There's a lot of oxygen in my blood, my heart rate is good, and I'm currently relaxed on my day off before errands and chores begin. We'll see if that continues... it's still early in the day, week, and new month of June.

#health #fitness #relaxed #heart #errands #chores #Monday #June1 #June1st #June

Fri. May 1, 2026: Of Shakespeare and Strikes

Friday, May 1, 2026

Full Moon

Beltane

General Strike

Cloudy/rainy and cool

Happy Friday!

I’m honoring the General Strike today, which means no client work, no shopping, no marketing posts, and as little time spent online as possible. And no trip to the laundromat!

Online meditation group was good, and made Charlotte happy. Our group leader loves writing and poetry. She read Mary Oliver to us (which she often does, Mary is one of her favorite poets). She also encouraged us to read a poem every morning as a meditative practice. I’ve been reading one every morning for April’s poetry month, and often read RATTLE’s daily poem, but I like the idea of doing it more mindfully each day beyond the month. Maybe as part of my morning 30-minute meditation? I’ll play with it. Maybe it would be a better way to wind down the workday?

SELF magazine closed after 47 years, because Condé Nast is greedier and more bootlicking than ever. I was a subscriber back in the 90’s, and then got tired of it around the time I moved from NY because it got repetitive. I still have some of the recipes and information I pulled from old issues in a binder. I stopped being their target audience a long time ago, but there were years when some of their information was useful.

My life has changed enough so I could drop publications I used to subscribe to because I felt I had to for professional reasons. I used to be a magazine junkie (especially when I traveled in the UK), but the voices have been so flattened over the years that most of them aren’t worth it. Plus, a lot of the ones I enjoyed have closed. As a freelancer, monthly subscriptions for things don’t work for me. I am not paid on specific days. It fluctuates. I have enough monthly expenses with rent, utilities, etc. If I really like something, I’ll buy a year when I can afford it, but ONLY if there’s no auto-renew. Which I why I prefer to pay by check. Many publications just don’t fulfill my reading needs anymore, for a huge variety of reasons. And I won’t read anything on Substack because the company is very far out of alignment with my values, so a lot of the journalists that scuttled over there don’t get my time, attention, and certainly not my dollars, even if I respect them.

After breakfast, I grabbed the bags and headed out. It was sprinkling rather than raining, and I made the most of it. Picked up a prescription for my mom at the pharmacy, and did the grocery shopping. I didn’t shop much for the apocalypse, but I did score a gorgeous piece of tuna steak my fishmonger had just cut. Forgot the oranges I need for Tuesday’s crockpot citrus chicken, so I will swing by and pick those up after Saturday’s Farmers’ Market. Dropped off some mail at the post office, stopped by the liquor store, ended at the library to drop off/pick up books. Headed home, navigating around the road construction, which had the bottom of our street blocked off (again, with no advance notification), so I came in the top, went down another one way, and cut through the parking lot backing up to ours.

Home, hauled everything up the stairs, put it away. It started raining harder by then. Did the day’s marketing, and went through some email.

Joined the Freelance Friends chat. We talked food and drink, so it was even more fun than usual.

I had trouble settling into work. I wanted to take a nap. Now, I’m not a napper. If I nap in the afternoon, I usually don’t sleep that night. I didn’t get as much ghostwriting work done as I hoped, but again, I’m happy with the quality of it.

I got some information and questions from the Clark liaison about the event mid-month down at Shakespeare & Co. I asked my guest, got answers, and will make the arrangements with them today. The Clark is so good about stuff like that.

Pizza for dinner (Thursday has become pizza night lately). I wavered about whether or not to go to the show or go back into the work, but realized I really wanted to see the show, so I put on Real People Clothes and some makeup, got in the car, and headed over to Studio 9.

Studio 9 is an impressive venue. Intimate, but high ceilings and built for sound (it was constructed primarily for music). Parking would be an issue further into the season, but it was okay for that night. It’s just a little too far for me to comfortably walk, so driving was a necessity. My friend/colleague was happy to see me. I met the woman who runs the venue, and we got into a lively tech discussion. I sat with one of my friends from A4A, and we talked about projects. She showed me the bookcase her partner recently built in their house – amazing! They both have lots of books, too. Waved to some other people I recognized, who were seated across the room, including the neighbor I met at Monday’s event, and one of the poets from Monday’s event was on my other side.

