This is a NOW page, a neat idea cooked up by the rather clever Derek Sivers.
It's a way to get an overview of what I'm slogging through focused on at the moment.
After years without contact, I was informed that someone I had a really complicated relationship with has passed. I'm only just getting past the numb shock that comes from receiving any bad news, and I'm slowly unpacking my feelings.
In continuing a recent theme of connecting with complete strangers on the internet, I've had a couple of lovely chats with new friends who I found by way of the FediRoulette bot.
I had a complete stranger randomly read my NOW page and send me an email. I think it's one of the coolest ways I've made a completely random human connection in a while.
Someone described my constantly shifting sleep schedule as "Timezone Parkour". The fact that long covid messed up so many of my rhythms is a constant point of frustration, and this adds a little delight to thinking about it.
I got an unexpected vase by post!
I've set up an RSS reader called miniflux for my fellow clowns. I finally started playing with it a few days later, and I really see the appeal. It's also got me thinking about adding an RSS feed to this site, though I'm not sure how I want to go about doing so.
DeltaChat released a video calling feature, and I've been using it as an excuse to have some longer realtime conversations with friends. While the interface needs a little polish, it's already been an excellent experience.
Speaking of DeltaChat, I successfully rebuilt the deltachat-rpc-server on OpenBSD, so I can use it with the janky-yet-usable arcanechat-tui. I'm also poking at cmsend as a way to send myself automated messages securely.
After a nearly two year hiatus, I've returned to making theater masks!
Trance masks are made from little more than paper, glue, and paint. The process is labor and time intensive, and I like having one going as a background process to poke at between projects. I just finished the first one I have worked on since we moved here, and I'm already thinking about starting sketching ideas for another.
The new workbench has been working really well for us. I love wandering in and seeing different projects going at the same time. Right now there's a large container of hand-shredded paper there, for a future batch of paper mache clay. I've got a few experiments planned, and if it works well I'm also hoping to use this material for projects in #ThisOldClownHouse.
We've released a new episode of our podcast!
I've been chatting with Robert Kingett, who granted me permission to create a 'zine from of his incredible short story, The Colonization of Confidence. It's one of the most powerful things I've read in a while, and it seems fitting for it to exist in some sort of edition crafted by human hands.
The never-ending adventure of transforming a hundred-and-someodd year old hotel into a clown school, artists residency, and theatrical playspace.
We've made big progress on the library (aka the Delrita Reading Room) recently.
There are shelves now, and they have books on them! I've been more or less living out of cardboard boxes for the last two years, so this has provided a massive morale boost.
There's still a lot left to do in there, but it feels a room more than a construction area now. Next big task in there is getting the baseboards and trim sorted out.
The library bench has a temporary set of panels covering the lower storage area. We've pulled some truly lovely fabric out of storage, which was originally used on a human-sized jack in the box in the show PlayThings. We're designing custom covers out of these colorful velvet panels, which will both look fantastic and continue our reinventing bits of our history in this new place.
There's an unrelated silly new project brewing, currently codenamed the Sunrise PottyDoor. I've made a promise to myself that I'll get the bench built before I dive into that delightful madness.
At the moment I'm working on handstands.
I have a long standing trauma about them, which I'm slowly grinding my way through. I haven't officially said it yet, but I think my goal next year is to focus on doing handstands away from a wall or other safety supports.
Pushing the library forward lead to a bunch of box shuffling that cleared another large section of floor. That's inspired a lot of eccentric movement, and I'm really enjoying exploring that.
I've also been itching to dig through some boxes to find my juggling hats.
I was interviewed about my work as a clown teacher: BoldJourney.com
After unpacking our velocipedes, we added some lights to a 20" unicycle. Video here.
Things I've either eaten, or am in the process of eating:
sounds: Lee Majik
words: The Mask Handbook - A Practical Guide by Toby Wilsher
words: The Who Cares Era by Dan Sinker
words: The Colonization of Confidence by Robert Kingett
experiences: Karen Montanaro's new show
experiences: The first snow of the season.
Last Updated: 2025-12-26