weekly retro #92: thank you for voting
this week involved working my muscle of disciplined communication and keeping calm under pressure, as i work on some special projects along with tackling a typo that my pharmacy made that lead to them not filling one of my prescriptions. it's not a major issue that a human made a mistake alone, but that technology spread the existence of wrong digit across so many portals - that i never asked to be added to - but it takes a phone call, email, talking to an ai chat bot, and in-person visit to get that wrong digit fixed. technology etches mistakes in stone but it can't undo it, make it make sense! it's going to get resolved because i did the work and kept my cool, blah blah blah until the next time but for now welcome to the retro.
i've been making the sharing 3-minute vlogs every week for 6 months now! it's a nice part of my sunday to go through my phone's camera roll and look at every photo to curate for these retros and every video to curate for the vlog. even if you don't post it, i recommend you spend a bit of time triaging all of the photos, words, code, videos, etc that you've created throughout the week. i think you'll be surprised how much more creative you are than you tell yourself during the sunday scaries.
i can't not acknowledge that this was a pretty great week for democracy relative to past ones, given how the results of midterms went. it's still frustrating how mainstream gutter racism and transphobia has become leading up to and through every election, along with how much fucking money is spent on all of it. it's important to celebrate wins where they happen, and i have, and also we have so much work to do.
with christmas decorations coming up all around the city, i'm feeling the crunch to get holiday items ready for the shop. i've been spending time every single day testing wax and wicks, throwing and tripping pieces at the ceramics studio, and still finding time to learn and experiment. i took a workshop on storytelling with clay that was really nice and inspiring. it was the day after the election so everyone at the table was buzzing with the kind of creativity that flows when you feel even just a little bit safer than you felt the day before.
this may have been our last sunny fall kind of week before the temperature drops and we see a bit of rain. i rotated my summer shoes out with my winter boots and sneakers, let's hope they can handle slippery leaves and pieces of jack o'lanterns that the squirrels keep leaving around.
things i enjoyed this week
- i just finished the second of jo firestone's really fun luella van horn series, sex on murder island. i guess i have to wait a year or so for the next installment, i'm dying to know what it will be called!
- potch and brad released a new daily word puzzle called 'circulations' that i've been enjoying since it's release. i got really close with today's puzzle!
- this stop-motion video made of real pottery is so beautifully done. you should also watch the behind the scenes from the studio that made it
i can hear fireworks outside right now, my guess is it's for diwali. i hope everyone out there is having a fun, safe celebration!
xoxo jenn
p.s. this thursday we're hosting a very special ny comedy festival version of robot karaoke that's like the los angeles shows (special guests!) but in nyc (the big apple!). i'll have had my regular dental cleaning that morning, so come that night and tell me how clean my teeth look before you hop on the stage with us!