Got the typewriter to work!

Didn't realize the amount of muscle it would necessitate just to type a sentence. Wholly unpractical as a writing instrument, but I can see myself incorporating it into some mixed media art on paper, or into some of my mixed media pocket journaling.

In other news:

• Finished the thank you portraits that go into the back end of THE SOLAR GRID collected edition, and received the foreword from someone very dear to me. Still waiting on the introduction and afterword, after which all the material for the book should more or less be complete.

• Things fell apart with the publisher lined up for TIMES NEW HUMAN, so have to start reconsidering the best route to release it.

• PROJECT ROSEWATER which started at the tail end of 2025 is trudging along but seems to have hit a rough patch.

• GANZEER.COM updates still underway and are likely to carry on till the end of next week, by which point work on my kitchen just might also be complete.

• There is talk of a project that involves some travel towards the end of February. We shall see.

#journal

It's been a while since I blogged. Fell out of the habit some time ago. Fell out of a few habits since my move back to Cairo actually and added a few frankly less than ideal ones: Much less reading, much less exercise, no use of the bicycle at all for commuting, and much more smoking. All things I've resolved to get a jump on altering in 2026.

I largely blame the transitional nature of settling back in, mostly hinged on all the work involved in making my place properly habitable, which is already coming up on close to a full year. I find it hard to settle into a good routine without a fully functional home, and you don't have a fully functional home if you have to live on takeout which is exactly what I've been doing for some 10 months.

Kind of surprised I managed to finish THE SOLAR GRID in the midst of it all. Now that it's complete with only publishing logistics to take on, I'm in a better position to get all the other life things in order.

I've already started cooking again, as well as reading. Now to get back into the habit of exercising. Other things on the docket is a big Ganzeer.com update, which is underway as we speak.

#journal