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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 02:01 pm
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 10:56 am
Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page. Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!
We all know about Connections and Wordle, but here are some browser games that last longer and are great for keeping from going insane during Zoom meetings:
2048 Cupcakes. I still play 2048 in times of need, but it's so much more fun with colorful cupcakes.
Squares. If you like word games, here you go. Find all the words in the four by four grid. The dictionary this game uses is highly idiosyncratic, which can be frustrating; how is THIS a word that counts but THAT is only a bonus word?? But it does add to the challenge!
We all know about Connections and Wordle, but here are some browser games that last longer and are great for keeping from going insane during Zoom meetings:
2048 Cupcakes. I still play 2048 in times of need, but it's so much more fun with colorful cupcakes.
Squares. If you like word games, here you go. Find all the words in the four by four grid. The dictionary this game uses is highly idiosyncratic, which can be frustrating; how is THIS a word that counts but THAT is only a bonus word?? But it does add to the challenge!
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 10:25 am
Time to reflect a little on the media I read and watched in 2025. My reading goal for 2025 was “Reading Joyfully”. I think this worked out ok – I started out putting a lot of pressure on myself about it and stressing out, but then I backed off and used it as an excuse to think about how reading fits into my life these days.
I was somewhat hoping I could get back to really engaging with new to me SFF, and for the most part that didn’t happen. There were a couple of weeks in there where I was sleeping way better than I generally manage these days and I read several new to me books! It was great! So I think part of my problem is that I’m just not well rested enough to engage with new to me stuff very much. Which is sad, but pushing isn’t going to make me happy either.
Then after the thing with the flood damage, when the whole house was a mess, I was struggling to focus on much of anything. I ended up just reading a ton of fic, so much fic.* Which has been delightful. The comfort of the same thing again but different this time is really not appreciated enough by critics. This reading phase has been very joyful!
In 2025 I read even fewer books than I read the last several years (57) but unlike the last couple of years I don’t feel bad about it. Which was the real point of my reading joyfully goal. I’m more at peace with who I am as a reader these days and that’s really nice, even if I might never be the same kind of reader I was before the pandemic happened.
Another trend that defined my 2025 media was crossdressing girls. I love, love, love the trope of girls who disguise themselves and boys to go out into the world and do things that they wouldn’t be allowed to do. This is a trope that English language media hasn’t really been doing much with recently, but luckily for me it's popular in Asian dramas. It’s such a comfort trope for me, and I decided to really dive into this trope and watched many dramas featuring it. (And read a couple of books too)
I also continue to watch many silly Chinese reality shows, another thing that I find relaxing. Media has really was a source of comfort for me in 2025.
In terms of goals for 2026, I’m going to continue to not have a numerical goal for total books. I find those more stressful than fun. Having a theme for my media last year worked out really well though so for the first quarter of 2026 my media theme is going to be “comfort” . Then I can see I want to keep that theme or change at the end of the quarter. I also want to push myself a bit harder on reading Mandarin so I’m going to make it a goal to read six graded readers this year, which feels very doable.
*Me, very stressed out: I’ll just read this cute sounding fic in a fandom I’m not in. It will be relaxing. Me, several days, and I don’t know how many fics in that fandom latter: I guess I have a new fandom now, opps?
I was somewhat hoping I could get back to really engaging with new to me SFF, and for the most part that didn’t happen. There were a couple of weeks in there where I was sleeping way better than I generally manage these days and I read several new to me books! It was great! So I think part of my problem is that I’m just not well rested enough to engage with new to me stuff very much. Which is sad, but pushing isn’t going to make me happy either.
Then after the thing with the flood damage, when the whole house was a mess, I was struggling to focus on much of anything. I ended up just reading a ton of fic, so much fic.* Which has been delightful. The comfort of the same thing again but different this time is really not appreciated enough by critics. This reading phase has been very joyful!
