So, two things:
1): I rediscovered the joys of a hard pencil. I’ve been working with Pentel B leads for the last year or so, and have been getting all smudgy. I was trying to find some HB leads for the legion of .07 pencils loitering around my apartment, but to no avail (I think I’m going to switch to .05s anyway). Just for the heck of it, I picked up a leftover Skilcraft #2-1/2 Firm pencil from my Census days and went to town. I was quite happy with the results of the graphite, though the eraser left something to be desired (as well as dark marks that thankfully my trusty Staedtler and Tuff Stuff erasers were able to pick up).
2): Incensed by last night’s Infernal political drama, I decided to give myself a Real Project to do, one that will at the very least leave me with 7+ portfolio pieces and maybe even Things to Sell.
There’s a lot of design-y elements to futz with (after I was finished scanning I wanted to go back and work a pentagram into it) and I’ll probably spend the rest of my natural life looking for fonts, but nevertheless, I am excited about the prospect of doing this for myself. It feels like an Attainable Goal.