metaphoricalmusings

[metaphoricalmusings]

breaking down steps to get there

tennis more consistently - research tennis private lessons - message yash and get a regular hitting time set up

animate 3 walk cycles of kiki - take 3 videos of her, front/back/side - pick 3 weeks to do it

blender ramen bowl - watch tutorial - do the tutorial 2x (recreate ur fav bowls!)

finish justin's scarf - pick movie you want to watch and finish scarf

long-distance substack - gather ideas (3-5) at a coffee shop - start writing! and drawing it! read more - working on it

postcards - design a system storyboard a personal animatic - make a list of songs that could be suitable

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things I want to learn/do this spring and summer

tennis more consistently

animate 3 walk cycles of kiki

do the blender ramen bowl tutorial

finish justin's scarf

start the long distance substack and publish consistently

plein air painting

read more

write postcards to my friends more.. set up a system that makes this easy

storyboard a personal animatic to a song I like

consistently go to a workout class multiple times a week

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an idea i want to make

a timer for cooking.

global timer for full recipe

sub timers that start at certain points

multiple subtimers that are going at the same time

you inject a recipe link. LLM parses it and breaks out the time blocks of work (ie. all chopping. all sauce prep)

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tmb day 5

it's a rain day ... not so good

we gear up and off we go. it's alongside the mountain ridge for a while and then we descend- into the town of courmayer. definitely very bustling and touristy. jean louie gives us all an hour and tells us to meet back at the church steps for lunch. we buy a postcard for kiwi, and wander the streets. since we're in italy, we get a pizza (very good).

after we shuffle back to the meeting place, we walk a ways out of town to the bottom of a ski lift. there's restrooms that we can use, and everyone eats their lunch (it's a hotdog bun with a salami slices inside... thanks bonatti). they do have a bonatti custom chocolate though. every one is sunning their wet clothing from the morning.

unfortunately it seems that ilona's water pack leaked and all of her stuff got wet. and so the other french couple helped her tie it out and dry as we started walking again.

it's a steep ascent for the afternoon... to make it worse, it's right underneath the ski lift (base station where we ate lunch), and we see chairs going up the whole way. except we're walking.

on top of that, it starts to rain ... again. we're fighting for our lives as we continue climbing. wondering how bad our accommodations will be for the night...and wondering why not stay in a nice hotel in courmayer.

finally we arrive at the small italian hut on the side of ski slopes. we get a whole bunk room to ourselves (the group), and all 8 of us knock out for naptime. the foyer is crowded with everyone and their backs and wet clothes hanging. two showers in the downstairs, 2 euros for 4 min of hot water. an improvement!

dinner is pasta. there is wine for jean louie's birthday. mom chats up a chinese lady from other group where they have some mutual friends. we have the coffee pot with many spouts that everyone drinks from... seems a little unsanitary but it is what it is.

bed, at last. i sleep so soundly every night

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tmb day 4

we head out at 7am, as per usual. breakfast has a little area where you can make softboiled egg in water, which is nice.

mom nearly forgot her cane at the place, and had to sprint back to get it. we begin walking again, and we travel along the road for a stretch before beginning the ascent for the day. today, we'll go into italy. we pass lots of cows on the way up, and the weather is truly spectacular.

the top of the first ascent is also the border into italy. we get there in about 3 hours, and there's also a view of the glacier there. we begin to descend after.

this day is definitely one of my favorite walking days. it's so splendid, and the views of the italian side of mt blanc are lovely. lots of flowers too!

at the bottom, there's a little hut where you can buy beer, coke, etc. jean louie says to not drink the water there because there have been reports of people getting sick. we eat our packed lunch (a homemade dried meat sausage, cheese, and bread). the meat stick is really dank lol. none of us wangs could stomach it.

anyway, after lunch we continue walking down some more. this stretch is pretty similar to the mt baldy fire road according to mom. unfortunately we still have another ascent to get to refugio bonatti (which, according to jean louie, is overcrowded and not too pleasant). it also happens to be jean louie's birthday but he says he would prefer not to celebrate due to it being crowded.

we hustle because there are apparently whispers of rain in the forecast. it's a long way up and then a winding path wrapping the side of the mountain. we're at the end of the group and spread out a bit - quentin loops back around to make sure we're ok (lol). eventually, we make it to the refuge and have a well deserved rest.

