notes & things | 8/12/2026

Somehow, the week is already disappearing down the rabbit hole, but I am holding on fast, designing books and working fervently on a play script for a deadline in a few days that so far puts the hotel zombie script to shame in terms of its unrulyness and sprawl which I am beginning to think was a mistake with any sort of deadline at all) . Over the weekend, I got another mini-retreat at a hotel while J worked DJ-ing a couple of outdoor events that had really early and late start times that made camping out in Naperville a solid option versus commuting back and forth. There, in a really nice suite that had a kitchenette (full sized fridge and a dishwasher!) I was able to get a clean second draft of the orchid project (see the collage above, which may just be its cover design)
, which is a little simpler and less unruly, and looks like I may be able to finish it in just a couple more drafts. While we were only there two days, I've found that these bare bones spaces away from home help my concentration when locking in more fully on things (this is very different from home, where I am likely to be distracted throughout the day with various things and usually try to move pretty swiftly from task to task. the schedule currently only allows time to work on one scene per day, either drafting, editing, or proofing, but seldom all three depending on what else is going on. 

It's been a stormy past couple of weeks. Like deluges and suburban tornadoes kind of stormy, Like huge shelves of clouds looming over downtown kinds of storms. Like apocalyptic winds outside the windows kind of stormy. These used to roll through maybe once a month in summer, but now, likely due to climate change, they are arriving weekly, swelling the gutters with rain and knocking down tree branches all over the surrounding blocks. We have a couple of theater outings planned, including a small storefront production of Crime and Punishment, and The Importance of Being Earnest for an outdoor staging in Oak Park (where we saw Hamlet before.) Hopefully the weather will be neither too hot, stormy, or smokey to stay outside long enough for the performance. When we came back to town on Sunday, we saw a production of The Outsiders in the Broadway series, which I will talk more about in another entry and its awesomeness, even though I bypassed this one last time it rolled through in favor of other shows to fit in the theater budget. 

When it gets this late in the summer, I inevitably start looking forward to fall and craving back-to-school hallmarks even though I have been away from the waxing and waning of academic schedules officially for years. It has much less due to the actual classroom and more to do with the rhythms and vibes of the approach of fall. When I was a kid, my mom would have already been hauling us to K-Mart in June or July to choose our lay-a-way wardrobe, though it never quite worked out since we mostly limited to summer options (real fall-weather duds--sweaters and such-- didn't usually appear til August or later.) But august was for school supplies, slick Trapper Keepers, new book bags, crisp spiral notebooks, and shiny two-pocket folders.  For new skincare and hair care and other grooming supplies.  August reminds me of the rubbery smell of new sneaker soles, the way a new backpack was always kind of stiff. How much I adored getting my textbooks, even later when in college and grad school I had to buy them. I would stack them together and marvel at their spines in a row. (It is no wonder I ultimately wound up in writing and publishing..lol..)

There is still some summer to be squeezed out of course, at least for the next month or so, including a trip out to the drive-in in early September, which hasn't had much we wanted to see in this earlier season of comic book movies, kids' stuff, and blockbusters (they are running some retro films, including Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I saw at a drive-in when it first released.) We are also plotting some zoo and museum visits when the summer crowds die off after labor day. 

Previous