In 2025 I read even fewer books than I read the last several years (57) but unlike the last couple of years I don’t feel bad about it. Which was the real point of my reading joyfully goal. I’m more at peace with who I am as a reader these days and that’s really nice, even if I might never be the same kind of reader I was before the pandemic happened.
Another trend that defined my 2025 media was crossdressing girls. I love, love, love the trope of girls who disguise themselves and boys to go out into the world and do things that they wouldn’t be allowed to do. This is a trope that English language media hasn’t really been doing much with recently, but luckily for me it's popular in Asian dramas. It’s such a comfort trope for me, and I decided to really dive into this trope and watched many dramas featuring it. (And read a couple of books too)
I also continue to watch many silly Chinese reality shows, another thing that I find relaxing. Media has really was a source of comfort for me in 2025.
In terms of goals for 2026, I’m going to continue to not have a numerical goal for total books. I find those more stressful than fun. Having a theme for my media last year worked out really well though so for the first quarter of 2026 my media theme is going to be “comfort” . Then I can see I want to keep that theme or change at the end of the quarter. I also want to push myself a bit harder on reading Mandarin so I’m going to make it a goal to read six graded readers this year, which feels very doable.
*Me, very stressed out: I’ll just read this cute sounding fic in a fandom I’m not in. It will be relaxing. Me, several days, and I don’t know how many fics in that fandom latter: I guess I have a new fandom now, opps?
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 01:05 pm
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 11:47 am
Drabbles and limericks for people who requested them:
Chrestomanci
due South + Murderbot
due South + Venom
Interview with the Vampire (TV)
KPop Demon Hunters
Pride and Prejudice
Singin' in the Rain
Slough House
Star Wars
Prompt me if you would you like something in one or more of my fandoms. I may not get to you today, but we can have Even More Joy Day tomorrow!
Chrestomanci
due South + Murderbot
due South + Venom
Interview with the Vampire (TV)
KPop Demon Hunters
Pride and Prejudice
Singin' in the Rain
Slough House
Star Wars
Prompt me if you would you like something in one or more of my fandoms. I may not get to you today, but we can have Even More Joy Day tomorrow!
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 12:11 pm
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 06:11 pm
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 04:53 pm
Today I reread all 4 graphic novels of 7 Soldiers of Victory.
Ambitious project. Lots of different styles. Some of it worked better for me than other parts.
Mister Miracle's story is really wild. Good stuff.
Frankenstein I couldn't click with, the art or the messy violence.
I reread it for Zatanna. Good stuff but it reminded me how comics take months to cover what a single episode of TV would have time for. I feel like I've read the pilot of a spin off show I'd really like to watch. But also that I want to see her age and step outside the past's long shadow.
I do not know if I want that enough to try reading more comics. They're such a grab bag.
I mostly feel like I've been reading the wrong genres offering the wrong solutions. The violence is the problem and the stories keep offering it up as the solution. Magic battles where you realise your own power and interconnectedness and freedom and possibility are a definite improvement, but then what?
I feel like I might be able to actually write a story if I could come up with a decent answer to that.
So I'm glad I reread it but I feel a bunch of stuff, and like the pondering space between issues on a regular publishing schedule could really be filled by thinking on a lot of parts of these comics.
Ambitious project. Lots of different styles. Some of it worked better for me than other parts.
Mister Miracle's story is really wild. Good stuff.
Frankenstein I couldn't click with, the art or the messy violence.
I reread it for Zatanna. Good stuff but it reminded me how comics take months to cover what a single episode of TV would have time for. I feel like I've read the pilot of a spin off show I'd really like to watch. But also that I want to see her age and step outside the past's long shadow.
I do not know if I want that enough to try reading more comics. They're such a grab bag.
I mostly feel like I've been reading the wrong genres offering the wrong solutions. The violence is the problem and the stories keep offering it up as the solution. Magic battles where you realise your own power and interconnectedness and freedom and possibility are a definite improvement, but then what?
I feel like I might be able to actually write a story if I could come up with a decent answer to that.
