Tues. July 30, 2024: The Tension Between “Slow Down” and the Grind Habit

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Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Waning Moon

Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron Retrograde

Cloudy, murky, humid

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

I felt like I was getting a slow start on Friday, but hey, why shouldn’t I? That’s the message of retrogrades slow down.

But there was still stuff that had to get done.

Blog up, meeting notes for this morning’s meeting out, blog and social media rounds. Proofread 5 more chapters of TAPESTRY. Finished off my meeting notes for this morning’s mentor meeting and sent them off. Did a library run – there were 11 books waiting for me.

Dealt with some email. Turned around two small coverages. Discouraged at how little work there was in that arena, especially as we’d been told it would be busy.

I’m reading Sara Paretsky’s BLACKLIST, which is very good.

Bea is interacting with the other cats through the glass, and lets me come closer to the glass, but still hides when humans enter the room. She plays a lot, though, which is good, eats well, uses the litter box.

The dishwasher spontaneously decided to work again. It’s been about a year. The machine itself is fine; it’s the outlet that’s the problem, and after this last power failure, it’s working again. Hopefully, it will last for a bit. It’s a big help to have it working, especially with all the extra kitty plates in use until Bea is fully integrated.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Paris. I loved the theatricality of it, and the way different cultural threads were woven together. Gojira’s performance was extremely well done. I like the juxtaposition of a French metal band known for its activist work as part of the Olympics opening ceremonies. The bulk of the comments I’ve seen against it show an ignorance of anything outside of American Christian fundamentalism. Get humanities back in curriculums!

I won’t watch much of the Olympics. I’m more of a winter sport than summer sport person. And I’m certainly glad not to be in Paris right now!

Up early on Saturday, and got ready for the herbal workshop at the Clark. It was a lot of fun; a good portion of the group was from the tarot circle, and it was nice to catch up. We worked with bee balm, blue vervain, boneset, and yarrow.

After the workshop, one of my friends from tarot was my guest at the Clark. We went through the Lathière exhibit and then most of the permanent collection. It was too much to do the whole thing at once, so we did as much as we could take in, and then had lunch at the café. It’s summer, so the fish tacos are back, and they are my favorite. It was a lot of fun to go through the exhibits, showing my favorite pieces, and talking about all kinds of stuff the art evokes.

Came home. Actually took a two hour nap on the bed with Tessa. I hardly ever nap during the day.

Cooked dinner and hung out with the various cats. Bea is fascinated by all the interactions.

Woke up every couple of hours in the night, mostly due to cat configurations on the bed. Tessa and Charlotte were on the bed, and one time, they were both so close up against me on either side I couldn’t move.

Bea found a stuffed turtle in the sewing room (child sized, not cat sized) and that is now her favorite.

I rehearsed my two segments of the poem a few times. I felt pretty good about it. The first segment is rhyming and sarcastic. I’m often sarcastic, but rarely do I try to rhyme, so that was a good stretch. The second segment is about the joy of being in the piece. Very different tones, but I think they will work in the overall arc.

I spent the morning storing energy to be used later in the day for the collaboration and performance.

I headed out just before 2, and got to the Mount wildly early. I helped set up, and caught up with some of the other poets I knew from previous events, including one I’ve been chatting with online since last year’s event.

We only had the chance to rehearse a little over half the poem before we had to prepare for the performance.

Two members of the tarot circle came. One of them knew one of the other poets – who just happened to be seated next to me – she’d fed me the first word of my poem, and I fed her the first word of her second poem. All these poets and we wind up sitting together. Too funny.

We were in the tent, so the poem flowed in one direction, then hooked back around and flowed back. The poet who started and ended took everyone’s words in her last segment and created the end piece out of that, which was so energizing.

We were herded out in front of the stables for our group photo. The photographer was someone I’d met at the Small Business Expo in Dalton in May.

It was a lot of fun. Although it was pretty humid, and clouded over, it wasn’t all that hot, and the Big Ass fans were on (yes, that is the name of the company, and their logo is a donkey’s rear end).

It was good to catch up with people. I haven’t been able to participate in any of the Word X Word events this spring/summer because most of them are on Tuesdays, and I’m committed to yoga that day.

Word X Word really set the foundation for the work I’ve been able to do since I moved here. I’m so grateful to them for providing a warm embrace and encouraging my work.

Drove home. Stopped at the pizza place down the street to get a pizza margherita. The place used to be our favorite for “comfort pizza” rather than artisan pizza. They changed their menu a few months ago (and raised their prices). Now, they mostly make gimmick pizzas with fast food as toppings on a pizza crust. But I figured pizza margherita was safe.

I was rather wrong. I’d asked for it with red sauce. They used white. They used to use fresh ingredients, but this time, everything was processed. They didn’t use any fresh basil and sprinkled way too much garlic salt and red pepper flakes on top. Plus, the facility was filthy.