The show itself, SHAKESPARE DUETS, was amazing. It was created by two actors, Andrew Codispoti and Ariana Karp. I’ve seen Andrew’s work in other Elsewhere Shakespeare productions and really like it. Ariana lives in California, and came out to do the show. They did Shakespearean scenes involving two characters, in this show from JULIUS CASEAR, HAMLET, TWELFTH NIGHT, MACBETH, and ROMEO AND JULIET. The total connection and focus and the way they can switch roles (as they did in HAMLET) with completely fresh interpretations that also built on each other was gorgeous. They know the whole canon inside out, and know how to make it immediate. It’s not the sonorous, presentational technique one sees so often. They embodied the text and brought it alive in beautiful ways. I especially loved the character choices in the TWELFTH NIGHT scene, and got to talk to them about it after. The precision and detail and flow of their work is stunning.

Ariana reminds me of what Susanna Centlivre is like in my imagination, as I write about her.

It was pretty dark by the time I had to drive home, but I managed it, without too much stress. It made me realize what a good choice it was to book a hotel the night after my reading, though.

Came home and took a while to settle, but so happy that I showed up and had that beautiful experience. My friend did such a good job producing the festival. It’s the second one – the first was last year. It’s so much work, I know, but I hope it continues, and I hope he gets the support he needs for it to continue.

Slept well until just before 5, when someone tossed up a furball, and then Tessa and Charlotte started fussing. I told them, “hey, I’m on strike today” and they said, “not with us” and then Willa crashed over a table with pictures and books and other stuff in my office, so that was that and I was up.

The morning routine was fine. Since I’m honoring the strike today, I’m not doing client work. I am, however, switching over curtains and furniture coverings and fabrics to the summer fabrics (even though it’s still in the 30’s at night). I’m going to celebrate Beltane, and tonight, the next show opens at FutureLabs during First Friday, so I’ll nip down to that for a bit.

Tomorrow is the Farmers’ Market, and I have to pick up the things at the grocery store I forgot, and wrap up the contest entries. Sunday is the opening of ROOTED down in Lenox. Busy again, but good busy!

Have a great weekend!

had to go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and also to the liquor store to pick up a bottle of maple whiskey.

Spent like 10 minutes arguing if it was worse to carry a fresh Pharmacy Bag into the Liquor store or a fresh Liquor Store Bag into the Pharmacy.

Decided both were bad and two trips was easier.

#alcohol #medicine #errands #shopping

Tues. April 7, 2026: An Art-Full Holiday Weekend

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Waning Moon

Snowing

I can’t believe it’s snowing again.

I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend.

Here we are, another week. The Community Tarot Reading for the week is available here. New month, new deck. This month, we are using the Green Witch Tarot by Ann Moura with art by Kiri Østergaard Leonard, along with the Green Witch’s Oracle by Arin Murphy-Hiscock, illustrated by Sara Richard. When we first moved here, there was a store with crystals and cards and oils and herbs just a few blocks away, and I bought the tarot deck there. The oracle deck was a Winter Solstice gift this year. They work well together.

Friday, we had thunderstorms and lots of rain in the morning, so I wasn’t about to go trotting around in it.

I found a box on the doorstep, the item I’d ordered with the gift card I received last week. I’d used it for the Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot, by Avalon Cameron with art by Ana Tourian. My friend Jamieson Wolf has been using it for months, and I was intrigued by it. It’s a stunningly beautiful deck, and one of the best companion books I’ve ever seen, with interpretations, narratives, numerological and astrological correspondences, and even journal prompts. There are layers and layers to it, and I look forward to working with it for a long time. It resonates like a tuning fork, so I know I’ll learn a lot by working with it. I will probably use it for the weekly community readings in September (I have decks picked out between now and then).

There are plenty of reasons to only work with a single deck, and develop a very deep relationship with it. There are also reasons to work with multiple decks (which is something I like to do), and I find I’m drawn to different decks for different reasons/needs. Bonestone is definitely speaking to something in me right now. Right deck at the right time, although I’ll work with it myself for a few months before I do anything publicly with the deck.

I invoiced for the completed ghostwriting project, we got set up for the next one, and talked schedule for the two I’ll be juggling for the next few weeks.