So I'm glad I reread it but I feel a bunch of stuff, and like the pondering space between issues on a regular publishing schedule could really be filled by thinking on a lot of parts of these comics.
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 04:18 pm
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snowflake_challenge prompt 4 asks the following: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page
Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!
Given that the last non-work website that I looked at was a somewhat grim political podcast, I'm going to reinterpret this as an opportunity to link a weird and wonderful piece of longform journalism that I've had bookmarked for a while: The snail farm don: is this the most brazen tax avoidance scheme of all time?
The title doesn't do it justice, and neither does my summary: a septugenarian who made his money in his family's shoe-selling business empire in the north of England, and has decades-long associations with the mafia in Naples (including hiding mafia members on the run in his properties in the UK) has for the past several years invested most of his time and energy in exploiting an elaborate UK tax loophole by which — if you claim to be running a snail farm on your property (including in residential blocks of flats or office buildings) — you pay no tax. In his telling, he's doing this purely to pass the time and keep his mind active in his later years. It's a wild ride.
This kind of written long-form journalism, essay or interview — with left-field subject matter and larger-than-life personalities — is my absolutely favourite type of nonfiction.
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 10:12 am
My Grandchildren Don’t Thank Me for Christmas Gifts. Is This a Moral Failure?
My grandchildren are in or nearing their teenage years. Two are from my son and his wife, and two are from my daughter and her husband. Of course, all children love and, to some extent, expect birthday and Christmas gifts. My daughter-in-law and her children continue a tradition of giving me handmade greeting cards every Christmas. They also always send me handwritten thank-you cards for the gifts I send. However, I receive no gifts from my other grandchildren, both boys, and never thank-you cards.
I mentioned this to my daughter, their mother, but there was no response. I suggested that each might give me a card promising 30 minutes of picking up sticks in my yard. I know that gifts should come from the heart with no sense of reciprocity, but the current situation bothers me. There seems to be a lack of moral character being demonstrated, as well as poor ethics and manners.
What do you think?
From the Therapist: You’ve framed your grandsons’ behavior as a case of bad manners or moral failure, but I hear a yearning underneath. No matter how much we tell ourselves that gifts aren’t about reciprocity, the reality is that they often hold emotional significance in which both parties are essentially asking to be recognized. The giver wants acknowledgment of their thoughtfulness and investment, while the receiver wants confirmation that they’ve been truly seen. Both are essentially asking, “Do I matter?”
When we don’t feel seen or appreciated, hurt feelings can disguise themselves as something else, like concern about good character or proper etiquette, because it’s easier to push pain outward than to say, “I feel unimportant to you.” But remember that children take cues from their parents, and I have a feeling that this lack of acknowledgment has more to do with your daughter than with her sons.
For instance, you mentioned that you got no response from her when you brought this up. But instead of telling her what her children should do for you, I’d be curious about why she doesn’t facilitate gift-giving or thank-you-note-writing. I say “she” because most teens don’t do this without some parental prodding, and I imagine that your daughter has her own feelings about your relationship that are being played out in the gifting dynamic.
Maybe gifting between you and her family feels empty or performative, when what she really wants is a different or more meaningful relationship with you. It could be that she perceives you as critical of both her and her sons, demanding of something that she doesn’t feel she or they owe you. She might also find your suggestion that the boys pick up sticks for you as a bit thoughtless: Would it make you happy to ask her children to do something that would feel more like a burdensome chore than something they would actually enjoy giving you?
Meanwhile, you say that your “daughter-in-law and her children” give you cards and write thank-you notes, but I noticed you don’t mention your son. It’s nice that your daughter-in-law has created traditions for her kids around gifting, but this doesn’t mean that her children have stronger characters than your daughter’s children do. It just means that the person your son married facilitates gifting and thanking — and that your son and your daughter don’t.
So what might help? First, separate your hurt feelings from judgments about character. You can feel unappreciated without that meaning that these boys are being raised poorly — or that this is primarily about them. Second, consider what you actually want. Do you want thank-you notes, or do you want to feel more connected to and valued by this branch of the family? If it’s the former, you could issue an ultimatum (no thank-you notes equals no gifts), but I don’t think forced statements of gratitude are what you really want. If you want genuine connection and appreciation, you can start by approaching your daughter with curiosity instead of complaints.
