creatively busy

After more than three months off recovering from the tendon injury, I'll be back to work, very soon, and it struck me the other day how when i first got hurt, I was really freaked out by the free time, and now how even without work, I seem to be incredibly busy. I have like eighteen projects going at the moment. I guess part of the change is simply that I've gotten used to functioning despite my crooked finger. But also I think I've gotten better about being motivated with my own free time.

Right now I am actively:

1. trying to finish reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest

2. reading the Omnivore's Dilemna

3. making handmade valentine cards and mailing them to people

4. working on four different paintings (which are turning out really well, I think)

5. knitting a pair of socks

6. crocheting a present which is secret so I cannot say more

7. trying to teach myself to do needlepoint

8. making sure I draw and collage in my sketchbook regularly to keep my visual thoughts focused

9. reading this week's new yorker so I don't have piles of unread new yorkers lying by my bed

10. remembering to keep trying out new and complicated recipes while I have time to shop and cook and don't have to spend all day dealing with other people's food needs

11. putting together a valentines day package

see? that's a lot. even today, with weather so miserable that I've not left the house except to run to the store for snacks, I've been so busy in my room that this is the first real break I've taken since I got up around 9. anyway. it's been a pretty nice day.