notes & things | 4/19/2025
Sometimes, there is a hole in a given month and I stumble out dazed and realizing I have not written anything in this space in a quite a while. The days nevertheless are lengthening, and some trees already have blooms on them. We were out in Woodstock Saturday to make some more logistical plans for June and there were crocuses just starting to come up and maybe the tiniest buds on the trees. It was a strong contrast to our February visit when it was getting dark at 4:30 and we could only be out of the car for a few minutes.
April is April-ing, which means it rushes past and then boom! suddenly its spring for real, despite dips and rises in temperature. I open the window in the dining room. I close it. Wear coats when I really need a jacket and jackets when I probably should have worn a coat. Chicago is tricky this time of year, and I could need both in the span of a few hours.
I've been catching up on some new releases for dgp and finishing my decisions on upcoming books for fall. If all goes well, I will have everything in line before we open up for the next reading period in June, which seems impossible that its here again. I've also started something new writing-wise and finished up the last short-ish series, though it still needs a little work. Since the world feels chaotic and precarious I decided to bring full-length WILD(ISH) into the world sooner rather than later (part of it is who knows what will be happening in July and also I fear raised printing prices driving up the cost per copy. This may also affect even the printing I do at home, though so far, ink and paper are still costing me about the same, but only time will tell. I raised prices slightly on chaps and other shop goods last year, but I may have to do it again. Postage is also a bear that may need to be revisited (i still end up eating some of the cost on larger orders and author costs typically.)As everything gets more expensive even the luxuries I allow make me wince...theater tickets, tattoo deposits, occasional dresses and vintage housewares from Ebay.
As for the wedding, today we ordered the wedding bands from an Etsy shop. We initially thought we might get a matching set, but the set we had our eye on was supposed to come from Europe and we didn't want international shipping making them late or having to pay customs fees. So we opted for a US seller making stacking rings who actually had cuter ones that were less expensive but not as a set. Mine is an Art Nouveau-ish vine pattern while J's is a cool dragon skin textured one that's thicker. I am still enamored of my engagement ring so was definitely looking for something that I can wear with that just on different fingers. Invitations will be going out this week, which means I will likely be printing them over the weekend.
Last week's Moulin Rouge performance was lovely and I enjoyed it much more than the movie. I've been listening to songs from act II on repeat daily. We only have a few shows planned for summer after the spring's whirlwind. Today, I got us tickets for May for Hadestown from the Broadway tour series and The Antiquities at Goodman, but that's all we have coming up, with a few scattered shows over the summer until things pick up during the actual theater season. On screen, we saw the goofiness that is Tremors last week at Alamo, which I remember seeing as a teenager in theaters. Last night, some new horror in the form of Drop, which was a tight mystery/suspense, and the weirdness of Freaky Tales, whose many delights you have to see to understand more than me talking about it. We've been waiting for Sinners, to come out for months, so are planning on catching that and a spooky Norwegian retelling of Cinderella called The Ugly Stepsister, Sunday night.
Comments