Elise Matthesen

This is reminding me of the fortune cookie that told me "The reward of patience is patience."

My wrangler, with whom I have a weekly meeting which I refer to as "renting some executive function", pointed out recently that I have completed three large finance-related To Do things that have been on my list for a long time. This is excellent. Now I move on to the need-to-do things that were on that list fully as long but were not quite as survival-related in terms of direness.

(My wrangler continues to be one of the most high-return things I pay for someone to do.)

The things that have moved to forefront positions involve (mostly) art and the things around art that make the art possible. It's interesting to have a To Do list that doesn't start with "Work on X, Y, and Z financial things until the screaming point, and then go to the workbench until you're OK again."

(Workbench time improves everything except overuse and inflammation in the hands and arms.)

I guess I should think of a thing that's a relief from workbench, in order to have something to rest my hands during the say.

Huh. I've recently begun listening to podcasts, which is a thing I mostly do while watching the live captions on screen, unless the podcasters are really good at enunciation, very cleanly recorded and produced, and in the range of sounds I can hear better. Stuff I don't need to watch captions for quite so assiduously can be played while I am at the workbench, if it's that kind of workbench day. Maybe I could save the challenging ones for breaktime? Rest my hands, ice what needs icing, watch the words while I listen to the podcast?

Do any of you have favorite podcast episodes? I'm a person that loves documentaries and that loved interviewing people about their passions back when I was a small-time journalist.

Workbench time never fails to improve me. Today I had hours and hours of it. It was SO GOOD.

SO SO SO GOOD.

Now I need to switch from the necklace work that I go deep into when I'm sort of re-assembling myself and getting centered, because there are dragon pendants that need doing, plus this panjas bracelet thingie that I think I have got figured out now, so I need to finish the prototype. These things can be done, because both yesterday and today I had hours and hours of "sink deep into this necklace work" and also hot baths, which is a combo that is very powerful in how it improves my day.

(Wow. When I come out of necklace-work-space, my words do take a while to get back into linear thought rather than a fugue or some series of motifs or whatever it is when I'm composing four linear superimpositions in a long four-loop necklace. My eyes keep going to the previous paragraph and wanting to rearrange things with attention to enjambments and rhythmic structure.)

Oh right, I should mention that these necklaces are full of cats.

Last night at the workbench I finished the aquamarine necklace called "Will the Sea Remember Me?" It has a sterling silver lobster clasp which has a swivel, so the necklace can be untwisted without removing it. Useful little thing, a swivel clasp.

Here it is in the Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1550006235/will-the-sea-remember-me-short-necklace

I woke early today because it's a shipping day and I need to be near the door to hear when the USPS folks thump. (I have a note on the door asking them please to thump, because I am hard of hearing and cannot hear regular knocking very easily.) So with any luck I'll be able to get a good batch of new pieces up. There are a lot of them ready to go, and have been for a while. (See also "I need to have four of me to do everything on my task list.")

Today's perfume is Voodoo Queen from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, since it seems appropriate to wear a rare scent today.

I will almost certainly update this post again as my birthday proper continues. Whee!

What is your relationship to the sea? To other entities of water?

Still letting my sleep cycle choose itself, but today I have gotten my Etsy boxes packed and labeled with postage on them, and have done so in time to schedule a pickup for tomorrow. Yay! As my vibrating alarm clock arrived today, I have the technology appropriate for a hard-of-hearing Lioness to be awakened in time to switch to the sofa near the door upon which the excellent USPS person-of-the-day will thump loudly, if they have read the sign beseeching them to do so. (I cannot hear a regular knock unless it's under exceptionally favorable conditions.)

After I have something cool and enjoyable to drink, I have a few eBay things to pack as well, but since there is a pickup already scheduled, I do not need to race the clock here. The metaphorical clock, I mean, rather than the thumping one that will go inside my pillowcase... or possibly in a bag hung round my neck. We shall see.

Yesterday I forgot to write that the perfume of the day was Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's "Death" from the Tarot series. It is in a 10ml bottle, which will tell you how old this particular BPAL scent is. (Somewhere around here I have a couple of tarted imps, if there are any old-timers who remember those.) Today I'm wearing a Nocturne Alchemy scent: Ra's Vanilla Amber. The NA perfume oils do not age as well as Possets or BPAL.

And I got GLORIOUS WORKBENCH TIME today, and finished a thing, and have other things almost done, and I cannot wait to show you. Probably I will photograph a bunch and put them up in the Etsy shop while waiting for the USPS.

How do you interact with your mail and package pick-up/delivery people? Do you have favorites?

Apparently I did something to inconvenience my back yesterday. It was hurting when I woke up, and hurting more throughout the day.

It's slowing me down, but I do have hopes of carrying the clean sheets up from the dryer, and also getting to the workbench.

(Edited to add: My back doesn't get upset with me like this very often, which is probably why I don't remember to try the Chirp wheels on it. I used the medium one and then the smallest one, rolling over them and working on relaxing my back and letting it drape over the wheel in an arch. One or two times with each wheel, and the pain is remarkably lessened. It may start up again later, but the temporary relief is a big help, and I think it usually doesn't hurt as much even if it starts up again later. Those things are freakin' magic as far as I am concerned.)

(Edited later to add: it did start up again. I hope it eases off while I sleep.)

(Edited even later to add: well, it did not ease off, so I stood up to get a glass of water and it hurt a lot less when I was standing than it had when I was lying down, and sitting seemed better too, so I have been up for a while longer and all my eBay buyers have gotten their invoices now, which they will be happy about. It's tempting to go up to the workbench and just work for a while, but although it is the cool of the night, the AQI isn't really good enough for me to open the windows and circulate air and bring the temperature down. I will have Extreme Filtering up there soon, which should solve a lot of problems, but I have not yet remembered to order the filters. And now I'm actually feeling a little sleepy, so I'm going to aim for bed and sleep. Tomorrow will involve the packing of many boxes and the photographing of many new pieces for Etsy with markdowns on older work to match. Fingers crossed for cooperative body stuff.)


Is something slowing you down today, with or without ouch?

(Edited to add: And is there something that helps, even a little?)

Edited again to add: And are you up in the middle of your night too?)