AW: Week 7 Check-In

1. Morning pages?

This week I fell off the morning pages wagon, then climbed back in. I think I got hay up the back of my shirt, too...wait, never mind, that itching is just my usual allergy fun. :) Anyway, I didn't get all days - Sunday/Monday (as well as Saturday of week 6) I did not write at all. Tuesday I wrote two pages, Wednesday I wrote a half-page (I was home sick, and literally fell asleep during it, and when I woke up several hours later I just decided that enough was enough and went back to taking care of myself). Thursday, Friday, and today I did the full three pages. One thing I noticed was I tend to "save" the "best" pens from the set I have now for last, but that this had turned into refusing myself the pen I wanted. Ack! So I did reverse that and the purple glitter and golden-yellow-glitter came out in the past three days. :)

Creative risks and childhood loves, no. Frankly, I seldom remember Julia's exhortations of what we're supposed to write in the MPs. I don't even try. First she tells us stream-of-consciousness, then she gives us tasks to do in them. I can do one or the other but I cannot do both. I find this re-purposing of them into something else aggravating. Especially since it relies on my memory when I'm tired in the morning. NOT a kind thing to do. So, whatever. Not trying for that part of the MPs.

2. Artist's Date? Risks?

Sort of and no. I did not plan an AD this week as I've found that too often the planned ones do not feel good - they feel obligation-like or tedious. I wanted to see what happened if I just tried to enjoy the week and see what came. I did have a planned event, but not an AD as it was going bowling with several people (or at least going to a bowling alley; I don't bowl, nor do I want to). That was fun, but not an AD. On the other hand, that same evening as I posed in an earlier entry, I got to enjoy just sitting in my car eating dinner and watching flakes of snow float down and melt. That was wonderful and magical - and I'm not sure if it counts or not. I loved it, though. I also went to Powell's Beaverton yesterday after work because I wanted a book of poetry they had, and I browsed the poetry aisle for a while (maybe 15-30 minutes) after getting the book, before I left.

3. Synchronicity?

The snow! Also thinking of a poem that sticks in my head and which is hard to find, searching, and finding that since the last time I tried the poet (Tess Gallagher) published a collected-works that includes it, and there were four copies at Powell's Beaverton - used, no less. (I'm half-wondering if there was a course that used the book locally, because there's still another one at the downtown Powell's....)

4. Other issues?

I still haven't done much on the poetry or cleaning fronts. I plan to tackle both this week but in small doses, so as not to commit to more than I can manage.

I did do several of the other items on my list, though. The two flowers from the earlier post now sit on my desk at work, looking lovely. I rearranged the desk at work in general and it feels much more pleasant, though I think more is still needed. I need more bright colors right now, for some reason, and I don't yet have them in place sufficiently. I'm also working on the painted-ivy-bowl idea, but so far the problem is finding a light for it. I'd rather not use the fake tea lights as they turn out to be fairly expensive for how long they claim to last - so I'm hunting for mini-lamps and other things (night lights are not bright enough, alas). I may not get to actually use the bowl after I paint it at this rate. (At $1 per at Michael's or Jo-Ann's, by the way, these ivy bowls are a great way to play with ideas! I've gotten another one to try something else with the fake water in.....)

And as you can see, I've tackled the site redesign. I haven't added a banner with one of my images yet. I'd like to do that, but for now I am happy with the progress that when I read this on my desktop screen I don't have two or three inches of white space either side of the text, which was really irritating me. And when I shrink the window it is still readable too. I switched to black-on-white because I was reminded by a post in another blog that I read (who doesn't read this one) that light-on-dark is hard for some people to read. I like the dark blue background but I would prefer that my words not be hard to read, since the words are kinda the point of most posts. :)