the sleeping quarters are the most packed that we've seen so far. there are like 20+ beds in a room, and they're all right next to each other. in our room we meet a retired american couple that moved to italy. showers - put in a 2 euro coin and you get 2 min of hot water. immediately it becomes icey cold after.

we did laundry in the sinks and hung it up but the drying room was packed with sopping wet clothes so I was skeptical it would be dry in time for the next day.

the wifi is pretty reliable and ju and I chill with a aperol spritz. indeed it has begun to rain, and most folks are hanging around. today is the day we get ilona and quentin's instagram though, which is kind of fun.

dinner is the usual courses, a rather unmemorable pasta, meat sort of situation.

we sleep early for the night.

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tmb day 3

day 3

breakfast was a buffet- yogurts, juices, toasts, salami slices, cheese, etc. after yesterday bout with indigestion, I was too scared to eat that much so all I had was yogurt.

we headed out at 7am, and began climbing back up the mountainside that we descended yesterday. it's misty and honestly, as we're climbing, I can't remember what I was thinking about. it;s really cool to see the village look so small though suddenly- you walk an hour and suddenly you're quite high up. we can see the pink church and the hay bales and the cattle. after a certain point, we get to a little plaza area. apparently you can buy tmb shirts inside and other souvenirs.. no takers in our group. dad threw out kiwi's old blair blazers shirt. what did this guy even pack??

we continue on, pass by some chickens and some horses (fresh poop is really quite stinky). the climbing gets real steep here. it's a challenge and slow going. interesting we keep as a pretty tight pack here. the climbing portions are a lot better for us (family wise). it's dewy and dense in the forest area and views are fine. nothing crazy but we'll have some glimpses of intersting points here and there. at last we arrive at the peak of the day and begin going done. we pass through a large lot of cattle that are mooing and drinking and fornicating all around us. it's very fun (ju hates it) and jean louie falls into a hole so his whole right legs gets covered in mud and probably also cow poop. bovine is right around the corner and we stop in to have a drink and eat rosti. its extremely heavy on the potato and cheese which makes me nervous about the indigestion issue. we oo and aa over the pies but do not get one. the view is really beautiful. switzerland is cow forward. after this break, we continue the descent. this one is really awful. so many loose stones. ju takes a tumble down one hilly pass. i'm just praying that my knees can keep it together. we finally get to the bottom but then we've got a lot of walking through flat ground to get through.

jean louie promises us a lake at the bottom but it feels like years away. during the last long stretch, I get a chance to talk a bit more with ilona and quentin. oh, I forgot to document the whole debacle with quentin's name!! lol. at long last, we arrive. it's a bit gloomy with rain clouds hovering scarily close by and we worry it might rain. mom, jean louie, quentin and I all hop into the lake. it's very cold but refreshing. we hear some canadians talking about how bad their stay at bonatti was... not a great outlook.

after about an hour around the lake, we get on a bus to the next town over to stay in our refuge for the night. at this point it's pouring rain. at the refuge, we get to split into two different rooms! so our family is in one and the french couples in the other.

dinner is raclette and some sort of local milkweed liquor (not tasty). lots of potatoes and cheese. yet again. the shower here is kind of annoying- you have to keep hitting the button to get a flow.

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tmb day 1+2

a deeply wonderful experience that I have not documented but want to do so before the vividness of the memories fade!!!

day 1:

our family is hustling (not really AM people) and due to a kerfuffle at the front desk of the hotel checking our suitcase in for the week, we end up leaving late. we have to sprint towards the meeting point at the base of the lifts.

everyone else is already gathered there. they're with jean louie, a weathered looking french guy who is to be our guide. there's two sets of french couples- old and young. we will soon get to know them quite well ...

lunch is handed out to us, it's a baguette sandwich, an apple. we take the lift to the top and immediately get to it. there's like zero fanfare lol we just start hiking. it's not too steep of a climb, just a slight incline as we kind of wrap along the side of the mountain. we are really walking for a long time. after about 2 hours, we arrive at a ski lodge at the top of the mountain for a restroom break and quick snack break. the views are spectacular the whole way, just unbelievable sights of mont blanc. clear and perfect weather.

