Today is that point in the month, in every month, where I suddenly look at a calendar and realize it is half over.  That we are almost bridging into October and from then, it is a short brisk ride downhill into winter.  Or maybe it's less riding and more flailing uncontrollably.  Nevertheless, I started thinking earlier today about things I need to start planning in terms of holiday shop offerings.  Christmas is much less crazy since we left etsy behind, but there is a an uptick in sales of non-book items and the awesome insanity that is the holiday open studio.  And then, AWP not far behind, which means I will have to start early on beefing up general book inventory as well (plus wrapping up some other projects--a couple of my own art/text things, the typewriter anthology, a bunch of early 2014 titles I'd like to have available).

But for now, I am just trying to get a little bit done each day..orders printed and assembled, things finalized and laid out, covers designed.  I have to put in another ink and cardstock order over the weekend, and have some neighborhood art festival plans Sunday, but otherwise, I plan on getting to some writing.  I feel closed off from it and like a need a chisel to pry the lid back open on the ghost landscape pieces.I'm getting that antsy, testy, disconnected feeling when I put off my own projects too long because of other things--editing, work, day to day trivia.  It's no good and eventually I start freaking out...

The news is that girl show is ever more nigh..the pre-sale is still going on for a few more weeks and the book should be out mid-month or so.  Since I turned in the final proofs a while back, I've barely looked at it (mostly an attempt not to be sick to death of it around the time I have to start reading from it.)  I also had the good news that the shared properties of water and stars sold out it's first run in the first month  (I'm ridiculously grateful that so many people bought a copy and that Noctuary does such an awesome job of getting it out in the world.).

 

So midweek, and my days thus far have been filled mostly with book assembly in the studio and plotting of future projects, including a rather awesome library related exhibit/venture afoot dealing with finished work and creative bibliographies (the rest of my time there has been devoted to reserve usage and departmental stats, so I take my fun where I can get it.)

 Once again, I find I put forth my best efforts Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday slips into mad scramble and slacking off.  I do have several galleys out to authors and a couple covers underway (see above, the illustration we'll be using for Katie Berger's Time Travel:  Theory and Practice.)  I should be releasing a new group of chaps starting later in the week.  Lately dgp releases seem to happening in spurts, and we've fallen a month or so behind schedule, which is, by no means as bad as we have past years, but there are still some stragglers I'd like to get under wraps.  wicked alice has also re-emerged after a brief summer hibernation, and I already have work lined up for the next two months and much in the inbox waiting to be read.

Otherwise, my week has been more chapbook submissions, trashy teen novels (courtesy of a free bookstore abandoned proof copy), some more rarified and serious reading, but sadly no actual writing, which I hope to get cracking on over the weekend. 

So, it's a working weekend, which means I'm chained and bound to the library circ desk both days, during which I plan to finish a few layouts on upcoming books and work my way through the remaining queue of submissions for next year (ideally I would love to be done by the end of September.) We are really feeling fall now.  I've hauled out the heavy blanket for my bed and put away my flip flops *sniff*.

I'm enjoying the lull before the October blitz, which involves planning for my parent's 40th anniversary shindig, some reading action towards the end of the month, the release of girl show, Halloween plans, and other fall merrymaking.   But I know my moods are tenuous this time of year, so I'm trying to get as much done while things are good as I can. Which also means I'm in order muppet mode lately, so of course, my to-do list is organized and color coded, but there isn't much happening in the writing department.  I blame the library and the endless shelves of course reserves, but things are starting to quiet down even there.

ghost landscapes, while I did manage to get all of the images scanned last week, is not much further along in the text department than it was a couple weeks ago.  My prime writing time (weekends) have been a little overscheduled, so I'm hoping next week to remedy that.  But fall always makes me want to write after being lazy all summer.  It's probably that back to school vibe, but suddenly I feel a need to be more serious about things in general. Or maybe it's just the warm beverages after a summer of icy ones. Suddenly I start downing hot coffee and I feel a need to have a pen in my hand.

strange machines

 

I have some collages form a new series, strange machines, being exhibited on the 3rd floor of the Library.  The opening shindig is part of the Wabash Arts Corridor Crawl, so if you're in the neighborhood, stop by and check it out...

 

 

So it's been a longer time away than expected, due to all sorts of things, not only broken laptops and press business, but also the worst allergy onset and about three miserable days early last week.  While I was  gone, Zelda happened (see above) so I am now back at cat capacity (like we all knew that wasn't going to happen sooner than later.)  But there were also other things...the start of the semester, a cool down in weather, poems in journals, a good review of my latest, new fall clothes, a tiny green finch rescued from the sidewalk.    
                                                          
Otherwise, it was a quiet end to an otherwise quiet weekend, lots of rain, cinnamon rolls, some homemade soup, and some horror movie watching. (This is my one of my last quiet weekends since I'm working all of next and October is going to be a bear.)
                                                                                                                                                                                                   

radio silence

Since my laptop at home had a rather unfortunate run-in with bath gel in my tote bag on the way back from Mississippi, it's been on the slow and steady decline every since, so I found myself rendered computer-less over the bulk of the weekend, which was nice in terms of productivity (how else do I explain color coding my drawer of cardigans). 

While I can no doubt entertain myself with Netflix via the Roku box and an apartment full of books and reading material, what I missed most was not being able to tell everyone whenever something interesting/funny happened.  Like how I was convinced that there was a badly behaving (but adorable) demon child on the bus who I'm convinced made it break down on LSD, or that because of that,  I walked a couple block through the park to the Sheridan bus, and past the most heavenly smelling garden just south of the Nature Museum. 


Or that I actually spent Sunday morning eating s'mores for breakfast and paging through old stacks of décor porn (Elle Décor, Real Simple, Domino).  Or how excited I still get right before school starts even though I haven't been in class for years, plotting out my first day outfit (my new awesome green wrap dress, ivory sweater) contemplating a new sketch book, perhaps some new gel pens, some watercolor paper.

Nevertheless, I survived and will probably get a new laptop in the next few weeks (it might be later rather than sooner since I'm having duplex printer problems with my Epson and kicked in for a new b&w HP for the studio to do text blocks.) I'd much rather deal with a laptopless apartment (or haul the studio one home) than deal with only being able to print 20 books before it starts sticking...