forgetgutenberg

Well, at least I know how long I can sustain productive behavior – a week. I have done nothing since Saturday, and I only have two more days off. Why am I sitting here writing about it instead of doing something? For one thing, it is easier to eat pizza while typing than while spinning, and for another … I hit a block. I don’t know what kind of block, although I think it had something to do with the writing rather than the art.

That and trying to fix the website is frustrating at best, because it’s really not a skillset I have and so I’m procrastinating. At least I’m good at that. Unfortunately, the update is what really needs to get done now. I just don’t know where to start (or how to make it look the way I want it to).

That said, the crane curtain did get finished, which is something at any rate.

Well, actually, I’d be thrilled if I still had access to a press. Any press, really, I’m not feeling picky right now.

It turns out that I did have some ink left, so I got started with a bit of printing.

Well, that’s just ducky – it took some improvisation (plastic spoon and waxed paper, because nobody has randomly stopped by and said “by the way, here’s a press for you”), but there are now a whole bunch (all right, only thirty-something) of wish broadsides half-finished and all over the floor. I suppose I should finish them and find somewhere else to put them before anyone comes home.

Actually, now that I’ve looked at both versions next to each other, I think they’re finished. There’s something about the way the blocks of type are lined up that I think looks better with just one butterfly.

Huh. Look at that, offcuts from a student reading broadside, with lino prints on. I think they might possibly need a few more layers, but that was fun.

Oh boy, suddenly I’m thinking it’s a good idea to try printing on cloth. This might be a problem. Well, at least nobody can say I haven’t done anything this week, unless they’re some kind of … weird printing-hating type.

I keep looking at the paypal options for tip jars, and thinking “eh.” That, however, is no reason to neglect my digital broadsides page. The first one is up, and I’m sure there will be more. If nothing else, I’ve got an interesting backlog of designs from my coursework. 

The theory here is to get stuff out there, so people can look at it and play with it, and maybe one day I’ll have it come back in a shiny new form and get some more ideas. You know, art.

Also, funny thing: wish is starting to gel a little. You’d think it wouldn’t take two freakin’ years, but you’d be wrong. Giving up on everything I’d thought I was doing with the project did push it a bit. I’ve got cranes in one-liter canning jars; the next step is to get labels and print up mini-books to add on. If Lucy is still willing to put them in her shop, they’ll be for sale, and people will see them, which is kind of the whole point. 

I’ve finally gotten two of the three wish project galleries up on the website. It occurred to me that perhaps being a perfectionist about this stuff is ridiculous. (Wish galleries here.)

Of course, the third one is going to be the hardest, since it’s the part that’s still in progress. Ah, well, so it goes. I’ll get to it.

The next step is to figure out how I feel about Paypal and start setting up downloads. Oh, I do believe I am getting the headache. Living in the future is hard work. 

It has been one of those weeks. You know the ones I mean – they’re not bad, so much, as intensely … unproductive, maybe. There’s been some stress, in other people’s lives, but mostly I’m just frustrated and tired of banging my metaphorical head against brick walls. Strike that, reverse it … No, wait… Ok, and I’m using an awful desk at work, so my wrists have been sending me nasty notes, which means I haven’t really knitted or spun anything. Except for this one thing I started Wednesday, but we’re not going to talk about that.

There’s only one failproof solution to weeks like that. Fire.

(Actually, there are two, but none of the books I wanted were immediately on hand at either of the bookstores I checked, so I couldn’t start researching a particularly geeky and involved project just yet.)

We drove to the beach and had ourselves a viking funeral, with wee boats, the ocean, oncoming airplanes, and a bit of rain.

(The cotton paper doesn’t float. Which doesn’t surprise anyone. The commercial paper, that floats. Of course, it also burns a truly impressive shade of green, so one doesn’t want to burn much of it. Perhaps the next set of boats needs to be made of something … less processed.)

Because I went into Magpie and felt a little like a failure.

But I have another crane shot.

… I have to confess, this is a recycled crane. It had been hanging somewhere, but fell and got rained on and probably run over a couple of times, and it was holding up to the abuse so well that tucking it into the fence seemed like the thing to do. This linen paper continues to amaze me, even though I’ve been running linen paper through the wash for years.