Pleasures

Amsterdam with Canal and Bikes

No continuation of Paris just yet. I'm juggling a lot of my dearest interests right now, attempting to fill evenings (now that they're longer in terms of free time) with a minimum of an hour of Kristi stuff, sometimes more if possible. Tonight I flubbed my hours a bit because I left my apartment keys at home, therefore had to call Craig (who stayed a few minutes longer at the office than I) for him to pass his keys to me, since he was heading off to the gym. Speaking of which: I'm proud of his motivation. He's going for work outs a solid 3 to 4 times a week, and I know he loves that high physical feeling (whereas I prefer the quiet time in the apartment to do other things like write and contemplate.) One time consuming project for me has been the design of my friend Gale's wedding invitation. I offered to do it for a host of reasons: it'll be more affordable, she can have a lot heavier hand in calling the shots, it'll be meaningful for me, and it's been good for me to get my head back in the game with typography (the other day Craig mistook my pronunciation of that for "topography" and he wondered why I'd be taking a class on maps down the line during pursuit of this certificate, haha!) So, for some of late December and now a portion of January, I've been throwing around drafts of this thing, and I believe we've come to a pretty decent end product (I even snuck in a little of my own phrasing in lieu of the exact wording she selected! She said I could do so.) I will post the final at some point. The project was taxing on my eyes and my recollection of rules of composition. And I remember how grossly in college I loathed symmetry yet also was repulsed by asymmetry for the pure sake of asymmetry, so this had me crossing back and forth between what's compositionally sound yet interesting and what would be easily deemed classic or plain. Fonts will forever remain an internal struggle for me to satisfy. There are fonts that I love, but they're rare, and I remember how I'd manipulate those few fonts to suit my needs (ultimately resulting in many similar pieces!) This project of course enabled me to climb outside of my font box, as I offered a link for her to choose one that she loved, then also incorporated a font I found inside of my MacBook (one I believe I remember from back in college which means it's an oldie but goodie!) So, next up is to size it properly on the page, determining dimensions and then it's on to paper shopping! There is a very nice art supplies store at 23rd (yay, for school time!) which I will likely rely on for paper options. Thanks, Gale, for allowing me to be not only a bridesmaid but another integral part in your blessed day!*So, I was thinking to myself earlier about all of this time I'm finding freed up to do stuff. We're on the ascent now, clambering out of the shortest days of the year portion of the season, which means daylight increases day by day. Therefore in the summertime, even sooner in the spring!, I will be exponentially more motivated to accomplish in the evenings. Tonight, for instance, as I waited for Craig at the Hanson Place lobby in Brooklyn for him to pass off the apartment keys, light faded to night. By the time I emerged at 22nd and Park Ave South around 6, light was for the most part depleted. I picked up some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and arrived home and phoned my mom & dad as today is my dad's birthday (but he is out to dinner with co-workers and wasn't home to enjoy my YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! wishes [he plays that over the phone every year on my birthday because playing that song was a tradition he established very early on in my life when I was a kid living at home!]) and after speaking to my mom for half an hour or so, and after having fired up the laptop for a little bit of blog entry time, it's 7:25 and I'm tired (because the curtains are drawn and it may as well be 10 pm what with no daylight streaming in!) What about when it's 7:25 and the sky is still bright blue for another 2 hours?? Oh! Can't wait!*Tonight, sun-dried tomato pesto with feta cheese and Brussels sprouts. Maybe an hour of television. Or maybe I read! Or nose through Europe photographs. Or do whatever. This shorter commute elates me.