Slogged through a bunch of admin. Did the day’s marketing. Planted a couple of types of seeds, since it was a planting day (more cat grass and, finally, the borage).

Made up a tuna and vegetable pasta with pesto sauce for a late lunch/big meal of the day. It turned out really well.

Did some reading in the afternoon, then got dressed and put some makeup on to trundle down on foot to the gallery. It was still in the 60’sF, so I didn’t even need a jacket, which was a nice change of pace.

I was one of the first ones there, and started setting up the tables for the food and drink. They have cloths, platters, etc. in the storage room, so there’s plenty to pull from.

“Stirring the Pot Beyond the Kitchen” which is the wooden spoon sculpture, was hung in the front window! I was so pleased. Only they hadn’t hung the text portion of the piece. But we found it, in the box in the storage room, and I pinned it up. If we hadn’t found it, the world would not have stopped. I would have run another copy and pinned it up the following day. But it was nice to have it there, since people were excited about the sculpture and the women’s stories deepened the experience of it. The eight women I honored in the sculpture are: Susanna Centlivre (the most produced playwright in post-Restoration England); Jeanne de Clisson, the 14th century pirate who, after the French king executed her husband, sold her land, bought three boats, painted them black with red sails and became known as “The Lioness of Brittany”; Lavinia Fontana, the painter whose husband cared for their children while she negotiated prices for her work like the men; Anna Katharine Green, who pioneered mystery writing in the US, even before Conan Doyle in the UK; Dawn Powell, who wrote satirical novels; Giulia Tofana, the 17th century Italian herbalist and poisoner; Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton; and Iris Woolcook, one of my Playland Painters who bought an RV and, with her cat, drove the newly-paved highway in Alaska and wrote a book about it.

And yes, I’ve either written about or am writing about all of them: “By Her Pointed Quill” (one-act play featuring Susanna Centlivre); “Courting the Lioness” (one-act play featuring Jeanne de Clisson); SERENE AND DETERMINED, which had a staged reading at LaMama Galleria in 2024 (featuring Lavinia Fontana); An unnamed one-act featuring Anna Katharine Green that is still percolating; “Dawn and Dorothy in the Afterlife” which will have a staged reading at the LAVA Center in June (featuring Dawn Powell); JUST A DROP, part of  the Athena Project’s Read ‘n Rant series last May (featuring Giulia Tofana); the audio play “Confidence Confidant” produced by the Post Meridian Players in Boston in 2019, the one-act “A Rare Medium” read by Lumos Players in Ohio last year, and a couple of other plays (featuring Kate Warne); LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE, a stage play in process, and a comedy pilot, both featuring Iris Woolcock.

This sculpture is a way to honor the women I’ve written about.

“Lifecycle of a Public Information Request (A Satire)” which is the mixed media collage, also got a terrific response.

I was so excited to see everyone else’s work. We associate members are all so different from each other, and yet the work fits together. Part of that is because the installers have such a wonderful eye, and create a beautiful flow.

It was nice to have some in-depth conversations with my fellow associates, too. And yes, the mini chocolate chip banana muffins were a hit. There were a bunch of people I hadn’t seen in ages, including from tarot, so it was nice to catch up.

Around 7, each of us gave a 1-minute talk about our work, which was fun, a bit about inspiration and process. I mean, my process is expanding the ways I tell stories, and I have no idea what I’m doing, so I just keep trying things until they work. A little bit later, a bunch of us dashed out back to watch the magnificent sunset and feel gratitude that we were experiencing it all together.

Several people came up to me and said they love it when I’m part of a show, because my work always surprises them (and they reassured me it was in a good way). So that helped my imposter syndrome somewhat. And they are excited about my workshop on the 19th.

I managed to nip out and dash to the other end of Main Street to visit the pop-up exhibit by our local farmers. Full Well Farm’s owners had pieces in it, and I wanted to support them, along with some of the other farmers I know from the Farmers’ Market. The work was really terrific. Watercolors, sketches, mixed media. A lot of knitted pieces, like sweaters and scarves and stuff. It was nice to get to support the fully rounded aspects of the people who feed us.

