2019

Today (January 4th, 2020) marks the third year of drawing everyday (Started January 4th, 2017). At some point I’ll look back at the grand scheme of things but for now let us gaze upon the past year. Also behold my inconsistent art style.

January 13th:

An ‘about me’ back when I was 18. I think these still hold true, though I am curious about the high ranking of waffles and the oddly specific ‘strangers in the dark’.

February 4:

I turn 20 in a month which is weird, but so was turning 19 (I think mostly because 18 is such an important age but 19 is just like eh, you are still an ‘adult’ but not completely. 20 might kind of be the same though it means I’m not a teenager anymore).

February 26:

On February 26th, I got to meet Lucy Knisley at her ‘Kid Gloves’ book signing at Books Are Magic. She definitely has one of my dream jobs. If I accomplish nothing else in life I would like to write books, whether it be graphic novels, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or all of them. But I cannot help but wonder what it will take to get there.

March 5:

If you cut back to me as a senior in high school I thought that everything would fall into place once I went to college and I don’t think that will ever be the truth. I overthink as much as ever, if not more.

March 11:

Spring Break! Hung out with friends a few times, enjoyed being back home for a mid-semester pick-me-up.

March 23:

Back to school. Welcome to the common theme of trying to ‘take the day off’ aka working but just not on design. Also got the opportunity to see Chicago on Broadway. I originally didn’t win the school lottery but luckily got the last unclaimed ticket.

April 6:

Went to MOCCA fest (a comic fest)! Got to meet Fran Meneses (frannerd) at her booth and bought a few of her books. Also saw the folks from Drawfee who I used to watch probably back in middle school or early high school and didn’t know they were going to be there so it was a pleasant surprise. Then went to Hudson Yards for the first time to see the giant Wasp Nest (Vessel), couldn’t go inside of it though.

April 19:

April 23:

There’s always a point in the semester where I am not taking great care of myself.

April 30:

Went to the American Museum of Natural History for the first time as a subject for my final English essay (writing about how museums and statues can influence what version of history we learn). I saw a diorama that was on the cover of The Authentic Animal (a book on taxidermy) and it was kind of surreal because I had only ever seen it as a photo and didn’t know what museum it was in. Need to go back there sometime.

May 6:

Best day of finals week was the picnic I had with my design studio.

May 12:

Moved out of my dorm and put everything in a storage unit. Rainy day but not too bad. Thankful for my parents driving all the way up so we could utilize the car, but of course that means we had to drive all the way back the 11 or so hours.

May 22:

Went to the beach for the first time since elementary school or something. I love being tall so I can go far out and let the waves hit me, but I don’t like being responsible for the car keys and having sand everywhere.

May 27:

Hanging out with friends is the best part of summer.

June 8:

Went to Greenville Repticon with friends and brother! Saw so many good turtles and tortoises.

June 15:

Went to Carowinds for the first time since 7th grade with my family. I think roller coasters are cool… but I do not like them.

July 2:

Had a nice trip to Asheville with a few friends in early July. Went tubing in a river for the first time, got sunburned but had a lot of fun.

July 14:

Finished my first year of architecture school zine, pretty happy with how it came out.

July 22:

Spent around 5 days in Pittsburgh, moving brother into his new apartment. Also did a few touristy things, mom got a flat tire, and drove a lot to get home at around 2am.

July 29:

Avoided my summer camp counseling responsibility for a day by going to the beach with a few more friends again (this time I didn’t have to drive ha).

August 2:

Last day of helping at my mom’s lego robotics summer camp! It is the last camp after 7 years (about 5 years of me helping for two weeks each summer).

August 10:

Went to another Repticon with friends! This time there was a venomous section which was interesting.

August 18:

At the end of August I helped a friend move in and saw her college for the first time, then packed up myself. Went back to school a week early to help with the upperclassmen move-in, which allowed me more time to slowly move everything back from the storage unit.

August 26:

Had my first day of work and first day of class, had no time to eat until about 6pm. Kind of a rough start.

September 14:

Went to the Met for a history assignment. I always beat myself up for doing ‘fun’ things.

September 21:

Went and saw Wicked! Won the school lottery for it, thought it was a cool backstory for the Wizard of Oz. Had several songs stuck in my head for a while and I’m a fan of scene changes. I just remember September as a pretty long month of getting back into the swing of school.

October 12:

Went to Washington Square Park for the first time, and popped by the site for the design project.

October 25:

Watched the first part of the last season of Bojack. Kind of had a rough (unrelated) time.

October 31:

Didn’t really do anything for Halloween. Maybe one day holidays that happen on school days like this will feel fun again. Mostly just worked in my room.

November 2:

Did ‘huevember’ so that’s why November is all colorful. Went to CAB (Comic Arts Brooklyn), saw a talk with a few people like Chris Ware and Art Spiegelman (these are a few excerpts from their talk), and walked around the tables. Wrote about it a bit in here.

November 16:

Went to Storm King. Probably my favorite trip this semester. This title may seem familiar, and you can read a bit about my visit in that blog post.

November 25:

Also in November: went to the MoMA with my history class which was interesting since it recently reopened. Also went home for Thanksgiving (was only there really for two days) at the end of the month. Kinda sucked because all of the design final stuff was due at 9pm the Sunday at the end of break so came back to work.

December 4:

I survived my third college finals season. Got all As and Bs *thumbs up emoji*

December 7:

Meanwhile, I am not sure why, but after most of a life depraved of miniature things I have had the increasing desire to make a dollhouse and decorate the inside. We have a few miniature building kits that my parents promised we would make when I was a small child but perhaps I need to take the initiative. At any rate, visited the only dollhouse store I could find near me and it was really cool (though a bit out of my price range at the moment) and got a signed Book of Mini. Wherein I discover the existence of the 68 Thorne Rooms in Chicago and that there is a ‘keeper’ who gets to maintain them and decorate for the holidays…. another dream job.

December 20:

Traveled home! The beginning of winter break consisted of lengthy Terraria sessions with my brother since we hadn’t been able to play games together for quite some time. Christmas and New Years Eve were just small celebrations with my family. I have about 2 weeks left before I go back for my fourth semester, so we’ll see how that goes. I’ve been working on and just finished shingling a miniature 1:12 scale barn for no particular reason (I don’t own horses in the right scale or necessarily have a desire to furnish the inside yet, maybe constructed it as a warm up for an actual house).

Thanks for sticking out 2019 with me. We’ll see if I blog more this year, let me know if there is anything you want see :0