Bonus post this week! I didn’t want to skip a book-focused post for Saturday, but I also wanted to just chat with you all for sec, so… extra post it is! And I’m here to talk about what we have all be up to lately. On one hand, it feels like none of us have been up to much of anything since the pandemic started. On the other hand, it feels like everything is so crazy and stressful that surely we’ve all be doing SOMETHING or another, right?

So I’d love to hear what everyone has been up to the lately. I mentioned in my first post coming back that I’ve been reading quite a bit, I’ve been writing (a lot), and I’ve been working like crazy. And, of course, all the hobbies keep piling up. I collect hobbies almost as much as I collect books, apparently.

I’m still working on cross-stitch, a new crafting hobby I started at the beginning of hte pandemic in March 2020. I was really proud when I finished this pattern of the Disneyland Castle:

I kept up with the cross-stitch habit pretty consistently in 2020 and the first half of 2021, but it started to fall apart in the second half of last year. BUT! I have started on another pattern, and I’ve bought far more patterns than I will possibly be able to manage this year. Hopefully I can get back into the habit and it’ll be fun to see how far I get.

I’m trying to relearn how to draw and paint. I took a couple art courses a lifetime ago when I was in community college (mostly in pencil drawing), and I’ve never had any actually training in painting. I was never a great artist even though I love art. I’m… okay, I guess. Still, I’ve decided this is the year I just say “fuck it” and just start making art when I feel like it, and the skill will hopefully come as I go along. Here’s a couple of the pencil drawings I’ve done recently:

And, my very first attempts at acrylic painting EVER, which I did last month! –

Last August, I flew to Omaha to visit my best friend. It was a bit of a risk, of course, though when I bought the plane tickets it had been looking like things were finally starting to quiet down a bit (boy, what a false alarm THAT turned out to be). But I hadn’t seen my best friend since 2018 and I was desperate to see her. And we were very careful and I managed to avoid catching covid, thank goodness.

In other news, I have applied for the Clarion West Summer Writer’s Workshop. I’ve been wanting to do this for ages, and never felt ready, either in terms of skill or in terms of the necessary free time and financial support. I don’t know that any of those three categories are really ready this year, either, but I decided it was time to finally TRY. Most people don’t get accepted to Clarion West on the first attempt, so I’m not holding my breath. But I figured, if I can’t get accepted until my third or fourth (or whatever) application attempt, that still means I have to START APPLYING eventually. So. I did. I should be hearing about acceptance/rejection (let’s be real, I’m just waiting for the confirmed rejection) by the end of March.

In addition, I’m hoping to write a couple short stories this year and start shopping those out to lit magazines. I have just finished second revisions of my novella, and I’m thinking about finding a few beta readers to see what more needs to be done with it before I start thinking about querying for an agent.

The long and the short of it is that I’m DONE WAITING. It’s time to gain some forward momentum SOMEHOW.

So how about you, dear readers? What have you been doing during all the craziness of the last couple years? Just surviving is more than enough, of course! I applaud everyone who has gotten through the last two years with even a modicum of sanity left. But if you’ve been keeping yourselves busy with anything interest or fun, I’d love to hear about it! Or if you’ve been doing nothing but working and watching Netflix, I’d love to hear about that too! (My own tv-viewing habits are sporadic and idiosyncratic, so feel free to tell me what good things you’re watching!)