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Yes, I’m being lazy again and doing the blog post here at WordPress instead of making my own html page. That’s fine. This semester’s class is a web development class, so I’m going to be practicing my html quite a bit elsewhere.

Speaking of the class, it looks like it is WAAAYYY more organized than my class last semester. The professor has everything (or most everything, by my quick initial glance) already uploaded to the online platform. That’s good, because it also looks like there is a lot of material to cover and work involved. Week 1 involves reading an 80 page chapter, watching four or five different videos, installing software, and writing some code. It looks like he puts his due dates as Wednesdays and Fridays, which means I need to work ahead a bit. I mostly only have time to work on assignments (etc.) on the weekends, so mid-week and end-of-week due dates aren’t ideal. It means I have to complete stuff in advance, but as long as am aware of the deadlines and stay on top of things, it should work out fine.

I have to admit, I’m enthusiastic in spite of what seems like a tremendous amount of work. It looks like the class is very organized and structured. I like that. It makes it much easier for me to fit class into my life when the assignments and lessons aren’t all random and constantly shifting. Plus, I love doing HTML and CSS, so I think it might be fun.

More and more, I’m starting to think I should switch my major back to computer science. And by “back to,” I mean, “back to the nineties.” That’s the last time I was a computer science major. I ended up not earning my degree in CSci because I left to pursue an opportunity working in the software industry. I did that for several years, but I didn’t like the volatility of the work. Everyone I knew ended up moving around quite a bit, either from company to company due to the rise and fall of funding/investment in projects and technology, or from location to location servicing different branches of a single company. And I didn’t want to be a nomad, so I left the industry and never went back for my degree.

But, I never lost my love of programming and tech, either. And now I’m in a position to be more creative with how I use the skills. I have a good full time job, so there’s no pressure to “find a job” in the industry. I can use the skills for a hobby or for a side gig on my own terms. So more and more, I’m leaning to switching to a computer science major. Maybe I’ll switch communication to a minor and double minor in communication and information systems.

(PS: wondering about the difference between computer science and information systems programs at my university? Computer science is part of the College of Engineering; Information systems is part of the College of Business and many of the professors are part of the accounting program).

This winter, we have had the weirdest weather ever.

Some years are snowy, like last year, and some aren’t, but the constant here is always cold. Almost always, by the end of November, have at least one or two snaps of twenty to forty below. By December, lows at night are regularly below zero.

Not this year.

At the beginning of December, we had a day where the temperature was above 50 degrees. We’ve not dropped below zero, not even at night, at all! If not for a storm that dropped around six inches a week or two before Christmas, we would not have had a white Christmas, either. We’ve had fog—lots of fog—which isn’t typical. We had so many foggy days in a row that it became the talk everywhere around town because it was starting to creep people out. An occasional weird weather event doesn’t bother people too much; but when it stays “abnormal,” people start getting unnerved. The monkey brain starts to kick in and we turn into a bunch of superstitious cavemen looking for signs.

The weather has been so warm, they had to cancel the annual ice festival in Minneapolis. And ice rescues are constantly in the news. If you’ve seen the movie Grumpier Old Men, you’ve seen what Minnesota ice fishing looks like (practically cities on ice). This year, people are still trying it, but the ice isn’t good. People and vehicles have gone through, and several times, a “sheet” has broken away and drifted. The biggest one I heard of was an ice sheet that broke off with 75 people that had to be rescued from it.

Here in my town, we had an e ice storm like I’ve never seen before. It was bananas. Half an inch of ice on everything. The garbage truck couldn’t pick up. I watched as it would try to pull up to a garbage can, stop, and then slide from the road up against the curb. I wonder how much tire wear/damage the trucks suffered from sliding into the curbs all morning! You couldn’t walk anywhere. The entire town sold out of ice melt chemicals, and people were on social media trying to find it. As soon as anyplace would get some in, they would get swarmed and sell out.

Then it warmed up again. It got up to 40 degrees outside and the ice fell out of the trees and off the buildings in thundering avalanches. In spite of almost a week’s worth of above freezing temperatures, a few of my trees still have their ice coatings in places.

As a result of the freezing rain, for the first time in the history that anyone can remember, we had river flood warnings. . . in December!

I like warmer winters, but not like this.

On the writing front, I’m still working on the short stories. Progress has been slow, but it is progress! The main short story I’ve been working on is practically at novella size, so it’s going to require a lot of cutting in the editing stage.

