hi, i'm jenn schiffer and this is my lifestyle blog

weekly retro #76: hazy shade of whenever

this week was one of those weeks where i felt like i was just going through the motions, living in the moment but feeling a bit out of body. i think it was a mix of the heat, the wildfire smoke, my period, and the windup and down of the world cup.

earlier this week i shared what i made in my fourth ceramics class. i have been having a pretty good couple of weeks at the wheel, and i feel like i'm starting to find my voice as told through clay. i've been enrolled in classes consistently, no breaks, since november so i am still very new to pottery but have more experience and education than most humans on earth. i think the key to unlocking my voice with this practice is to increase my practice time and output, as well as connecting it somehow to my other creative outlets (paint, candles, code).

photo of a smoky hazy sky in brooklyn and the sun is neon orange

i went to wordhack to see jamie speak and to celebrate the meetup's 12th birthday.i've been working on a new version of this blog and jennschiffer.com, and going to tech meetups helps expose me to what people are experimenting with today that's not ai. all the speakers were so creative and inspiring. the air quality was so bad that night, i got a car home and felt instant relief in my nostrils when i entered my apartment. it's a real shame how bad for our health this haze is, i think it looks so cool. i am still thinking about the neon red sun hovering over brooklyn that night.

photo of a face i made out of a little churro and sauce dishes at a local cuban restaurant

a funny thing about going to brooklyn is the unsolicited (and i would say unearned) gratitude expressed to me for coming "all the way over from jersey". i guess this part of the world feels way bigger when you're not from here. it reminds me of how much many people in nyc are missing out on by never leaving their borough, let alone city. jersey city's air quality was slightly better than brooklyn's, not that this is a competition or anything - if so, i'd be the loser playing for both sides.

photo of my hand bringing into the frame a sticker that says "SEE YOU IN HELL"

this week gave us flash floods, smoky skies and 95F degree days. miraculously, that all passed today, giving a beautiful summer day to the world cup final happening just a 20 minute drive away. i was rooting for both spain and a game that didn't end in a penalty shoot-out. it's nice to end a hazy week on a sunny win.

things i enjoyed this week

the process of making fake food is hypnotizing to watch
i recently landed on ethan barber's film videos of nyc that are so dreamy, i almost forgot that they were filmed in present time.
my little usb-chargeable fan and washcloth are my must-haves when commuting in this heat. when someone says they're jealous, offer the fan up to them for a few moments and you've got yourself a human connection despite the sweat and misery of a grimy no-ac subway station.
matthew cortland has been a good source when following whatever the fuck is going on with lettuce in this country.
last night we watched mall city which is a student film made in 1983, for a music video, taking place at roosevelt field mall in long island. it's a great time capsule, especially for andy who used to go there.

retro done, vlog uploaded...now i just need to lift some weights and do my weekly planning. all of these tasks have made for a nice, creative routine every sunday. thanks to all of you who make my words, photos and videos a part of your routine as well.

xoxo jenn

this was published July 19, 2026 under living art weekly-retro ceramics jersey-city wordhack sports brooklyn friends

what i made during my fourth ceramics class

technically i had scheduled myself to spend this hour in the ceramics studio, but i didn't want to go all the way there and find that my bisqueware isn't ready, so i've decided to push that time to tomorrow and instead publish the latest in the *what i made in my ceramics class* series.

weekly retro #75: bingo

this week began in recovery from the heat wave and being outside so much in the direct sunlight the few days before. i said i didn't want to see the sun for at least 48 hours and it obliged, although we could have done without the massive amounts of rain.

weekly retro #74: heat dome

it is presently a cool 84 degrees (F) out according to my laptop as i type this in a well air-conditioned room. don't be mistaken, though, your beloved princess of hating the heat (me) spent a lot of time outdoors despite, and in spite of, a three-day "heat dome" bringing over 100 temperatures to the metropolitan area throughout the 4th of july weekend.

weekly retro #73: frequent stops

this past week was a test for how bad i really want to be off my phone, and the answer is *very bad*. it's a tough habit to kick though, requiring intentional moves like deleting apps and logging off of web pages, keeping the phone further from me than other things i could fidget with my hands and eyes, and simply going outside. in an algorithmic world, making intentional moves is really hard.

weekly retro #72: cone's off, cramps on

when i was in college learning software engineering, my professor told us that there's no way to say with 100% certainty that your software is bug-free. even if everything is working perfectly now, there's always a chance that some kind of race condition or memory leak will rear its ugly head down the line. that doesn't mean you should never celebrate a release, just that there's a level of humility needed to align with reality. i bring that up to show that i know that there are caveats when i say that pumagreg is cancer-free. as far as the sarcoma in his leg is concerned, he's all clear, and that's a huge win!

weekly retro #71: the cat's alive, knicks in five

i wrote last week's retro from the floor of my bathroom next to pumagreg as he lay lethargic after pissing blood, and with advice from the animal hospital to see if it clears in the morning otherwise bringing to an emergency room. today, i type this from my couch as pumagreg lays nearby after zooming around looking for food. it's incredible how a good nights rest can heal even the sickest little guys.

weekly retro #70: asked the vet for a lobotomy but they said no

happy june, happy pride. it's also the beginning of what i'd been preparing for weeks, which is a new chapter in my cat's life as a (hopefully) cancer-free tripod. in this weekly retro i talk about some dark stuff but calling attention to the dark makes the light even brighter or whatever. oh, and go knicks!

weekly retro #69: no i will not just title this one 'nice'

yesterday was saturday and it felt like a sunday. today is sunday and it feels like some other kind of day. i'm coming out of a period fog but things are still a bit hazy. writing, editing, and perhaps showering will cure me. welcome to the retro.

weekly retro #68: quiet before the scheduled storm

this was a week of resetting after doing a lot and before doing even _more_ a lot. finding ways to ground myself is key to plan as i take care of responsibilities ranging from low risk (hosting a karaoke party lol) to higher risk than hosting a karaoke party (preparing the home for pumagreg's upcoming surgery).

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