Then, I dashed back to the gallery. Another friend from tarot was there, and she introduced me to someone who is doing an art installation in a local forest, and she invited me to be part of the test group over the coming months experimenting with it. That sounds like so much fun. I do love me some trees. I also ran into a friend from the A4A cohort, and we had a nice catch-up and made plans to get together at Steeple City Social for a less harried catch-up.

The gallery owners offered me a “shared show” next season, where I will share the space with another artist. Considering I actually have a bunch of ideas for a variety of strange story-art, that sounds like fun.

By then, the pre-emptive pain patches I’d slapped on each hip were starting to give out (yes, BOTH hips were grumbly on Friday), so I headed out. There was a musical act at Steeple City I would have liked to see (their first performance in 8 years), but the place was packed, and I was in pain, so I waved to everyone I knew there, and kept going home.

I made it home (barely), and was in quite a bit of pain by the time I did. I had some tea and a snack, and wound down on the sofa for a bit with the cats. Bea always acts as though I’ve been away for months, months I tell you, even if it’s only been a couple of hours. The check from Llewellyn arrived, too, which was great.

I finally got to bed, but did not sleep well, waking up often in discomfort. Plus, Charlotte was fussing.

Saturday morning, I was up and did the morning routine. I’d forgotten to prep the coffee before I went to bed on Friday, so there was no coffee waiting for me, and that had to be dealt with. Tessa had been trying to get me up, and I said, “Wait until the coffee starts” and her response was, “it’s not happening and it’s late” and she was right.

Always listen to the cat who runs the house.

I put in the Chewy order for wet food and cat litter. The duck & sweet potato food has been discontinued, and the other food that contains duck has tripled in expense, so that’s that for the type of food that’s been their Sunday treat. I’m not paying $50 for 8 cans of 3 oz. cat food. That’s just not in the budget, especially when 12 cans of their favorite was under $20. The other wet food is still reasonably priced, although each time I order it, the price goes up. It’s very frustrating.

After breakfast, I got dressed and headed down to the Farmers’ Market. I drove (still in too much pain to walk) and parked a few blocks from Hotel Downstreet (it’s still there once a month and indoors, until it moves outdoors in mid-May and goes weekly). I got maple syrup from my favorite syrup person, fresh eggs from my favorite egg person, and then over to the Full Well Farm booth to get greens, pea shoots, the biggest parsnip I ever saw in my life, and a colorful array of carrots. And I got to tell them again how much I enjoyed their work in the pop-up art show. I ran one other errand, and came home.

For lunch, we had greens, pea shoots, and carrots with hardboiled eggs, crumbled on top, and a nice dressing. It was yummy. I’ve missed fresh greens over the winter. I need to see if I can grow some microgreens over next winter. It was warm enough to have the windows open, at least for a few hours, and I read on the porch, while Tessa dozed in the sun. We all agreed to push off the taxes again until sometime this week. Why ruin a perfectly good day with taxes? Especially with these corrupt jerks looting the country right now.

Later in the afternoon, I planted purple basil and red clover. Hopefully, the lowering temperatures over the next few days won’t hurt them.

Slept pretty well into Sunday. Up at the usual time, morning routine. Did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. It was rainy and much colder than the previous day, rather dreary for those who celebrate Easter. It was too dark to sew. I supposed I should feel guilty about not sewing on Saturday, when the light was good, but I did not.

I made scrambled eggs for breakfast, using the farm eggs. What a difference. I can’t wait to get them from the market every Saturday in the summer.

I wafted around in my caftan (the one I made a few months back), reading, doing some housework, working on contest entries. It’s really comfortable. I also have better posture in it, which is a surprise. And better posture means less back pain. Imagine that, something I should have figured out a long time ago. Bea ran around playing, while the others napped.

I put down a book I’d been reading (supposedly for pleasure). There were over 200 people on the waiting list for it at the library, so it’s been a minute (aka several months) since I ordered it. It’s gotten a lot of buzz, and one would think it would be right in my area of enjoyment. But I kept getting ahead of it, and then the protagonist killed a cat, and nope. It wasn’t necessary for character or plot development (it rarely is). It was there to shock, a cheap slap at the readers. I’m out.

I closed out the second category for the contest, and I’m working on the third.

I was delighted that the women’s hockey league sold out Madison Square Garden. That is a big deal.