I was also struck with inspiration for another short, but I’m allowing myself to jot enough notes about it to not lose the story. If I keep getting “struck by the muse,” I might just keep starting stories and abandoning them when the next great idea comes along. Since I am still making progress on the other stories, I want to stay focused on them until I either get them finished or hit an actual wall with them.

As for the poetry challenge, I have been keeping up with it so far (yeah, yeah; only three days in, but it’s still a win in my book, lol). Technically, the challenge doesn’t start until the 17th, but I decided to go ahead and start on January 1.

Most of these poems will never see the light of day, lol, because I have no delusions about my ability to write poetry. But I thought I would include my first poem, a (non-traditional) haiku written Jan 1:

***

Auld Lang Syne

This New Year’s morning

More life behind than ahead

This New Year’s, mourning.

***

One thing I’ve discovered is that I apparently never left the angsty-poet stage, lol. Every single poem so far has been full of sadness and melancholy. If I’m still writing poetry when camping season comes, maybe then they will be lighter and more full of happiness, lol.

Speaking of poetry . . .

One of my favorite poems was recently the “poem of the day” at the Poetry Foundation site.

You can read the poem at the Poetry Foundation here: A Blessing, by James Wright, or click on the YouTube shortcut and listen to the poet read it himself.

I first encountered this poem in the mid-90s, in a poetry class being taught by the legendary Jim Mackenzie.

Hubby even made me one of his wood projects in honor of my love for the poem.

Also, one of my watercolor instruction books recommends using a favorite poem as inspiration and painting some of the images or moods evoked from the poem, so I’ll be doing that and likely posting it in a later blog post.

In case you are interested, here are some places to explore the various interpretations of this poem.

James Wright — A Blessing

https://poemanalysis.com/james-wright/a-blessing/

https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-A-Blessing-by-James-Wright

https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/blessing

A Blessing by James Wright

I love this note on the webpage: “Think I can count on my fingers how many times I have stepped over the barbed wire of my life and into the beyond, where happiness has come to meet me. When I was much younger, I thought myself the purveyor of the spontaneous, but now I am more cautious about approaching joy as if it is a creature about to bolt away from me.” Absolutely beautiful description.

My experience is a little different, though. I’ve jumped over the barbed wire of my life very, very frequently and have found that happiness often rushes to meet me when I do. Only occasionally have I jumped the barbed wire and been trampled by a metaphoric bull, lol.

But I love the blogger’s take on this.

On a related note, the UND Writers Conference has released a preliminary list of authors and artists who will be at this year’s conference. I’m on the ball this year, and I’ve already put in my first book order based on the authors. This year, I might just get some of the author’s read before I see them speak at the conference!

The 55th Annual UND Writers Conference

As with every year, I’m SOOOOO looking forward to it! The people who run the conference are such an awesome bunch, and they put together an amazing event, every year. Thanks to this conference, I’ve experienced a wide literary world much broader than my little town. I’ve

YouTube Music made me a “Recap” playlist for my 2023, so I’m sharing that rather than the list of 10 songs I’m listening to on repeat. This gives a little more of a deep dive into my musical tastes, lol.

My YouTube 2023 Recap

That’s it for this month! Until next month, stay spooky!

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Whew! Didn’t this year just fly by?!

For the last five years, we’ve had a snowstorm the first week of October, every single year. This year, it waited until almost the end of October before it started snowing. Yet, somehow, winter still snuck up on me. I have SO much left to do! We winterized the camper and removed all the freezable goods, but it didn’t get it cleaned and mouse-proofed until about two days ago!!!

We did get the fish removed from the pond before the first snow. We ended up giving many of them to Petco because most of the babies seem to have survived this year (or were replaced by new babies?). I think the count this year was 23 or 24 fish that we pulled out of the pond. We kept 8 (three of which are the OGs from when we started the new pond here at the new house). We are trying to keep life a little simpler these days, and maintaining 20+ fish indoors over winter is NOT simple! We did it last year, but I wasn’t going to do it again.

Our first snowfall has, surprisingly, melted away after a week or two, and we haven’t had any snow stick around since. Even though there is no snow now, I am sure we will have more snow before Christmas. We always do.

On the writing front . . .