Nope. Done with them.

Showered after dinner and just hung out on the couch. Bea hung out on her side of the glass, watching as the cats all came in to find out where I’d been all afternoon and get attention.

Slept really well. It was raining when I got up on Monday, and rather humid and oppressive.

Did my morning meditation with Bea. I did some chakra balancing work, and she slid out to watch, but as soon as I looked at her, darted back under the bed.

The manuscript of TAPESTRY, along with author notes and other backmatter, including the first few pages of MURDER BELLS, is out for formatting and galleys. I had to write a fresh blurb for the book, which I hope uses the best of the serial blurb and some new information. The temptation is to get to work on the website right now, and, a few days before Mercury Retrograde, that would be a Really Bad Idea. I need to focus on edits for MURDER BELLS and then finish the draft of VICIOUS CRITIC, and the galleys for TAPESTRY when they come in and do the website in September.

Paid some bills, filled out the primary ballots. Went to the bank to put in an honorarium I received, mailed things at the post office, picked up a few things at the grocery store. We’re not eating more bread than usual, but a loaf that used to last seven days now only lasts five, which means there are fewer slices. Got some more wet food for Bea. I’ll have to decide, eventually, what brand is healthiest for her and start ordering that from Chewy. For now, she’s on the same food as she was in Beacon, Fancy Feast (aka “kitty crack”). I fed her some healthier wet food that I have for Willa sometimes, and she likes that, too, so I don’t think it will too difficult to change her to something better. Stopped at the dollar store and got some small plastic bones that I will paint with glow in the dark paint when the weather is better for an autumn project. Dropped off our ballots at the ballot box at City Hall.

After lunch, I finally got the book review out. I answered follow-up questions for a coverage, and then edited four more chapters of “Too Much Mistletoe.”

I finished reading LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE HAUNTED PLACES, which was a lot of fun. I did some work on one of the proposals.

I cooked a summer vegetable curry, using mostly CSA vegetables, but a few other things, too. The recipe is from Moosewood, and it’s very good. Now that I have some high quality vegetables, I need to find better rice. I don’t like the rice I’ve been using.

As I look ahead to autumn and winter, I’m going to try to get into the rhythm of making bread once or twice a week. I’d also like, on a slow day, to make a batch of three different kinds of soup, and that way we have options all week. Home-made soup and fresh bread can take care of a lot of lunches. While I like ending my workday and cooking dinner, I don’t like making lunch. And even with all these lunch cookbooks giving me ideas, lunch is an obstacle instead of a pleasure. I want to find ways to change that.

An opportunity landed in my email, and I have to turn it down, because it’s starting a new project in August, and with the fact that I have to start a project with BVP in September, I think it’s too much to take on right now. I hope to join the next round, in late winter or early spring.

The first A4A advisors meeting is being set up for mid-August. I’m looking forward to that.

The producer of “The Effie Effect” made a cyber-introduction between the director and me. I’m looking forward to the work.

In and amongst all of this were all kinds of tech glitches, and we’re not even in Mercury retrograde yet. And I don’t want to hear about the shadow – that would mean 6 months of every year are in chaos, and I’m not having it.

Up early this morning, after weird dreams. I knew the people and places in the dream, but not once I woke out of it.

Headed to the laundromat. Didn’t have any editing work to do, so I read BLACKLIST instead.

Bea waited for me at the door to the sewing room. Even though she hides when I’m in there doing my morning meditation, she likes having me there, I guess, and I was off schedule today. She’s getting as committed to a schedule as the others.

On today’s agenda: more edits on “Too Much Mistletoe.” A meeting with my mentor at 10. Hopefully getting some work done on a proposal, and then maybe on the article. A workshop with the Authors Guild at 1. Picking up my CSA later in the afternoon, and then yoga tonight.

In other words, it’s busy! I’m grateful there’s no coverage work due today, because that would be a lot of pressure. But I hope something comes in so I can turn around tomorrow, because that’s the end of the pay period, and it’s nowhere near what I need it to be. Fortunately, I was paid for another project, and there’s the payment for the Farmers’ Market Residency coming, but we were told to expect mid-July to be very busy and then it wasn’t.  

There are a couple of things working my nerves, but I’m trying to remember what’s colored by various tensions and step back and not be just reactive. I have better uses for my energy.

Besides, it’s supposed to be a slower time now, with the retrogrades. I need the time to process the last few months and analyze, so I can make smarter decisions over the next few months. All the skills/tools I’ve learned over the Capacity Building Program are meaningless if I don’t actually use them.

I also hope it won’t be as hot this weekend as predicted. That’s always draining. But hey, it’s only Tuesday, but for some reason, it feels like it should be Friday!

I want to make it a good Tuesday, and I hope yours is as well.

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Published on July 30, 2024 05:14
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