I read an historical mystery by an author who used to live in the area, and there were lots of recognizable places rendered very well. Unfortunately, there were lots of plot holes that should have been caught by an editor (and this was a traditionally published book). It was an overall enjoyable read, and I may read another book by this author in this same series.

Made us a chicken dinner, with my carrot and parsnip recipe (using the carrots and parsnip from the farm, which was amazing, and layered the flavors), and wild rice a friend sent me. I haven’t cooked much with wild rice (which is actually an aquatic grass), so it was an experiment. It was good.

Quiet night, reading and listening to music while being cat furniture.

Slept reasonably well, although I woke up around 4:30 on Monday. I stayed in bed until 5:30, though, and then started the morning routine, which was fine.

Although I limited my online time over the whole weekend (not just on Sunday), I’ve been keeping track of the posts by the crew of Artemis II. What a delight! It’s so nice to have a group of smart people displaying excitement and competence.

Out the door right after breakfast on foot to the bank to deposit a check. Faster on foot, since Ashland Avenue is under construction until May. On the way home, I passed the bus, and the driver (who has met me once), remembered me and we waved to each other. Imagine that. Meanwhile, there are a set of people I run into once every a couple of weeks who always need me to reintroduce myself. Priorities.

Once I was back, I grabbed bags and books and headed out for errands: CVS; Big Y for a big grocery shop; liquor store; library. I trotted around thinking I was overdressed for the weather, but when I came out of the library it was snowing. Sigh.

Got it all done in two hours, which was pretty good. And it was a big grocery shop, five full bags, but within budget.

Home, hauled it up the stairs, put everything away, started to get excited about cooking again. I’ve been in a cooking slump lately. I mean, I’ve kept us fed, but it wasn’t as much fun when someone else did the shopping for me. I like to see things for myself, and then adjust the week’s menu by what looks good, while still being in the budget. Burpee’s offered me a discount on a trio of plants I’ve had my eye on, so I bought them, and they will ship at some point this month. I accepted the invitation to the Clark Institute Summer Preview in mid-May, which will be down at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. Slogged through a bunch of email, did the day’s marketing. Sorted out the library books by project. Tessa fixated on a biography of Rumer Godden for some reason, and started licking the cover, so I had to take it away from her and clean it with sanitizing wipes. Maybe someone read it while eating a tuna sandwich or something.

Charlotte fussed. Because I worked at my desk, she thought I was having a ZOOM call without her.

Got some work done on the ghostwriting, getting ahead on one assignment while I wait for notes on the other. I feel good about it. Also worked on contest entries. Got the CSA sorted out for the season. It’s with Full Well Farm again, and every two weeks, rather than once a week. I pick it up downtown at Savvy Hive, rather than having to drive up to the farm. On nice days, I’ll be able to walk down and back (it’s not heavy). Since we’re likely to be sitting in gas station lines that will put the gas shortage lines from the 1970’s to shame soon, I’m trying to drive as little as possible. That’s why we have locks on the tank flaps now – because during that shortage, people were siphoning gas out of parked cars. I am old enough to remember all of that.

The Chewy order arrived, which was perfect timing, since I used the last can of wet food that morning. Tessa and Charlotte took turns playing in the box.

For dinner, I made an alfredo sauce with shallots, peas, pea shoots, pancetta, with my favorite pappardelle pasta.

I love that the Artemis II crew named a crater on the moon after a team member’s recently deceased wife. I love everything about this mission. Truly the best of us, and we have spent too much time with the worst of us lately.

The community bank where I have one of my accounts is merging with another bank, and I am not happy about it. Bank mergers are never about serving customers, only about screwing them over. I also got a “fraud alert” from my credit union just after midnight – all for absolutely legitimate charges. Hopefully that’s all sorted. So tired of all this fake “it’s about security” when in reality, it’s about control.

Quiet evening. Slept reasonably well, and was up this morning before Tessa even started fussing. To find it snowing steadily. Sigh. That modifies some plans for the day, but that’s okay.

On today’s agenda: working on BETTING MAN, dismantling the Grief to Art website (since I’m giving up the domain), taking care of some other admin, doing my taxes, working on ghostwriting, working on the contest entries. That should keep me busy.

Hopefully, there won’t be enough snow to shovel.

Have a good one!