I’ve been working on a short story for several months, and I had hoped to have it ready for submission by the end of the year, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I’ve been working on it just a little here and there, but it’s grown to around 10K words (so far). The problem is, since this one has been very off-the-cuff and casual, I’m not sure how to end it. I have to get the ending figured out and written before I can start editing (10K is WAAAY too long for a short story from me)!

I have a couple of other short stories I’d like to start on, but I’m holding off on them until I can get this one finished. I think one of the areas where I run into problems is with abandoned stories: I start start a story, get a new idea and start that story, but then I never go back to finish the first story; and while I’m working on the second story, I get a new idea and start that a third story, but I never go back and finish the second story . . . 😁.

So this time, I’m going to try and give this one a little more time and not start anything else. Within reason, of course. There will come a point where, if I haven’t made any forward progress with this story, I WILL need to move on. Otherwise, I’ll just never write again while I wait for some amazing ending for this story to magically appear.

Also, I’m signed up to take part in the Stafford Challenge. More information can be found here: The Stafford Challenge, but the short version is that the challenge is to write a poem a day. While we all know I’m NEVER going to be able to write a poem a day, it’s a reminder to get creative (with words) every day. I’m not a poet, so for me, writing a poem is just a fun, no-pressure creative exercise. I will try to write a haiku, or a limerick, or just something short (again, not a poet). They will likely suck, but that’s okay, because it’s supposed to be just for fun!

As I write this, I’m studying for the final for my current university class. I tell you, I have NEVER been so happy to be almost done with a class! It has really made me re-think my minor; I’m not certain that I’m finding the subject matter as interesting as I anticipated, lol.

One of the more unpleasant assignments of this semester was a video assignment. We were assigned the task of creating a ten-minute video presentation on the general topic of AI. That, on it’s face, isn’t so bad. I enjoy the topic, and I picked to discuss AI in the writing and publishing industry. A ten minute presentation means around 2000 words. Still very much in my wheelhouse and enjoyable.

The problem arises with the purpose and format of the video. The video has to include the upper body of the speaker while giving the presentation. It can’t be all voice-over PowerPoint slides, because the point of the assignment is to evaluate our speaking style. According to the professor, this assignment is by the directive of the Dean of the College of Business. I don’t understand the rationale behind it. Why would there be an on-going public speaking directive in the college of business (public speaking 101 is already a general studies requirement for most majors, as far as I know)? I’m a communication major, and I have no continuing public speaking requirement beyond that 101 class! I just don’t get it, and I don’t like it. AND, it makes me wonder if ALL the classes that I take in the college of business will have this kind of video assignment! I certainly hope not, because I don’t feel like doing this for every single class!

Speaking of classes, I’ve registered for my class for next semester: web development. This falls under the information systems minor. I’m happy to say that course materials are already listed for the class (some professors wait until the very last minute), and they are actual textbooks! Surprising, since this is a tech course, but a good surprise. I am not a fan of the online platform stuff (like my current class). For the online platform stuff that seems to be growing in popularity, you “buy” a four-month subscription. The textbook is online (sacrilege; I like to keep my textbooks), and you often have tests, exams, and assignments all online, pre-made by the platform. Though it is definitely structured and well-ordered, I don’t care for it. I REALLY don’t care for how the exams work. You download a proctoring program that monitors you while you take the exam. Yuck.

However, all is not happy in upcoming class land, lol. The course materials for my class lists two textbooks and the instructions to, “Pick 1.” WHAT? Cue high anxiety. You know what this means, right? I’ll be buying both textbooks, just to cover all my bases and to quell my anxiety. Wonderful. Oh, well. I did say I like to keep my textbooks, right? Well, now I’ll have two 😉.

Also, I did some checking on the computer science major to see if it’s an option. It looks like I’ve completed the math requirements (yay). I do still have to complete the electrical engineering requirement. However, they now offer it online. BUT, it has a lab component that has to be taken concurrently. That’s not a big deal for the employee benefit; we are allowed three classes a year, and I’ve stopped taking summer classes, so I haven’t been using that third freebie. But two classes at once? That’s pretty intimidating. It’s not like I’m not swamped enough already. I’m keeping the option open. We will see how this class goes, and I might go for it. I will probably wait until next Spring, though. Camping season continues during fall semester, so I don’t think I want to be camping AND taking two classes.

