What Is Up

Hello friends,
I've been thinking for a bit that I should get back into the writing part of having a blog, and maybe it would be cool to do 'what I'm up to' posts on my Patreon as well.  So here it is! 
Summers have been bad for my depression the last couple years, and 2016 is no different.  The fact that the planet seems to be careening towards disaster isn't helping either~but I'm managing it for the most part.  I'm medicated, sober and pretty good at self-care.  It's been hard to want to work on art, so I try to focus on that when I'm having a good day.
Other than that:

• I've been dog sitting A LOT.  It'll be nearly a month straight by the end of August.  It's fun and I like the pups.  Also I get to explore new neighborhoods.   I do miss my cat and sleeping in my own bed though.
• I have a new studio/desk space at XOXO Outpost.  If you live in Portland (or elsewhere) you might have heard of XOXO Fest.  The Outpost is a sliding scale open workspace.  It's been nice having a place to focus, even though it's been hard for me to make time to get there with all the dog sitting.
• I got into Short Run!  I did not get into CALA, Hiveworks or the Adventure Zone fan anthology.
• The WHYs is going well.  I am still trying to figure out if I can do it more than once a week.  We are into the homestretch of the first book, so that is exciting.  I realized I kind of back-loaded the first book - a lot of stuff is about to happen.
• My cat Lyra may need radioactive iodine treatment!  The good news is it will completely cure her thyroid condition.  The bad news is it costs $1200.  A lot of money for a person on unemployment.  I might do a gofundme for it?
• I've been slowly teaching myself to code using online resources.  I can't do a ton, but it feels pretty cool to be able to understand some of it!
• My twine game is coming along very slowly, but I am still working on it.  I may have been a little overambitious with my first game, but overambitious is my jam.

Things I've been enjoying:

• Pretty much everything at Sushi Ichiban that isn't sushi - taro and sweet bean buns, sesame balls, lychee, miso.
• Friends at the Table (podcast) and Stream Friends (Let's Plays).  Smart, funny and awesome folks all around.
• Doing puzzles while listening to podcasts.
• Viridi (a succulent growing game) and Eidolon (a gorgeous walking/survival sim/mystery set in the post-post-apocalyptic Northwest) by Seattle-based Ice Water Games.
• Everything Suzette does.

Well, I think that's it for now!  Thanks for reading.  I'll be back next week.
-VA