weekly retro: three teens in a trenchcoat start a business on their period
i'm sitting here groggy, swollen and sore after a very poorly-slept night - a signal of my period starting any second. but it's hard not to feel invigorated about this week after seeing the next few days' forecasts having temperature highs in the low-50s after a very frigid and windy couple of weeks. time to crack open a window and finish this blog post. but first, a rorschach test...
staying active even as my premenstrual cramps start taking flight has, frustratingly, made me feel better and stronger. i know i say this about exercising in general regardless of my cycle lol, but what a tragedy (dramatic) it is that high intensity movement is a necessity in managing my thyroid disease on top of having a still-active uterus. i can't say i don't fear at all what menopause will have in store for me when that time comes, but i've gone through adaptations around hormonal chaos a few times now so i know whatever happens i'll figure it out.
i started an llc last week which involves paperwork, one of my top five enemies alongside estrogen drops, my dad's estranged wife, and my former dentist who will not stop calling and texting me - please, i told you you're no longer in network! while my body constantly reminds me i'm a grown, now-middle-aged woman, i still feel like a doofus and dingus when doing anything related to money. shouts out to my state of new jersey, though, whose online resources were very easy to navigate.
for years i've been making candles for friends and coworkers, and it's time to make my art available to others. now that the administrative (hard, painful) part is done, next is figuring out an online shop solution (probably also hard, painful). stepping away from the screen to go back to melting wax has kept me sane throughout this overwhelming, yet exciting process.
as i mentioned before, it's getting warming this week which is a much welcomed break from how frigid last week was. i'm talking "feels like" temps of 5 degrees fahrenheit (spelled that right without help on the first try, bitch) with winds. it feels like it's been a long time since i've lived around constant snow and ice on the ground.
i got my hairs cut last week. my stylist had taken a couple months off for surgery and recovery, unsurprisingly related to uterine issues, and i was her first client back. we were both very happy to see each other, catch up, and see my eyes again after that much needed trim.
when i start to feel worn down as my period approaches, i negotiate a lot with myself to try to stay indoors and on the couch. i was tricked the night of aerial yoga, i was only going to buy a pass if it wasn't snowing. as soon as i bought the pass, it started snowing. cancelling would have cost me $25 and the priceless feeling of hanging upside down like a bat.
because of the cold, i keep my socks on until the second class begins. my legs are very strong, but the friction of my doc martens against my socks is stronger and i only notice the holes in them when i'm in public. you probably cannot see them but i can. perhaps by sharing this with you, my hands typing it out will make me remember later to buy new socks.
saturday morning i went on an art date with myself, first in manhattan. i managed to get a spot in-person at a gesso workshop at kremer pigments, where i first got into paint-making several years ago.
dr. kremer himself happened to be in town and opened the workshop with a brief lecture on pigments. the workshop was super informative, and the shop's general manager, roger carmona, was a very patient, educated instructor (and he's a great artist too).
after the workshop, i came back to jersey city and walked through journal square to check out day one of the jersey art book fair. the air was dusty from all the salt and particles coming into the air after the roads had a chance to warm a bit after the cold week, but it was fragrant from all of the delicious restaurants and markets down the block.
the book fair was high-energy, with lots of young artists selling all kinds of zines, stickers, books and prints. i bought a couple of zines from a booth run by bfa students from montclair state, my alma mater. one was about eggs, the other about bugs and computers, my holy trinity of muses and a sign my practice (and business) could be headed in the right direction.
it was also a chance to drench myself, and my hat hair, in the lights of dan flavin. i've been telling people for years that it's a permanent installation, but now i see it's "only" until 2030. that's just a mere 5 years from now, but still seems so many lifetimes away.
my weeks often end with the usual housekeeping chores and watching pumagreg do what he does best: be soft and relax. still so much to learn from him.
things i liked this week
- i love interactive maps, and i only just found that my main supplier, candle science, has one of top selling fragrance oils by state. do you agree with your state?
- tammy aka uncomfy sculpted all of her meals in celebration of lunar new year. it's the intersection of craft process and culture that i love about youtube.
- another youtuber i've enjoyed is eyol, a korean intern living in nyc and working in new jersey. her love of bread and adventure is so fun to watch and, as someone who has done the nj-nyc commute many times, i grant her way more street cred than all the grown folks who come to nyc and avoid crossing county lines.
- i have been greatly moved by this crowdsourced, audio memorial of those who have died from the genocide in gaza, put together by friend and very talented colleague, ramsey nasser. so bittersweet it is, the feeling of seeing tech allowing the creation something so important but what should not be needed in the first place.
it's time for me to go back to fighting the urge to rot and put on some workout clothes to either sweat in on a treadmill or while mopping floors in preparation of a little birthday gathering i'm having later this week. stay warm, safe, and out of trivial arguments.
xoxo jenn
p.s. i plan on sending out my monthly newsletter later this week, so join the (free) list so i can consensually (took me two tries to spell that correctly) invade your inbox :)