I also checked my requirements: I have four classes left for my communication major and four (three after spring semester) for my information systems minor, if that’s the path I choose. For the info systems, the four consists of two required classes related to databases and two electives (one of which is my web development class). For the communication major, I have two electives, the capstone class, and the “experience” component. The English dept capstone was good, but I don’t know what the communication department capstone looks like. Also, I am REALLY hung up on that experience thing. I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to figure that one out.

This month’s playlist. Links to the ten songs I’ve been listening to on repeat:

This month, I have a rant: people parking on the blue hash marks beside handicap parking spots.

In this picture, the parking spots and access areas are pretty clear. However, in the area where I live, very few lots include the “no parking” text. Most just have the blue striping. This is a problem. Apparently, a lot of people, even those with handicap permits, don’t realize what the blue striping is for. It’s to leave room for access: removing wheelchairs or mobility devices from vehicles, moving wheelchairs and mobility devices through the parking lot, etc.

Yet, every time I enter a parking lot, there’s usually a car parked ON the blue striping. And no, I don’t mean there’s a car parked in the parking spot and slightly over the striping, I mean parked ON the striping. In the photo above, there would be three cars parked in that area, not two.

Hubby has a broken foot on one leg and a failing ankle replacement on the other, so any time he’s in the car, we use a handicap permit. Though he doesn’t have a wheelchair, he has had to use a scooter and crutches in the past. Even when he’s not using a mobility device, he needs the extra room of the hash marks so he can open the door wide and focus on getting himself out (he has to turn his whole body and swing both legs out in order to get out) rather than worrying about holding the door.

Recently, I almost got into an accident because of the striping. I was parked in front of a convenience store that had a single handicap spot. My spot was like the left-side spot in the picture above, with the striping on the passenger side of the car. Remember, in my case, there was no right-hand handicap spot. As I started backing out of my spot, a car came flying in and almost clipped me. Why? Because he or she was aiming for/focused on getting parked on the striping (and must have been in a hurry, because they were going way too fast for a busy parking lot, but that’s a whole ‘nother issue). Then the person paused and acted like *I* was the problem for backing out and preventing them from getting into their (nonexistant) parking spot!

So please, don’t park on the stripes. That’s not what they are for! End rant, lol.

Since it is the end of the year, it’s time to revisit the goals, check on progress, and make adjustments for next year.

Physical: My strength-training program has been hit and miss, for sure, but I’m doing really good on the walking part of things. I do a minimum of two miles per day at least three times a week. Next year’s goal will be to maintain the “two miles at least three times a week” walking program, but also to get more consistent with the strength-training side of things.

Emotional: I’ve done pretty well with this one over the past year, too. One thing that’s really helped make life smoother is the “managing expectations” philosophy. It’s where I communicate what I need, what I’m going to do, and what I’m capable of giving to others in all aspects of my life, including at work. I’m going to keep working at that.

And the visual art has helped, too. It’s really very meditative for me and keeps me emotionally balanced. I’ve got my Udemy and Domestika subscriptions, and I’m going to keep doing art for my mental and emotional health.

Social: Hubby and I are doing a pretty good job of spending mindful time together. We will definitely have to keep working at it, though, because it becomes more difficult in the winter months (we’ve been going to a lot of shows and concerts, but I don’t like to travel out-of-town in winter). We plan to keep this goal as it seems to work well.

On the friend front, this is definitely an area where I have to be very intentional and work at it. It’s very easy to fall in a rut and neglect the friends you value, especially when you don’t work together anymore! So, I plan on being very proactive and staying in touch with valued friends.

Spiritual: Eh. This one I haven’t done too great on. It’s definitely important, so I’m still not satisfied with my level of meeting this goal. Again, winter is going to be hard. But, I did find a link that includes some pagan winter crafts. So, maybe I will set myself a goal of trying at least two of those winter crafts. I’ll also keep the old metric of at least celebrating the four major celebrations (equinoxes and solstices).

Intellectual: I’m continuing on with my college classes and classes through Udemy and Skill Success. Frankly, of all my goals, this is the easiest to keep! 😂 This goal will continue as usual.

Financial: I’ve watched the show Sister Wives for years, and this year, they made me stop and think. For those unfamiliar with the show, it follows the lives of the polygamist Cody Brown family. The family consisted of Cody and his three, then four, wives. However, the polygamy has fallen apart the last few years. The problem is the fourth wife, lol. Cody married his three wives in a sort of planning way . . . the fourth wife, Robyn, turned out to be his soulmate, which made it clear to him that the commitments to his other wives were obligations . . . and he discovered he liked true love more. So now the family is falling apart.

