i checked my bank account balance this morning. it's something i typically avoid doing for a while, and then force myself to. it was less than i thought it was — which is fun because i have a week until my next paycheck, groceries to buy, and a kid's birthday coming up (thankfully, i already have some presents bought). i look at the handy digest of mail coming today and find tolls and tax bills, numbering way more than the balance of what's in. my account, and try not to think of the already-late mortgage payment i have to make next week as soon as i get paid again, and how that will eat about half my paycheck — the other half going to pay off debts i incurred in the year after separating from my ex.

I've been in meetings since 10am.

My first was in-person and over coffee, and we talked about art and intersectionality and trying to do good work in a community that's fighting against that work for no other reason than it's different, it's a change, it's new. I had a lot of fun and it was an encounter that filled me with hope and optimism.