…nothing necessarily happens:

This all probably sounds more gloomy than I actually feel. Whatever is or isn’t happening for me in the world, I still get to play at doing fun things day to day. And around this time the past few years I’ve gone into a deep funk, but I’m actually feeling pretty chipper at the moment.

I don’t think of myself as a particularly ambitious person, but I do like to feel as though things are always building and growing, that I have a purpose of my own devising. Perhaps it’s human nature (I don’t know; I’ve never been anyone else), but no matter how good things are, it’s hard not to keep seeing ‘more’ and wanting that, even when ‘this’ is plenty.

Other than my ruminations, I don’t have much to report. We’re into cold/slush/ice storm/swamp season. Whether or not they’ll get the audience they hope for, I can see why people come up with things like the Canada Winter Games to create some diversion and excitement this time of year.

We all need games to play.

I want to get into producing one-off pieces of artwork, so I’m happy now that I said yes to this opportunity: I drew an illustration for every one of the events, which was good practice — and it’s also nice to see so much finished work at once. (Well, almost finished: I’m saving one page to colour in at the exhibition opening so I’m guaranteed to have something to work on in front of folks.)

I also presumed to make stickers of the Games’s mascot, Wowkwis. Here’s the official illustration:

…And here’s my version of her:

The Canada Winter Games are coming to PEI, and I’ve been asked to be part of a kids’ comic art exhibition. I’ll be there on the opening night to… well, I guess to be a real, live cartoonist.

I figured I should have some stuff prepared, so I’m taking some time off and drawing sportsy stuff. Dare I say it? It’s actually kind of fun! (And a good exercise in drawing action and anatomy.)

The opening is on February 16th at The Guild.

Funny thing: The first choice to do this gig was a fella named Sandy Carruthers. I took a cartooning class from him when I was 15. And here we are.

We read that there were to be fireworks at 7PM, so we got Doug in the car and drove him to the outskirts of town. Unfortunately, there must also have been some at midnight, because when we got home (at, like, 12:20 ‘cuz we’re old and not mad about crowds), we found Doug in a total state. The poor wee creature was frantic and beside himself.

I know it sounds like a killjoy thing to say, but fireworks should really be banned. The impact of their noise on animals is nothing short of traumatic.

I worry the above might sound like performative internet gloating. Believe me, I’m far too aware of my shortcomings, or what I feel I should have accomplished by now, but I’ve been making a concerted effort to flip that around and see through a lens of gratitude, which really does change everything. I’ve been happy lately, and I think that’s a large part of it — no winter gloom this year.

The other part — which is related, and I’m still wrapping my brain around — is noticing how my brain veers toward suffering, whereas in any given moment, everything is probably going pretty well. Okay, sure, our livable habitat is falling apart, injustice, bigotry, war, inequitable wealth distribution, yadda yadda yadda, but my focusing on that accomplishes nothing and feels a bit like borrowing from other people’s bank accounts of suffering.

I don’t know how to square this dichotomy, between enjoying my personal life and still trying to do good, but I get the feeling it’s more of a “Yes, and…” than a “Yes, but…”

As far as ambitions for this year, I feel like my best opportunity is to work on establishing ongoing practices rather than concentrating on specific goals.

We’ll see. In the meantime, happy new year.

 

Waking, packing, and flying home the next day… it was a challenge. Nearly a week later, I’m not entirely okay. I think I barfed out my whole gut biome.

P.S. Pepto-Bismol, I’ve learned, should only be taken in emergencies, because continuing with it for days has… consequences.

 

Yesterday I made a Scottish-themed Thanksgiving dinner for Craig and Mom, and — thankfully! — they both really enjoyed it.

We had:

• a cocktail called an Algonquin, made by Craig
• root vegetable soup from the farmers’ market, with oatcakes
• haggis with dried cranberries and a whisky cream sauce
• tatties (potato croquettes)
• turnip (I haven’t figured out how to make turnip any fancier without making it weird and wrecking it, so that was just with olive oil and pepper)
• steamed kale with garlic and not-butter
• for dessert, cranachan — Silk brand whipped cream with layers of raspberries muddled with maple syrup and oats sprinkled on top

Several of these recipes came from a zine called Well Tidy Scran from Microcosm Publishing.

I’m a lousy photographer, full-stop, but it gets worse when there’s food involved, but here’s the visual record anyway:

Thanksgiving for the win!

I am not doing another dinner for everybody again on Monday!