Month: July 2024

I was writing a letter to a dear friend yesterday and I described to her the urge I have to make sure that I cover all of my news and updates efficiently so as to not waste her time. Such an odd impulse when the very point of the correspondence is to share stories about our lives and remain connected. Surely a long-form letter is not the place to try to be efficient. Particularly when the letter is sent electronically and so I have an infinite canvas on which to write. I managed to expand my story telling way from efficiency and more into a ramble. Of course even the rambled version can’t possible cover all the aspects of my life in any sort of comprehensive fashion. It is like a winding path through the forest which gives one a sense of the forest while still leaving vast swaths of forest unseen. I would like to take a similar approach here where I have been largely absent because crowdfunding and event preparation consumed all of my energy and attention. Rather than working chronologically to explain my arrival at today, I’m going to start where I am and work outward.

Today I wrote an update for Structuring Life to Support Creativity setting out the plan for the next several months so that I can deliver a book into the hands of the people who have already paid for it. The plan was very business-y with lists and dates all divided into easily consumable chunks. The post which catches the emotion that I feel about the project was this one thanking my backers. I still feel all those grateful things, but it is now time to roll up sleeves and get to work. I’ve got chapters to write and I’m excited to do it.

Speaking of excited to work, I’m going to be political for a moment here. I was resigned to Biden as the candidate I would vote for. I was expecting all of my political conversations to be telling people to look past the candidates and to the administration they bring with them. Biden stepped down yesterday and endorsed VP Kamala Harris as his replacement. When I saw that, it was as if air fully filled my lungs for the first time in months. Now I can have conversations about a candidate I’m excited to support. There is so much terrain between now and November. So much to discuss and examine. So many ways this can go wrong. November might be crushingly disappointing. But today I feel hope. I am so glad for this hope today no matter what comes next. And yes I plan to put in actual work and money to try to help Harris become president. Not sure yet about the shape of that, but I’ll do it.

Political work can’t ramp up yet, because this week is the pivot to full focus on Gen Con preparations. We won’t have a new Schlock book for the event. This is the first time that has ever happened. Howard feels terrible about it. My teaching at Gen Con is not going to cover the income gap because ticket purchasing has been low. So I have gotten a few sample notebooks from a new vendor to check the quality on them. I’m also printing up another run of Strohl Munitions Coloring Books that we’ll have at the show. Howard also has plans for sketch cards. We may even run some sort of online sale to try to make up the income. The actual trip I expect to be a joy. I’m going to get to see friends! I get to teach! I’ll travel cross country with Howard and one of my kids! We’ll see how many gyms we can leave Pokemon on as we travel!

Travel has definitely been a theme for this summer. In June I had two trips. July had one. August has Gen Con. The trips each bring their gifts and their strains. Here at home I can see the things that are languishing a bit while I’ve been distracted. The other day my neighbor came and knocked on my door to ask if I knew I had a pond in my side yard. I didn’t. A sprinkler pipe had burst around the corner of the house where I never go. The resulting pond was a-swim with mosquito larvae and algae. Fortunately the sprinkler company was able to come and fix it, so a normal amount of water is restored. Someday I would like to have a water feature. Something that would attract birds and frogs without breeding mosquitoes. That project is behind a very long line of other house projects.

Which brings me back to today and all of the projects I have on my list. There is so much to pack for this trip both physical and emotional, which is made a bit more complicated by all the stuff that isn’t fully unpacked from the trips and projects that came before. Someday I hope for my house and schedule to have tidy project spaces that are contained instead of spilling all over everything else. Right now I just have to work my way through the mess. Thus ends today’s ramble. Hopefully it won’t be another month before I ramble here again.