Timeline
Watching the sunset is one thing that always helps me remember that a bad moment, a bad minute or a bad hour doesn’t make a bad day, and a bad day doesn’t make a bad week, and a bad week doesn’t make a bad life. Everything is temporary, especially the shit moments. The bad day ends. A new day, a better day, is right around the corner.
In other news, Zeus turned 5 this week! Happy birthday to my son, my best friend, my ever-enthusiastic walking partner. Please stop barking so much. But also, please never change.
Accidentally ran my fastest 5k ever, today on my lunch break. 26:26 @ 5’20”/km. Wonder how fast I’d go if I was actually aiming for speed 🤔
Someone mentioned that by using a smaller sketchbook they were able to get past their art block more easily, which is a great idea. It doesn’t take long to fill one of these pages and it’s been a great way to warm up each day before diving into some larger pieces I’m working on.
Sometimes the shortest weeks feel like the longest.
I went into this with low expectations but am surprisingly pleased with how it turned out!
Today was a good day. More of that this year, please.
Bye, 2023
On one hand it seems silly to mark the passing of a year, given how man-made the calendar is, but on the other hand, it is very difficult not to reminisce a little when everyone else is, and one time is as good as any to mark the “start” of a new year, really. So.
In the last year, I travelled some. Or at least, I left the city I live in a few times. I took 1 (one) road trip home to surprise my sister while she got ready for her wedding. It amounted to 4 days of driving for 2 days of visiting but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I also (not surprisingly) flew home again later this year for that wedding, which was beautiful. Later, I found myself in a resort in Mexico on a week long, all expenses paid vacation. It was a trip I was able to go on only because someone else was unable to, but one that I will never forget.
In 2023, I read 8 books. That's more than any year since I started paying attention, which makes me feel good. I'd like to continue the trend in 2024, and I'm aiming for 10. That's not quite one book per month, which feels perfectly reasonable. I haven't read much at all in the last few months anyway, so I'm looking forward to diving into a new series.
I finished more than 12 paintings (but I’m not 100% sure how to count, exactly) and filled 40 pages in my sketchbook. That must be an improvement over the previous year (I didn't really count at all) but either way it definitely feels like I'm getting into a good art routine. I look forward to bumping those numbers next year. I'd love to really fill out the art section of the site, and it seems silly to have a sketchbook with fewer than 100 pages last a year or longer. I will finish, at least, one entire sketchbook next year.
The start of a new year is a time for making goals. You should keep your goals achievable and measurable, apparently — so says the internet about the psychology of goals, anyway, and what better source of information do I have? So: I’d like to end 2024 with more friends than I started it with. I’d like to paint more. I’d like to take a step forward in my career. I’d like to exercise more (but only if it will give me bigger muscles) and I’d like to really make sure that I’m adding something to this world by being in it — whether I make it more beautiful or more chaotic, I will have some hand in the year to come.
Here’s to a new year!
A post-Christmas gift to myself. I must have read Mistborn on an old Kindle or something because I definitely have read it once before, but I can't find it anywhere. Looking forward to getting through these.
Always feels nice to push a new design to the website.
This is a collection of nonsense. I've written 58 notes, posted 64 images, and logged 40 books since 2019. Subscribe to it all via RSS.
Reading
Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson