Over three weeks have passed since my last post. The perception of time remains distorted compared to life before COVID. I’ll start with the shop I posted on my blog. I’ve done this before, but the process of setting up a store took me five hours. Through the hosting site Bluehost, I had to set up WooCommerce, and then the external website Printful. It took me a while to realize that through WooCommerce, I had to add Stripe so people could pay. My first sale was a mug, and since I hadn’t added enough shipping, I had to pay a quarter of a dollar. Not many people will pop for a $17 mug, over $20 shirts, and a nearly $40 hoodie. But I think #readskatelove is worth keeping. As far as I know, it doesn’t cost extra to keep the print-on-demand store on my site.
I joined the Substance skatepark on February 5th. Substance is one of the only indoor spots in NYC, and it was easy to join. At $120 a month, I want to make it worth it. They have regular hours of 4 to 8 pm Monday through Friday, and 12 to 8 pm on weekends. Members can go anytime they like. I try to get there shortly after 8 pm for a few hours. There are people there at the time, and I’ve had fun. The first week, I went five times, and that made me too sore. The second week, I only went once. My goal is to average three to four times a week. I will progress, by how much, though I don’t know. I do know over the last few winters I skated less in winter compared to summer. It gets dark here earlier, and it can get cold. I’m also seeing people I haven’t seen in a while at Substance, and it’s fun.
With my goals for skating, it takes time, and writing has taken a back seat for me. But I’ve read both of the book club selections for this month. When I get home, I’m a little amped, and I’ve read myself to sleep most nights. I think reading regularly like this can only help my writing in the future. I don’t imagine I’ll pick up my memoir project again, which felt like an act of narcissism, and to write one’s memoir, you have to include people in your life, and several might not want anything to do with it. I’ll revise my novel attempt at some point, but that can wait.
I’m planning to skate more and hopefully get clips. I already have to some degree. Instagram/Facebook reels are for 90 seconds, and you can add music to them. I’ve made several. I also found out that YouTube does a similar thing with YouTube Shorts, which are 60 seconds long. Late Saturday night, I made a YouTube short and received 400 likes really quickly. A few months ago, I tried Facebook Pro, which claims that if you get a massive amount of views, they’ll pay you. I removed that feature, but I still enjoy creating clips. Some are below. The last one I made, which went from private to public, is my ‘full part’ from 2013. That’s all for now!
