hermit life and abroad

Yesterday, I ventured further than I have in over a month, taking the bus downtown to pick up a batch of prints at the Staples in the loop. Since I was there, I grabbed some coffee and sat in the park along Michigan across from the Cultural Center. It was chilly, and the landscape still bare and dotted with dirty, melting, piles of snow, but it felt a little like spring at least, especially when the sun came out from behind some skyscrapers. Or maybe, it was more that people were behaving like it was spring, lingering outdoors more than they do in the winter months and slung across park benches.  On the way back, I was thinking about how strange it was to be coming home in the daylight, which was usually only a summer thing.  I noticed new things on my trip--a statue in front of the Tribune Building, the popcorn shop that had been closed since covid once again open.  The lake, less voluminous than even last summer and back to a reasonable level.  No tulips yet, but no doubt soon. I hadn't left the immediate blocks around my apartment since early February, so it was nice to get out and feel like I was part of the world. 

I'm learning it's quite easy to become the hermit I've always been, sleeping and working strange hours.  I am getting a lot done.  Getting the shop ready for the update next week and keeping up with daily freelance projects. Catching up on things like orders and author batches and getting new layouts polished off in the afternoons. Even with a lot of stuff to accomplish in any given day, it is more purposeful and less chaos, which has changed so much about how I feel and done wonders for my general baseline anxiety levels. Even printing is more orderly and systematic and much less tearful than it used to be (this has to do with some outsourcing, but even in the interiors are less stress-inducing when I am not constantly past my deadlines already). I did not expect quite this much of a change, but I should have. 

As for creative work, I've stalled out a bit on my collage series, not really liking the results just yet, but need to spend time with the poems they accompany to get unstick. The poems I am happy with, the art, not so much. I did manage to finish up what will hopefully be the final proof on animal, vegetable.. monster, and barring any significant issues, should have it under wraps a couple weeks into April.  Which of course, means I now turn my attention to promo and trailers and such.