My grandchildren are in or nearing their teenage years. Two are from my son and his wife, and two are from my daughter and her husband. Of course, all children love and, to some extent, expect birthday and Christmas gifts. My daughter-in-law and her children continue a tradition of giving me handmade greeting cards every Christmas. They also always send me handwritten thank-you cards for the gifts I send. However, I receive no gifts from my other grandchildren, both boys, and never thank-you cards.
I mentioned this to my daughter, their mother, but there was no response. I suggested that each might give me a card promising 30 minutes of picking up sticks in my yard. I know that gifts should come from the heart with no sense of reciprocity, but the current situation bothers me. There seems to be a lack of moral character being demonstrated, as well as poor ethics and manners.
What do you think?
From the Therapist: You’ve framed your grandsons’ behavior as a case of bad manners or moral failure, but I hear a yearning underneath. No matter how much we tell ourselves that gifts aren’t about reciprocity, the reality is that they often hold emotional significance in which both parties are essentially asking to be recognized. The giver wants acknowledgment of their thoughtfulness and investment, while the receiver wants confirmation that they’ve been truly seen. Both are essentially asking, “Do I matter?”
When we don’t feel seen or appreciated, hurt feelings can disguise themselves as something else, like concern about good character or proper etiquette, because it’s easier to push pain outward than to say, “I feel unimportant to you.” But remember that children take cues from their parents, and I have a feeling that this lack of acknowledgment has more to do with your daughter than with her sons.
For instance, you mentioned that you got no response from her when you brought this up. But instead of telling her what her children should do for you, I’d be curious about why she doesn’t facilitate gift-giving or thank-you-note-writing. I say “she” because most teens don’t do this without some parental prodding, and I imagine that your daughter has her own feelings about your relationship that are being played out in the gifting dynamic.
Maybe gifting between you and her family feels empty or performative, when what she really wants is a different or more meaningful relationship with you. It could be that she perceives you as critical of both her and her sons, demanding of something that she doesn’t feel she or they owe you. She might also find your suggestion that the boys pick up sticks for you as a bit thoughtless: Would it make you happy to ask her children to do something that would feel more like a burdensome chore than something they would actually enjoy giving you?
Meanwhile, you say that your “daughter-in-law and her children” give you cards and write thank-you notes, but I noticed you don’t mention your son. It’s nice that your daughter-in-law has created traditions for her kids around gifting, but this doesn’t mean that her children have stronger characters than your daughter’s children do. It just means that the person your son married facilitates gifting and thanking — and that your son and your daughter don’t.
So what might help? First, separate your hurt feelings from judgments about character. You can feel unappreciated without that meaning that these boys are being raised poorly — or that this is primarily about them. Second, consider what you actually want. Do you want thank-you notes, or do you want to feel more connected to and valued by this branch of the family? If it’s the former, you could issue an ultimatum (no thank-you notes equals no gifts), but I don’t think forced statements of gratitude are what you really want. If you want genuine connection and appreciation, you can start by approaching your daughter with curiosity instead of complaints.
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 10:05 am
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 07:22 am
haka (HAH-kah) - n., a Maori group dance with rhythmic chanting, vigorous facial and arm movements, and foot stamping.
Traditionally a war dance, now performed as to show respect during ceremonial greetings and funerals, but better known internationally as a challenge to opposing teams at sports events -- the New Zealand rugby union team aka the All Blacks is associated with this, as they've been performing a haka before matches since an 1888 tour of the United Kingdom [Sidebar: of note, most of that team were in fact Maori], but other New Zealand national teams also do it. From Maori, of course, though there are dance-related cognates in other Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian haʻa, dance, and Tongan haka, hand action made while singing.
---L.