we carry on walking. maybe around 1pm (we've been walking probably 4 hours), we break for lunch. jean louie leads us down a super steep ravine totally off the path - this was high key treacherous and dad toppled down headfirst at one point. we end up at this little stream at the bottom and jean louie fills his waterbottle, everyone sits to eat.

then begins a long descent. although descending is much faster than climbing, it is far more painful. my knees were not prepared for the assault they were about to endure. it's really hard going and I find the downhill to be seriously uncomfortable. it feels like it may not end...

we take short breaks. at one point, we're hydrating by a cool stream and jean louie peeks under the bridge and finds a couple cool cans of sugary drinks. jackpot! someone has stashed them there and forgotten them perhaps. we drink- they have been chilled by the stream and it tastes oh so good.

around 3:30pm we finally finish the descent into a small town north of chamonix called argentiere. this isn't where we are staying though, we still need to hike about 30-40 min further to our refuge - le moulin. it's our first refuge night.

ju and i collapse in the living area couch. so tired. i'm writing this retrospective nearly 6 months later and the pain of that first day has totally faded from my body but my brain reminds me that I was really exhausted...

there's a girl that arrives at the hostel in really poor condition. we're not super sure but it sounds like she has heatstroke - guides are checking on her (she is an american from the sounds of it) and they end up having to call an ambulance for her to go back to chamonix. we get word later that she's doing fine.

we shower, prep our beds (a tiny dorm room for all 8 of us, bunk style). dinner is family style in the dining room on red checkered picnic tables. it's some kind pancetta pork chunks in stewed lentils. there's also a carrot salad that's pretty tasty. of course, plenty of bread and butter.

then after that, it's pretty much straight to bed. the french are playing cards, but honestly im just not feeling social.

at night, dad snores a ton lol. good thing I brought earbuds!!! it's hard to get comfortable but I sleep ok.

day 2

we wake up and have breakfast. I honestly don't remember what it is, probably eggs (how was it prepared..?), croissants, bread, butter, and jam. there's a hot tea and coffee station where you can get hot water for oatmeal too, I think. I remember the layout but not much more.

we eat, we pack, and we grab our picnic lunches to go. 7am, hiking begins immediately. we've probably walked quite a ways up the hill when I realize i've forgotten my podium bottle. it's definitely not worth it to go back but i'm still a bit bummed. means that i'll have to rely on the nalgene only for the rest of the way (and we've only just begun!)

we climb in the shadow of the mountain so it's nice and cool even though we're exerting ourselves. mostly following the fire path (for cars) up the side of the ski slopes. we can see the lift in operation, it makes us hem and haw about why we're even doing this when a lift can take us up in less than 10 min. on foot, it's 2 hours of work. we get to the top of the first lift and have a bathroom break.

then onwards. this next stretch is one of my favorites in my memory. the wildflowers were so gorgeous, it made me think of monet and van gogh and how they all were struck by the fields and fields of wildflowers in france. the weather again, sunny and divine. we are snaking our way through the hills and the incline is steady and hard. at 10:30 am we get to the highest point of our day, which is also the border between france and switzerland. we stop for a water and snack break, photos, and bathroom.

jean louie points out the town of trient nestled in the valley below- it's where we're staying tonight. this turns out to be the biggest bait and switch of our lives. from the hut looking down, trient doesn't look too far at all. little did we know that the descent to get there is going to wind around the whole side of the mountains—so far that we lose sight of trient for most of the afternoon.

descending is hard and long today. the path is really narrow and also on the side of a steep hill. so if you misstep, you might just take a rocky tumble down. at around 1pm we break for lunch at a small shack on the path. they have a "bathroom" which is more like an outhouse. it's a porty potty looking struture with a long little path to get to it a ways from the main seating area. and then when you go in, there's basically a plank of wood with a hole cut out of it that you shit into. when you open the door to the porta potty, there's a sign taped on the inside that says "leave the door open while you're using the outhouse so that you indicate it's occupied!!" - this means you get to squat and shit and stare at the incredibly beautiful glacier. definitely a nice pooping experience, except I didn't poop.

lunch was really hearty and I enjoyed it - perhaps too much - which became my downfall. I think I inhaled too much food and gave myself indigestion. plus the immediate return to hiking (bruh!), my stomach started to feel Really Bad. I am actually in pain going down lol. I do my best to keep it together and I guess at a certain point it just gets better? honestly insane.

we finally end up at the bottom of the waterfall (from the glacier) and have some time to rest. still, the town of trient is an hour a way by foot, although it's flatter. my feet are really hurting. day 2 was so much worse than day 1. we arrive in trient around 3:30pm and I could not be happier. we take hot showers and lay horizontal in our bunk beds. this place gives more of a youth hostel vibe and is generally well kept. lots of asian groups in this one.

dinner is pasta and soup, nothing fancy. we have a group meeting where we decide to have rosti at bovine (an alpine restaurant) tomorrow.

