Got to go and hang out with a friend on Saturday. It was a "hang out and do tasks" thing and some how, some way, I ended up helping with small gardening tasks. I ended up getting body-tackled (joy) by a pittie mix and it triggered a vertigo episode (wheeeee) which changed my dinner plans from Taiwanese beef soup to Hanian Chicken Rice, but otherwise was fine. I got many, many puppy cuddles, so it more than made up for it!

That said, I did not, in fact, get my laundry done this weekend because I spent yesterday doing very little. I did get my grocery shopping done on Saturday and did ACTUALLY make things yesterday, but it was more of a 'mix and put in storage containers' activity than anything involving actual cooking.

I also tackled the four books I printed last week to start binding. I am being reminded, now that I am out of hyperfixation mode on learning how to do the process that book binding is actually a lot of fucking work? It took me about six combined hours yesterday to measure, cut, and fold the signatures for the four books. That said, it was a beautiful day out and the natural light that came in through my windows while I was working was delightful. It was just a really pleasant sensory time for me. Also, the girls came and slept nearby.

Still, there is a whole lot of work between now and a finished project. Gotta poke the holes, sew the signatures together, press and glue them, cut the boards, figure out a cover scheme, cut the cover and endpapers, then glue everything together and press them again.

IDK. I am kind of proud of myself that I taught myself how to do this. Yes, I had help and resources, and yes, I have a lot to learn and a long way to go to get better at this, but I just want to give myself a pat on the back that I have done and am doing the thing.

Turns out I had several book binding projects already formatted that I just plain forgot about?

I mean, this is nice because once I find the stuff I have printed at home, I'll have new stuff to move on to. But I'm honestly a little baffled at how much I have done. The two novels I desperately want copies of are done and dusted. I even finished the front-matter for the one I've been avoiding for over a year. And in MORE proof that I've just randomly picked insanely difficult things to format, I took care of two I've had on the to-do list for over a year.

Apparently, I just like to make things difficult for myself. \o/ Which. According to my documentation (the grid I use to keep track of which signature I'm printing), of the nearly forty projects I've taken on, 15 have been over 300 pages long. Though, the shortest ones are honestly the toughest to bind. At least in the way I do them. Mostly as the tools I have to cut cover boards are... adequate?

Blergh. I wish I knew how to get better at the art part of this. I'm not naturally drawn to creating visual art (drawing, painting, how things can/should be composed), so I'm not even entirely sure where I would even start to get better. At this point, I wish someone would teach me how to make vinyl stickers so I can label the damn things I bind from the outside. But! Most of the places that offer that don't offer it to me (an adult) or I have to pay $$ and/or buy the tool they're showing off. SIGH. One day, I shall figure it out, but not today!

Today, I get to go home and cut paper.

Arg, I really need to work on printing out the projects I've formatted. I'm 90% finished with my last formatting project. It's a series of ~5 novels (with the last one being unfinished) and I've got the first four done. This is on top of the other two projects I've formatted but just haven't done the front matter for.

Legitimately, when I print these out, it's going to take forever to bind. Also, I haven't done it in a year and a half? UUUGH, I hate being worried about craft work! But I am?

SIGH.

Depression or illness? That is the question.

Anyway, Thurs/Fri are street cleaning near me. I mention this only as I had a fun interaction with the person writing parking tickets on my block. I went outside to head to work yesterday and found the guy putting a ticket on the car behind me. I opened the door to head out and he was all "You're fine!"

Me: Oh! I'm just heading to work!
Him: *laughs* Weird timing! But! Remember, it's street cleaning Thurs/Fri. *points at signs"
Me: Oh, I know. I've taken to looking up the schedule in April and putting the dates in my phone so I won't get surprised.
Him: Smart! I wish everyone did that.
Me: Yeah, but to be fair, looking up the dates is like trying to navigate the DaVinci Code or something.
Him: OMG, THE WARD MAPS, WHY.
Me: I KNOW, especially this one! We're like O'Hare pretending to be Chicago in this block section!

There was more, but I wanted to share this deeply specific Chicago conversation with the rest of you because sometimes it's just really nice to have a hyper-specific conversation with another person who gets it. And by 'it' I mean, living in your city's bureaucracy.

In other deeply place-specific whining, I remain annoyed that CVS closed its location in Oglvie. Partially as that was where one of the only accessible entrance points to the building was, so we're currently all hosed. Also because the grocery in the French Market charged me $7 for a pint of half and half and a soda. TBF, it is my own fault for not working harder to hit up the Aldi last night.

I am also grumpy because I've become someone who drinks coffee and will now sometimes buy a latte when I am out and about. But that is a personal grievance against myself. NGL, it started and remained as a maladaptive grief exercise and now that I'm Less That, it's remained and I am grumpy. One of the core tenants of me being able to live on my own is that I'm terrifyingly frugal, so having a vice - no matter how limited - that involves a $5+ pricetag is upsetting me. At least I started carrying sugar free syrup when I do plan to purchase one.

In other news, I decided to treat myself to a stack of new books. Do I need them? No. Do I already have a stack of ~60 books I could read instead? Yes. We won't talk about the stack of library books I'm currently working my way through either. Next year might be another "read what you own" reading challenge for myself. Or not. Who knows what headspace I'll be in next year. Anywho, three of the books I ordered I did so I could put them in a local little library. I'm all about forcing my reading tastes on people wanting to read free shit.

( Chat about the books I ordered here. )

IDK. I think I just wanted a nice little present for myself. I did buy cleaning supplies last night, but there's only so excited I can get about sanitizing wipes and laundry soap.