What is interesting is how this experience varies for the wives. I don’t mean emotionally; they are all pretty disappointed and hurt. I’m talking financially, especially for moving on with their new lives. Some wives are sitting pretty, while others are majorly screwed over. One wife has TWO businesses and multiple real estate holdings. One wife has no home, only an RV.

That got me to thinking about my own future. While there’s no looming divorce in my future, lol, the sad fact is, wives often outlive their husbands. So I’ve been making some small changes to ensure that my own financial future is protected. So I’ve added that as an ongoing goal: as morbid and unpleasant as it is, I have to be mindful of all potential future financial situations, and plan for it.

Environmental: Though I’ve made several small adjustments to the house (like re-doing the bedroom), the change with the biggest impact was turning the downstairs family room into an art studio. It actually changed the whole “vibe” of the lower level. Before, it was a sort of unused, dusty space. Now it seems brighter and more lively, even though light levels, paint, etc. weren’t changed. The only difference is that the space is now lived in and now has lots of art on the walls.

I really don’t have any ideas for improving the home front for this goal, so I will focus on the other part of it (which, because i am Pagan, I often categorize it under spiritual rather than environmental): enjoying outdoors/nature more. Come to think of it, this also fits under emotional well-being, as well. And it can count for physical, as it often involves walks in nature. So, if i just get outdoors more, I can check several categories off my list, lol.

I think at one point, I set a goal of something like, “get outdoors at least 10 minutes a day, even in winter.” And I know that I tried doing “a photo a day” in order to force myself to get outside and take a picture either day. Neither one lasted long!

But I will keep general goal going forward: spend more time outside/try to get outside for at least a few minutes, every day.

Occupational: My day job is going great. Though I miss my miss, I do enjoy the work I’m going now, and I enjoy the work-life balance that hybrid work gives me. I just hope hybrid work will continue even after the new vice-president takes over. There’s always a bit of anxiety when there’s someone new in charge, but how much things will change remains to be seen.

The part of my occupational life that needs the most work is, of course, the writing part. I’ve made progress, but there is still a long way to go. I’m going to set a small, manageable goal: next year, I want to have two brand new short stories ready to submit. That’s one more than this year…I think. Though I haven’t checked my notes, I’m pretty sure I’ve only submitted one brand new short story this year. I’ve started six or seven, and even finished a first draft of one or two, but I have only gotten one story through the whole process right down to submitting it. Next year, I want to double that, lol.

That’s it for this month. Until next month, Stay Spooky!

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Since I missed September and October is going to slip away before we know it, I’m doing this post right here in WordPress rather than doing it in html off-site. It’s quicker. Yes, it’s also lazier, but “quicker” is my story and I’m sticking to it!

I am still working on my latest short story. This has to be the SLOWEST I’ve ever written, but so far, it’s working. I’ll work on it, leave it alone for four or five days, then come back and write three or four more paragraphs (or write to the next big “event” in the story).

Normally, I come up with an idea, and I try and bang the story out within a day or two. Maybe that’s part of the writer’s block: I’m putting too much pressure on myself to “get it done! get it done!” So far, the slow method is working, so I’ll keep doing it and see where it goes. Maybe my new writing style is “leisurely pantsing” (Oh, lort! Autcorrect tried to change that to: Maybe my new writing style is “leisure pantsuit”!)

(For the non-writers reading this, writers generally categorize themselves into two types: plotters and pantsers. Plotters generally outline all the points in their stories before they begin writing, where pantsers just start with an idea and see where it takes them. Of course, there’s lots of varieties in between. A plotter might start with only a rough outline and play it by ear; or a pantser might plot only the ending and work toward that. The main point is that some writers write with at least some direction in mind and some just wing it. I’ve always been a wing-it writer. Given the depth and breadth of my writer’s block, my writing style no longer suits me–pun intended–so I need to try different things).

On the reading front, I’m participating in a University-wide book read that leads up to a campus visit from David Treuer. We are reading The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee. It’s been on my “to-read list” for a long time. I think I bought it on pre-order, and it was published in 2019. So this is long overdue for reading.

Reading it as part of the University community is appropriate, too. The first time I read his work, it was his novel, Little, assigned reading in one of my English classes in the 90s, back when I was an accounting major sneaking off and taking English classes. I also saw him speak at two UND Writers Conferences, in 1997 and 2002. So reading this with others in the university community just seems like it’s the way things should have always played out.