[tbc]

[metaphoricalmusings]

for the fruit book

jotting notes ...

my name is cherrie, pronounced like the fruit. i actually have a very fruity family, but that's a story for another time.

when your name is cherrie, you receive a lot of "cherry" things in your life as birthday gifts. people send you photos of interesting cherry items they encounter. your mother collects cherry themed objects because they remind her of you...

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sun oct 6

i've returned to nyc and finally feel at peace again. there's a few prevalent streams of thought i'll get more into another time:

first—a diary dump

oct 1-3 were spent in vermont, which was lovely. gorgeous fall weather. we did a hike on oct 1 that nearly ended me and made me feel a little bit sad about how quickly my fitness level from the TMB fell off... but that's how it is!

oct 4 was spent resting at home; I ventured out to yoga at baby cobra with will and the library but otherwise nothing much. had a pounding migraine that was nearly unbearable by the time I went to sleep. even so, started my inktobers with matt (we are doing our best to get through them together!)

oct 5 went better! after a morning at home (miraculously woke up feeling excellent, no migraine in sight), I headed out to pick up some food (la cochinita) by lorimer and walked to mccarren park. the weather was glorious and I spent around 45 min hitting with the wall. my strokes were better than I remember. I was able to get into a nice rhythm a few times, but it became clear that cardiovascularly, I was tired out quick. needed to take breaks about every 15 min! before i get into matchplay with anyone I feel like I ought to get to a point where at least everything's a little warmed up. after I wrapped on the court, I spread a blanket out in mccarren and ate food, read viewfinder by jon m chu. it started to get a little chilly as the sun set, so I headed home after that. I arrived home just at the peak of golden hour and the air outside felt so delicious I could not help but feel like I had to milk the last of those sun rays so I talked myself into doing a little run—since, after all, I will be running a 5k at the end of this month. oh wow, actually in 20 days from now!! running from our apartment down a few long blocks to the cemetery is about 0.5 miles, so a full loop back is a mile. it was sublime running and though I felt tired, it wasn't unbearable. daresay I enjoyed it, which isn't something I feel about running, usually. it made me feel a little excited about doing a short run everyday (since that's not even more than 15 min of time really). the next step is to do the full loop around the cemetery, which maybe i'll try in a few days.

which brings us to today, oct 6. I woke up and after some humming and hawing, I got myself out for a short run even though i'm aching in quite a few places after all the exertion yesterday. everytime I get back into tennis there's a bit of a shock to all the muscles up and down my arm and back! plowed through some of the stuff on my todo list (this post being one of them) and going to go to chinatown in a bit to take some photos...

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I'm feeling very happy and hopeful these days. creative energy meter is filled to the brim and all there's left to do (I hope) is to get working on it everyday! :)

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goals for october

figure i ought to put some goals down

find a new art book to study and work from. start each day with a little study from it

get through epic 1 with caroline girvan

japanese language practice. spend the rest of september brushing up on the grammatical rules and then begin crunching vocab in oct.

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to j, 2024 bday

what a whirlwind year of growth and adventure— the best kinds of years. so excited to be by your side to see many +1s to your age, and to experience all sorts of grand new things together! 

love you, c

[metaphoricalmusings]

portland trip notes

big long word dump!

aug 20 we headed out on the road after loading up the car drove for about 1.5 hours and stopped at a starbucks, charged the car up back on the road  passed into oregon state and took at picture at the sign stopped at yreka junction for dinner (taco bell), and went to walmart. we bought grapes at walmart (very yummy). my crunchwrap supreme was not crunchy at all, i was super disappointed.  arrived at our accommodation for the evening around 7pm. it’s a cozy mountain lodge. after we moved everything into the room, we went out for a short walk to check out the premises and golden hour. then we retired back to the room.  I had a call with miko to talk about his role as a TD and took a bunch of notes before we went to bed. 