Traditionally a war dance, now performed as to show respect during ceremonial greetings and funerals, but better known internationally as a challenge to opposing teams at sports events -- the New Zealand rugby union team aka the All Blacks is associated with this, as they've been performing a haka before matches since an 1888 tour of the United Kingdom [Sidebar: of note, most of that team were in fact Maori], but other New Zealand national teams also do it. From Maori, of course, though there are dance-related cognates in other Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian haʻa, dance, and Tongan haka, hand action made while singing.
---L.
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 08:57 am
Mostly, I keep depression at bay through counseling myself, Resilience!
Life has always been a slog for the majority of souls incarnated upon this planet, and happiness (or at least contentment) comes from figuring out ways to put a positive spin on that slog. When the sun rises over that garbage dump, see the luminescent peach-colored sky, not the rotting bags of trash!
Yesterday, though, I kinda lost the thread on that one, and ended up feeling quite miserable throughout the day.
Not entirely sure what was up with that.
I put in four hours at the Schlock office in Montgomery, a creepy little village in Orange County, New York, filled with the type of people who eat at Latino food trucks but plaster their own Ford F-150s with "I Stand With ICE” and “Report and Deport” bumper stickers. Trump ran on mass deportations, and Orange County is a Trump stronghold. It's no good telling myself that most Americans don't vote, that only 22.7% of eligible American voters supported Trump. Trump won, so mass deportations are the will of the people.
While I was at the Montgomery office, an ICE thug shot a Minneapolis woman three times in the face. She was exercising her First Amendment right to bear witness. She died.
Here's the video:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Jqr3UTSqn/
The most horrifying thing about this video actually is not the video but Trump's explanation of the incident: The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense.
This is very obviously not the case, and so, we are left once more regretting that George Orwell evidently is the 21st century's Nostradamus: The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
Final Dickensian touch: The surname of the woman who got shot was "Good".
Maybe that's what depressed me yesterday. Straw + camel's back. I dunno.
Anyway, when I came back to the house from Montgomery, I was too depressed to do a goddamn thing.
I mean, I was too depressed to watch reality TV, even! And that is saying something.
###
Sleep knits the raveled sleeve of care, etc, etc, so this morning I am back in the saddle, riding that To Do list.
Miraculously, the mental logjam broke, and I have been generating that 1,000-words-a-day + on the Work in Progress with little or no effort. I have no idea whether it's any good or not. My present mood inclines me to think not. But I persevere.
Grazia is currently in the ICU being oriented to the care of COVID patients by cowgirl Debbie Reynolds. (Brian actually had a girlfriend named Debbie Reynolds, and I just couldn't resist.) We need a couple of scenes to establish banter and bonding, & then I will kill off Debbie Reynolds so that Grazia can have her breakdown. I also have to work in Grazia's growing familiarity with the New Millennium Kingdom folk, not sympathy exactly, more Sure, what the fuck as her sense of the permissible breaks down. Needs to have one more phone conversation with Neal, too: And how are your Evangenitals doing anyway?
I have another 1 million pages of tax code to memorize. Depreciation and capital loss carryover stuff, which was out of scope for me when I was a TaxBwana.
There's Remuneration, too!
And shortly, I will be toddling off to the gym.
Still. I'm lonely.
I keep in touch with the People Who Matter through phone, text, & email, but I crave real-time banter. And discounting Neighbor Ed—a champion banterer but unreliable for various reasons—I live 100 miles away from anyone who can provide good banter.
Life seems pointless & grim.
It's on me to change that.
But my recontextualizing superpower appears to be on hiatus.
###
Here's a happy-making photo, though:
Life has always been a slog for the majority of souls incarnated upon this planet, and happiness (or at least contentment) comes from figuring out ways to put a positive spin on that slog. When the sun rises over that garbage dump, see the luminescent peach-colored sky, not the rotting bags of trash!
Yesterday, though, I kinda lost the thread on that one, and ended up feeling quite miserable throughout the day.
Not entirely sure what was up with that.