Speaking of the university, classes have started again. I’m taking an online course for my Information Systems minor this time. To be honest, I’m not enjoying it.

A big part of it is that it really got off to a rocky start. It seems like the instructor was very disorganized. For example, he rescheduled the exam, but then that messed up the lessons. So rather than push everything back and maybe drop a lesson, he combined two weeks in one. In other words, all the reading and assignments for weeks 3 and 4 had to be done in the same week.

And it looks like we may hit a simliar problem soon. We spent the first four weeks in the textbook, and then four weeks were on Excel and four weeks will be on Access. In November, we return to the textbook. And the syllabus lists one week in November as:

Normally, we read one chapter a week, 30 pages or so, and do the 10 point assignment. The ten point assignment is a little misleading as far as the time requirement. The ten-point assignment is a series of questions, usually 15 to 20, often with multiple parts. So a typical question may list six or eight terms and you must match the definitions with them. No big deal, but more time-consuming that it appears on the syllabus.

But that week (Thanksgiving week, no less, when students may be traveling and spending time with family), we have two additional sections to read, each of which also has questions! He doesn’t post the links to these things ahead of time, so while you could complete the reading early, you cannot complete the assignments early, and without a link, I can’t confirm how many questions we will be facing.

AND, ON TOP OF THAT, there’s some kind of oral presentation assignment this week. Not only am I flabbergasted about having so much work that week, a traveling-holiday week, but I’m also curious how that’s going to work. For these online classes, we have no face-to-face or live component. Are we going to record a video to post?

A normal week’s work is worth ten points; that week is worth 55. This all seems like a tremendous amount of work for a holiday week. I think I might try and avoid taking a class from this professor in the future.

Although, that might not be a problem: I’m no longer sure about my minor. I believe that when I picked this minor, it said it was available online or in-person. Now the program selection page says that it’s only available in-person. The more time goes by, the less inclined I am to attend in-person classes (they are a giant hassle, especially with how bad parking has gotten to be on-campus; they just permanently closed one of the largest lots on campus, and aren’t planning to replace it). It looks like the class I want to take next semester for this minor (a web development class) is available online, so for now, I will keep this minor. That may change in the future.

You might be thinking: “Wait. Your current class and your next class are both related to your minor? What about your major?”

Yeah . . . about that . . . My communication major is still up in the air, and I guess I’m stalling. The major requires an “experience” component that is usually accomplished through an internship or teaching assistant position. I’ve said it before, I’m not interested in an internship or being a TA. Eventually, I’m going to have to address this issue and either work something out with the college or drop the major. For now, though, the stalling continues!

Of course, I’m not without alternatives for either. My original major in the 90s was accounting and computer science, both of which I could still pursue if I wanted. I’m not keen on an accounting major, but I could do computer science as a replacement for either my current major or minor. If I decide to drop the Information Systems minor, I will highly likely replace it with a computer science minor. The things holding me back from a computer science major are: 1) Do I still have math to finish? I am a little scared of having to take a calc class at this stage of my life; and 2) the very same thing that kept me from FINISHING my computer science degree in the 90s: the evening EE lab that runs from 6-8 pm. Back then, it was just annoying. Now? By the time I walk from class to my car and make the drive home, etc., it will damn near be my bedtime, lol!

In reality, I may have already completed all the math, and the EE course is now available online, so they aren’t likely the hindrances I imagine them to be. So it remains to be seen if I will stick with the Communications major/Information systems minor or if I will switch things up a bit.

Besides work and struggling with my university class, I’ve been doing a lot of art. I’ve been working through my art books, daily prompts, and online lessons. I have subscriptions to Udemy and SkillSuccess, but they are better for lessons on technology and such. I also got an introductory deal on Craftsy, but so far, the art lessons aren’t really for me. So far, the ones I enjoy most are the lessons on YouTube and my Domestika subscription. I was skeptical about Domestika at first, since their model is more like Audible (you pay a monthly fee and get one freebie per month). They won me over quickly, though.

Since I’m a grown-ass adult, I no longer have to hang my artwork on the fridge. My wall is filling up. My intention is, once the wall gets full, I’ll start replacing the older stuff with newer pieces.

This month’s playlist. Links to the ten songs I’m listening to on repeat:

That’s it for this month. Until next month, Stay Spooky!