aug 21 we have breakfast at the lodge (made waffles! very crispy. i hurt my gums eating them) we also tried the jacuzzi in our room, however, the jets did not work :(  on our way out I sniped some firewood tinder for our camping night later in the trip. drove a short scenic path along the cascade siskiyou national monument. stopped at various points to take some photos.  we dropped off stuff at our airbnb, then drove down to revolution hall to pick up our badges. checked out the vibes in the park and dropped things off into the car before walking over to dinner. we got ramen for dinner at toya ramen, justin and I swapped bowls because I ended up preferring his broth. i got a highball which was quite yummy. we shared a hojicha dessert. 

aug 23 I woke up super early again, started working on my sf zine fest illustration. at 7am when Justin woke up we walked over to Twisted Croissant and got croissants for breakfast (they were extremely delicious but also really pricey……. a ham and cheese croissant was $10 lol). it was drizzling a bit but not too bad. at 9am I took the netflix call with dan (hiring manager) in the airbnb and it went really well even though my internet cut out twice. got an email that they want to move forward with the process, and so have the panel interview scheduled for the following week.  we go to the conference and get seats in the auditorium for the opening talk. It’s pretty short, and then everyone heads outside and we’re just kind of wandering around different tables. sat for a few of the indie media circus talks in the tent. we went to dos hermanos bakery to get sandwiches for lunch which supposedly are “life changing”. they were humongous. i got a half sandwich and Justin got a whole one and it was like 2 feet long lol. very tasty and fresh and after some discussion we did agree that it was indeed life changing.  I drop by the visual art meet up at a brewery, then justin and I catch up with the photography meet up. It started raining a lot so then we sheltered in a brewery that happened to be next to where the filmmaking meetup was. We went to check it out and funnily enough I bumped into a girl that was a story artist who was already following me on instagram.  for dinner we go to the food truck cluster near revolution hall and get stuff from a mexican truck. justin got a quesadilla and I got tacos. they tasted ok (justin’s quesadilla cheese ratio was way off— too much cheese, not enough meat). unfortunately I think there was something not right about the food and it didn’t sit well for either of our stomachs.  we’re sitting at the table playing the royal game of ur when justin’s friend swings by with a pup and they chat some and I find out about cult flav which is interesting  then we head in for the side show talks, small bu animation (really neat), pudding.cool (justin missed this whole talk bc he was having shits as a result of the quesadilla) and then we went into the car for a nap before going back in for every frame a painting. I dozed off during the debut of their short film but anyway. we headed back to the airbnb after that.

aug 24 i literally called it the day before, but turns out the ppl staying the airbnb unit above us were also xoxo attendees lol. i had actually met them at the visual arts meetup—they’re a couple and also doing long distance where the guy lives in sf and the girl lives in….mexico?? not sure how thats gonna work out but yea.. anyway on day two we slept in a bit, then headed over to rev hall and justin got a steak breakfast sandwich at meat cheese and bread. I picked up coffee and a chai latte for justin at a vegan cafe nearby. they offered coconut milk as an option so I tried it, but didn’t really taste the difference in the latte.  we did some walking around and chatting with folks, then went in for the afternoon session of talks.  in the afternoon, I get a tamale and we sit down with a random girl at a picnic table to eat and chat. she turns out to be slightly a dud but then a guy named sam grover that we met at the photo meet up sat down and said hi. he turned out to be a super experienced ios developer so I was egging Justin on to ask him questions (free advice!!!) Eventually we head inside for the talks. It’s mostly talks for the afternoon, all of which are excellent. I felt genuinely moved and am already excited to rewatch some of them.  After everything wrapped up I was pretty tired—this whole thing is just a lot of socializing and I feel like I was still ramping back up after being literally in the mountains not really talking to anyone except our 8 person trek group so it was exhausting. I skipped on dinner and just chilled in the car for a bit while Justin went to eat with his friends. He brought me some food which was really nice and super tasty (kimchi mac n cheese and korean fried chicken) I was just rotting in the car with no real plans to leave but then Justin texted me that he was standing next to Tony and Taylor (Every Frame a Painting)!! it would be my last chance to say hi to them and tell him that the YouTube video they made were something I referenced a lot in my art career transition journey. taylor and I talked for quite a bit and we followed each other on IG. i was really happy lol

