Clawing at Dirt

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Ian
A scuplture that looks like a cross between an amoeba and a jellyfish, lit from inside, hanging from the ceiling of a light rail station. Two other sculptures are visible in the background.

Is this relevant? Not really, no.

This is round four of trying to write a blog post. I’d like to write about my life without feeling like I’m whining or feeling sorry for myself. That has proved difficult.

I’m sure it’s just an attitude problem and if I try hard enough the world will turn into sunshine and rainbows.

This sounds more pessimistic than I am. I just feel stuck right now. Things are manageable, but barely, and getting things to improve feels like I’m clawing my way up a steep slope of loose dirt. While moving three different pieces of cargo with me, only one of which I can hold at a time. Progress is possible, but limited and very difficult.

At least lifting weights has been going well for the moment. So that’s something.

In fact, why don’t we go through my year goals. With a one sentence per goal limit, because limits breed creativity and also I’m trying to spare you all a 1000-word post. Continue reading →

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Sudden Burst Transmission

Posted on June 19, 2024 by Ian
An image of the band Tiny Stills playing live.

I saw the Tiny Stills live last week! Yay! A definite bright spot in the last couple weeks.

Okay, so I might have fallen off the once a week blog post thing. Whomp.

Hopefully I can get the average back there by the end of the year.

Things have been overwhelming lately in a lot of ways. Some good, some bad, some just…a lot. Continue reading →

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It’s the First of May!

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Ian

It’s the first of May, and thus I am obligated to remind you all this lovely (and silly) song exists.

That’s it for today! Enjoy. 🙂

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Rattling Off Bullets

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Ian
A screenshot from XCOM: Enemy Within. The camera's focused on an alien console with a holographic projection above it. Dr. Shen says over the comm "Is this what the aliens do for fun? At least they're not playing... computer games."

Putting me on blast, XCOM! D:

At the moment, the last week feels like it was very long indeed. Late-day energy crashes are fun. As such, quick bullet points: Continue reading →

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Job Searching and C&C Noodling

Posted on April 14, 2024 by Ian
Text printed in a window in gold font that says "No Peddlers or Agents Allowed."

Spotted on an older apartment building. Damn, my chance to live my dream as a peddler to this one building, dashed! (Honestly, I wonder when that sign was originally put up, given the word choice and the text style. It’s neat!)

I missed last week, it’s true! Terrible. Continue reading →

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Photo Pile

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Ian

Just some photos taken over the last couple weeks while I’ve been out and about. Life plans are percolating, but not enough time to write about ’em just now.

An art installation with pieces of gold foil with text punched out of them hanging by string from a structure made of chopsticks.

My friend Jay had an art installation at Mixed Pantry in downtown Seattle! You can check his work out here: https://www.jaystoneking.com/

A sticker attached to a bridge handrail. Jesus is leaning in from the left side of the sticker and the text reads "Damn! I gave you a great ass!"

I’m honestly bracing myself to find out this is some terrible evangelical thing and not just a sassy sticker.

Continue reading →

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A Week in Vignettes

Posted on March 24, 2024 by Ian
An image of Cookie Monster sitting in a chair in front of shelves of books from the Monsterpiece Theater segment for Sesame Street.

A show of class and distinction.

This week was a roller coaster. A roller coaster that mostly went down but managed to also get really close to feeling like the shuttle loop in Rollercoaster Tycoon set so that it just launched the riders off the end of the track.

In order to try and capture it, I present to you A Series of Dramatic Vignettes. Getting all Masterpiece Theater up in here.

Monday: In Which Permissions are Needed to Have Self-Worth

Continue reading →

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Median Possum

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Ian
Three rough pencil sketches of possums.

Not an awesome possum week, but not the worst. Much like these sketches. (They were good casual practice, and were technically done more than a week ago shhhhh)

This last week was a mixed bag, per usual. Continue reading →

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Making the Grade: Accountability 2024 Check-In for Jan and Feb

Posted on March 10, 2024 by Ian

A stuffed dragon holding a pencil, writing on a habit tracker.

It’s finally time to do the habit accountability post! Oh how exciting. What a time to be alive!

*cough*

Anyway.

The last couple months have been a mixed bag, as months within reality tend to be. Continue reading →

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Interviews

Posted on March 3, 2024 by Ian
An image of Stephen Colbert interviewing Jon Stewart on The Colbert Report. Colbert is grinning and Stewart is laughing into his hand.

They were, sadly, not nearly as comedic or loose as this one. Source

This last week was an odd mix of important stuff surrounded by directionlessness. More specifically, interviews with nothing I really had to do outside of them.

I managed to feel better enough by Tuesday I was prepped to do the interviews I had scheduled. I decided to just let the interviews be my one big thing on any given day and tried to make myself rest. I think it worked well enough, though being cooped up inside all day and unproductive wasn’t great for my mental health. Thankfully as of yesterday I’m officially in the clear and no longer have pneumonia!

I’m going to try and talk a little about the interviews, but I’ll have to keep things pretty general. Not because I got to learn awesome trade secrets, but because it’s super easy to find this site when searching online for me and I don’t want to piss anyone off right now. I mean, I’m sure I’m basically unhireable based on something else I’ve said in the past on here, and I hate the idea of an employer looking at a potential employee’s personal out-of-work stuff and making hiring decisions based on that. Alas, for the moment that’s how the game is played, and right now I should probably play my hand a little more carefully than I usually do. Continue reading →

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