going to try and repair the damage that's been done to the planet, we need plans. Not endless hand-wringing and doomerism.

Next book on the list is whiplash levels of tonal departure, but at least it fits the freakishly cold and rainy weather we've been getting lately.

Post the First

This is a test post to get a feel for the layout. Been needing a place for long-form thoughts and, honestly, more modern sites are either annoying or are completely off-putting. Not that I feel my thoughts are anything profound (they very much aren’t), but every now and again it’s good to type into the void and not have an algorithm scream back at you.

No idea what-so-ever what the tone of this will be. Probably will talk a lot about hobbies, but you may have gleaned that from the post’s image (clever you!). Family and work will probably come up, but by Grabthar’s Hammer I do not want this to be one of those journals where the author is just constantly complaining.

I also have a rink-a-dink personal website that I’ll (eventually) link. This all feels hideously archaic, but at least I can choose the font.