aug 25 - check out day

i woke up early again (last dredges of jet lag) but after doing some online research about what we should do with our last half day in Portland, i decided that we had to go see the Columbia river gorge.  Unfortunately that is a 30 min drive in the opposite direction that we are headed to after. which means that we just had to get the day started nice and early!!! Justin got up and we packed everything and were out of the airbnb by 9am or so. ate some of the chicken we had as leftovers, then we grabbed a croissant for the road and started driving east. it’s perfect weather and the scenery is great. our first stop is vista house at crown point where we get out and take some photos, enjoy the view. then we drove in to latourell falls where there’s a short hike to a waterfall. unfortunately I took us up down the wrong path so we were hiking uphill for a bit with absolutely no views lol but justin got some nice photos of plants. Eventually I realized we were going the wrong way so we turned back and go on the right track. You could walk up to the base where the water was hitting the rocks, it was actually quite cool.  After that, we headed back into town, stopping to charge at the Columbia river outlets supercharger. Also got Starbucks. Justin’s chai latte tasted like diabetes in a cup  We drove to Powell’s in downtown and checked out the bookstore (huge!!!) and then walked to a food truck area and got katsu sandwiches for lunch. popped into a blick store and got some art supplies bc no sales tax in Oregon so why not 🤑 at this point it’s around 4pm ish and we finally roll out of Portland towards tillamook. After about 2 hours of driving, we’re at tillamook cheese factory and we charge the car, go in the museum and taste some cheese. We also get ice cream and a grilled cheese. justin gets some souvenirs, I pick up a postcard. There were a lot of cows around which Justin took some photos of before we drove out. It’s golden hour at this point and the lighting is insane everything looks so good. We stop in a little town and snap some shots. It totally makes you romanticize small town life in Oregon.  After 2 more hours of driving we arrive at our hotel for the night (agate beach best western). Unfortunately we did not get a room with a beach front view but it’s ok bc we have plenty of ocean views coming later anyway. 

aug 26  I wake up early and plan the day. At 10am we go get breakfast at chalet bakery & restaurant, which is this nice little old school diner near the hotel. I got pancakes, eggs and hash browns, Justin got bacon, eggs, and a waffle. afterwards we dropped by the Walmart next door and got more grapes / last minute camping things. packed the car and back on the road, I called to check atv reservations for later in the day.  drove about 40 min to Thor’s well and looked at the tide pools. Did not see anything interesting aside from a lot of barnacle and some mussels. Thor’s well itself was really cool, Justin and I got real close to take a photo but then of course a giant wave happens to come at the moment and splash us both. Then when we’re heading back to the path, Justin jumps down from a rock directly into water somehow and soaks his shoes lol.  at around 4pm we arrive at the Oregon sand dunes and sign up to do an atv ride. the whole process to get all set up with paperwork, safety training and gear takes about 45 min. the whole time during it they keep stressing how dangerous it is and how its an extreme sport and how you can back out at any time no hard feelings. I kept looking over at Justin to see whether or not we would back out but he sat there stony faced. Low key I was scared lol I was not trying to tip over and get seriously hurt. But anyway we went out and it was a fine experience. Weather again is exceptional and the dunes are beautiful. Personally don’t think I would do it again but glad we tried it. Then we get back on the road and start driving to the campsite. I am a little annoyed bc we stop to get McDonalds and try to charge but the super charger lot is blocked off bc they were repaving it. We end up having to stop at another place and sit and wait for the charging. By the time we get to the camp site it’s dark and we have to set everything up at night. It goes pretty well though - justin’s air mattress turned out to be king sized and fills up literally the entire tent. The stars are actually incredible. You can see the whole Milky Way.

aug 27 In the morning I wake up and I make a fire for us to roast marshmallows over. i also toasted some of my leftover chicken mcnuggies (very yum) We go for a short hike to the beach which is close by to the camp site. spend some time watching the seagulls, saw this super cool moment where a seagulls dove into the water and came out with a whole starfish in its mouth!!!