I put in four hours at the Schlock office in Montgomery, a creepy little village in Orange County, New York, filled with the type of people who eat at Latino food trucks but plaster their own Ford F-150s with "I Stand With ICE” and “Report and Deport” bumper stickers. Trump ran on mass deportations, and Orange County is a Trump stronghold. It's no good telling myself that most Americans don't vote, that only 22.7% of eligible American voters supported Trump. Trump won, so mass deportations are the will of the people.
While I was at the Montgomery office, an ICE thug shot a Minneapolis woman three times in the face. She was exercising her First Amendment right to bear witness. She died.
Here's the video:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Jqr3UTSqn/
The most horrifying thing about this video actually is not the video but Trump's explanation of the incident: The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense.
This is very obviously not the case, and so, we are left once more regretting that George Orwell evidently is the 21st century's Nostradamus: The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
Final Dickensian touch: The surname of the woman who got shot was "Good".
Maybe that's what depressed me yesterday. Straw + camel's back. I dunno.
Anyway, when I came back to the house from Montgomery, I was too depressed to do a goddamn thing.
I mean, I was too depressed to watch reality TV, even! And that is saying something.
###
Sleep knits the raveled sleeve of care, etc, etc, so this morning I am back in the saddle, riding that To Do list.
Miraculously, the mental logjam broke, and I have been generating that 1,000-words-a-day + on the Work in Progress with little or no effort. I have no idea whether it's any good or not. My present mood inclines me to think not. But I persevere.
Grazia is currently in the ICU being oriented to the care of COVID patients by cowgirl Debbie Reynolds. (Brian actually had a girlfriend named Debbie Reynolds, and I just couldn't resist.) We need a couple of scenes to establish banter and bonding, & then I will kill off Debbie Reynolds so that Grazia can have her breakdown. I also have to work in Grazia's growing familiarity with the New Millennium Kingdom folk, not sympathy exactly, more Sure, what the fuck as her sense of the permissible breaks down. Needs to have one more phone conversation with Neal, too: And how are your Evangenitals doing anyway?
I have another 1 million pages of tax code to memorize. Depreciation and capital loss carryover stuff, which was out of scope for me when I was a TaxBwana.
There's Remuneration, too!
And shortly, I will be toddling off to the gym.
Still. I'm lonely.
I keep in touch with the People Who Matter through phone, text, & email, but I crave real-time banter. And discounting Neighbor Ed—a champion banterer but unreliable for various reasons—I live 100 miles away from anyone who can provide good banter.
Life seems pointless & grim.
It's on me to change that.
But my recontextualizing superpower appears to be on hiatus.
###
Here's a happy-making photo, though:
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 09:10 am
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 12:51 am
The official line was that Justice League America would be the funnier title and Justice League Europe would be the more serious one, but things weren’t working out that way so far. As JLA #30 took that title to new depths of darkness, JLE #6 was Giffen and DeMatteis’ most ridiculous issue yet, its plot shamelessly engineered for maximum absurdity. ( Rumiko Takahashi couldn’t have done it better. )
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 08:49 am
Another foray into the lost worlds of Unknown.
Unknown Worlds: Tales from Beyond edited by Stanley Schmidt
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 07:29 am
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 06:59 am
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 08:47 pm
I stalled out last year on the drawing practice, because I tidied up my sketchbook and pencils, and it was so frustrating not to be able to find them that I abandoned the project. But I was in OfficeWorks the other day, and bought myself a $5 pack of 12 sketching pencils and a $2 tiny shitty sketchbook.
Two days ago, I attempted to draw something from my screen, and was too sore/tired/grumpy, and gave up after about three lines. Today, I realised that the worst part of drawing is working out where to start. So! I have a simplified goal. Attempt to draw my hand at least once a week. Today's effort was about 5 minutes worth, I got the thumb, some of the palm, and two of the fingers before running out of oomph. I've worked out that I'd rather do a stack of detail in one place than try and sketch the whole shape before getting started. And it wasn't fun, but it wasn't awful.
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