N.B.D.

As I have not had time to draw this week and since it's the end of the month, I thought maybe it would be a good time to revisit the goals I posted at the beginning of the month! Do you remember?

- yoga twice a week. It's two bucks and it's a five minute bike ride away. Easy peasy.
- finish a new zine by my birthday, doesn't matter which one. (February 8th. I'm turning 30!)
- get those damn clutches and wallets done by the end of the month.
- make myself draw and then post on here, at least once a week, for the rest of the month.
- start that sweater.

So, how well did I do? Pretty well, I think:
-I've been going to yoga fairly often. I missed two classes due to work and illness. Also the gf and I have started doing core exercises.
-Milkyboots #12 is pretty much done. I plan on printing it next weekend.
-I finished those damn clutches and wallets! They are for sale in my etsy store!
-I missed one week (this one). I suppose I still have a day to go.
-I started that sweater! My first intarsia project, which is being done very sloppily.

I also made gravy and granola bars for the first time this month, did a sewing trade for (massive) bike repairs, moved my gf into my house, went to a Trailblazers' game and made earrings! I'm lucky I enjoy being busy.

Having these goals written down made it a lot easier for me to keep them in mind and also to keep them manageable. My to-do lists tend to be long and continuously growing, which makes me feel like I'm never getting anywhere. I think keeping them short will help me not get burnt out. I also decided, after receiving some friendly criticism, that 2011 will be the year I actually finish projects I've been sitting on for years. So, my February goals are:

-Have an awesome birthday!
-Continue going to yoga twice a week and doing core exercises.
-Make bowties for Olivia's birthday and to sell in my etsy shop.
-Finish The Courier #1. It's mostly done, I just need to do a few more illustrations.
-Finish half of Just Sayin' #1 (with the long-term goal of having it done by Stumptown Comics Fest.)
-Make an apron for my mom's birthday.
-If I have the time or inclination, make an overnight bag for myself before I go to Austin for Staple.
-Do my taxes, because I'm one of those annoying people who gets them done early.

It looks like a lot, but I think it's doable. I will post art from the zine projects instead of or in addition to my diary pages. Okay, let's do it! Here we go February...

Color & Fan Art

I got some colored pencils! Also, I really, really love the TV show Community:



Britta Perry! Maybe I'll draw Annie next.

I made some wallets and will be adding them to my etsy shop over the next couple days. Two are already up: a light blue floral one and a navy floral one!

Gossip Squirrel

A little break from all the soul-searching I've been subjecting you guys to. Enjoy!

I am known for my people-rendering.

So here's something weird: I have yet to put pen to paper in 2011. Okay, not totally true, I drew a friend's engagement party invitation. I get sort of stuck when people ask me to draw things for them (like the Sparkplug catalog cover) and am always like, what should I draw?! Birds, plants, cute kitties? And inevitably, people want me to draw people, because that is what I do, right? I am known for my people-rendering.

Anyway - I haven't really been drawing, but I HAVE NO IDEA what I have actually been doing! A little editing of some fiction for a new zine I'm doing? Hardly, since it's taken me three weeks to get seven pages done. Sewing the huge pile of wallets for etsy and the gf's sister's order of clutches? Nope, they are still sitting there with Scrabble and other things stacked on top of them. Fixing my white dress and all my falling-apart leggings? Knitting myself a new sweater?

I suppose I have been doing boring things that don't actually count as "doing things" like figuring out switching banks (Who can afford to pay $12/mo for checking?! Not me.), getting a new phone, making bread, hosting friends, cooking, watching Community and Skins, trying to entertain my bored cat, etc. I like winter because theoretically it means more inside, doing-things time with less guilt and I usually need to decompress after action-packed summers. Tho, summer 2010 never really got going ...

But also winter drives me crazy because I hate having to layer and it always seems like other people manage to wear way less clothes than me. I miss the sun. I hold myself way tighter because I'm usually cold. I think because of that I got a crazy knot in my back that made it painful to move my right arm for like three days! Winter makes me feel bad about myself and my body, it makes me feel heavy and old and lifeless.

I guess my point is, for all the work I think I will get done during the winter, I usually spend most of it just coping (i.e. beer) or trying to stay mentally healthy, even if it means spending three days doing nothing but reading the internet and playing RPGs. But even that is not particularly healthy. Nor is it actually helping!

So how about some new goals! I'll write them here to make them real, haha.
- yoga twice a week. It's two bucks and it's a five minute bike ride away. Easy peasy.
- finish a new zine by my birthday, doesn't matter which one. (February 8th. I'm turning 30!)
- get those damn clutches and wallets done by the end of the month.
- make myself draw and then post on here, at least once a week, for the rest of the month.
- start that sweater.

I think that's reasonable.

An unrelated note: I wanted to remind y'all about my etsy store! In it you will find various things I've made from skirts to earrings. You can also get the Milkyboots Super Awesome Pack (issues #8 - 11, only $10!); my vegan recipe zine, Food Stamp Foodie; an 8 page mini-dream-comic, Cannibal Corpse on the Turnpike; Warehouse on Poplar, which is a very quiet, magical-realism comic; and back issues of Milkyboots, of course.