there are a bunch of wild marionberry bushes around the campground and after confirming with a park ranger that it’s safe to eat, we tried it. very sour. I wanted to gather more but Justin said no…

we leave the campgrounds around 12:30pm and continue driving down towards california. we stopped at natural bridges (lol) and started hiking down to it but the path to the bridge itself was super dangerous and had signs that said DO NOT GO. back on the road, we made a stop at oregon’s tallest bridge and did a hike down to try and see a whole view of it. both justin and I peed on this hike in the woods and turns out it didn’t really have a good view of the bridge after all. but there was a beautiful abandoned beach at the end. Around 3pm we make a stop for late lunch and to charge the car in crescent city. had an incredibly dank burrito - soo good and the restaurant staff were super friendly.  we keep driving and get to eureka around 7pm. After checking in the hotel and dropping off everything in the room we go for a little walk outside to see the sunset over the water. Sunset is just ok. 

aug 28 - last day on the road! In the morning I wake up early and drive the car across the street to the supercharger and walk back. we eat breakfast at the hotel, then pack everything and I get the car back from the charger and we head out. first stop is the Rockefeller loop in Humboldt redwoods state park. we drive down the avenue of the giants on the way down and it’s actually gorgeous. Weather is divine and the light is totally giving. the Rockefeller loop is super pretty and peaceful, the kind of walk that you feel like you have to be quiet in. Except then we realized mosquitos were buzzing around us so we were like YOWZA and we speed walked it out of there really fast. kind of a bummer because it was so beautiful and we would have loved to spend more time there but justin and I are both really tasty so the mosquitoes would have eaten us up. 

Back on the road after that and it’s mostly a straight shot down to SF. We make one stop to charge in a city called Ukiah. Got in n out for lunch and then back to driving. We arrive home at 4:35pm. Yay!

[metaphoricalmusings]

summer + routine

so far this summer in new york has been extremely fun, but also one that does not lend itself to routine. generally, I know that I am a person that thrives with a set schedule that i can adhere to. like for example going to the same workout class every morning at 8am. or dedicating myself to at least one gesture drawing when I wake up. a weekly consistent yoga time.

but I am embracing spontaneity and living a little bit more in the moment and being open to spending time with people because that is equally valuable.

[metaphoricalmusings]

tired today 06/20/2024

quite tired today... slept a lot but overall not feeling super peppy. honestly can't really bring myself to be social. hope that's alright for when emily comes.

jean and i got a free printer and after an hour of fuxxing about, we got it working!!!

[metaphoricalmusings]

confidence 06/19/2024

studio slew figuring drawing last night was a very interesting experience. after the session, i took a little deep dive into slew's background, and he's a youtuber. he's a decent painter and just an okay draftsmen (at least when it comes to figure– nothing can hide in figure drawing)

there was also a guy there that did a surrounding environment classroom drawing of people drawing the model. honestly, it wasn't even that good- not compared to what i've seen kirk shinmoto do, or even eugene. most action adventure animation artists could probably knock this guy out of the park.

yet he is a white man with supreme confidence in his drawing, and he goes out on the street and offers to draw people and ends up making $1k/day (based on the youtube slew doc i saw).

maybe i ought to get a little out of my head and channel some of that energy... that's often the problem with artists who are actually good. because we're so focused on the craft and the never ending battle that is self-improvement, we can never objectively see the work as good, and therefore admirable by others.

maybe that will be the one thing i take away from my time in new york... confidence in my art.

[metaphoricalmusings]

period? 06/18/2024

these update post are quite short and not that interesting atm. i mostly just want to focus on getting back into the rhythm of writing everyday, and then i'm sure the content will come

it was incredibly difficult to get out of bed today. i dunno if it's the summer heat or maybe my period is coming around the corner again (??? would be an extremely short cycle if so).

i lost my waterbottle at baby cobra yoga last friday. so that's kind of a bummer, but also i'm preparing a list of things i probably need to get ready for TMB with.

starting the freelance work again. need to put myself back into a schedule; i do think that's where i thrive. yea... feeling a bit sloppy. we'll have to sleep earlier and be more strict on the scrolling. let's make this week a good one (even if there are tons of folks coming in town!)

[metaphoricalmusings]

06/17/24 vet day for kiki

the vet came today and did a check up on kiki! everything looked great, teeth are good, and she weighs 13.1 lbs.

maybe a fun idea would be chronicling a travel vet visit situation. could be interesting for younger pre-school... a fix it up situation?