I can’t believe it’s been since 2012 since I last posted a sketchbook diary illo. I think I took two years off sketching too because my sketching is SO rusty. I can’t even believe so many of you think I’m so artistic. I follow a few REAL illustrators on instagram and their daily diary sketches are so amazing. Really that’s what’s prompted me to start doing this again. It’s a great way for me to blog when I’m stuck places away from my laptop and also it helps me to remember the little things I do all day because in hindsight, I can’t remember much at all about the day to day.

The top sketch is from 2014. I randomly pick up journals and draw in them and then leave them for months at a time and start a different journal and then go back to that one when I’m in need of a new one.  I’ll often have two journals going at a time, one for private one for public…but then I mix those up too.  I’m sure if anybody finds my journals after I’m dead and if they are trying to put together a chronological picture of what my life was like, they’ll find it endlessly confusing. Anyway, who cares it’s more about the process than the end result, right?

I just thought I’d include that top sketch because the face was funny. I may not be the best illustrator but I do crack myself up from time to time.

So new year’s resolutions! Hah! Yeah. Whatever. I don’t believe in them anyway. But it was an interesting exercise to think about the predicaments I continually get myself into over and over and think about WHY I always find myself making the same mistakes. What are my motives after all? Why do I like to spread myself so thin? Do I need to be needed? Was I not needed when I was growing up and now I like to insert myself into other people’s problems so that I can make a difference and be loved? Hmmmmm… that’s a thinker. And if I can’t stop myself from doing these things, how can I change so that I am happy instead of unhappy? You know, my favorite motto: if you keep stubbing your toe on the same chair, move the chair don’t try to get a new toe. Maybe this need to be needed is just ME!

Ah. My second favorite time-spreader-thinner: Party planning!  Man, I thought I was creative. I put this skating problem (Bug not actually liking to skate but wanting a skating party) out on facebook and asked for suggestions and you guys came with some crazy-ass ideas! Fashion shows, make your own t-shirts out of vinyl? Sock derby in my one-bedroom apartment… What?!!  Just kidding. It was a fun little foray into crowd-sourced creativity and it honestly kind of humbled me. I thought I was the QUEEN of over-doing. Maybe not so much. This party is only going to be two hours and I’m not doing much outside of making a cool invite, packing some goodies to give away as thank you’s and just plain, showing up! I think that’s what moms of nine-year-olds do. We show up. That’s a lot.

About my idea of holding court at the roller rink like the Godfather of graphic design. Not a bad idea, eh? I should make my customers come to me. Maybe I’ll let them kiss my mouse.

Oooh a big accomplishment illustration! AKA how to make a boring ho-hum day seem like a smashing success! I think I should get a trophy for all eight of these accomplishments. Why? Because they don’t all happen everyday. Most days turn into clusters, if you know what I mean.

Like this day. I had two slow days at work so I put my feelers out for more work. Now I have a bazillion jobs just floating in the air and if they all become active at once I will be knocked dead. This is the life of a freelancer. No rest for the wicked. We always gotta have something in the pipeline or the bills don’t get paid.

Also, winter is awesome. We are having our first winter here in Southern California in what seems like years. Days and days of cold weather, one after the other. I actually have a section in my closet for coats instead of the usual three-yard-long sweater section.  What is this funny thing, the coat?! It’s amazing!

bla bla bla. This sketch is boring. Although I will say I am loving CSA boxes. We’ve only gotten two so far and we have eaten everything. It’s actually a pretty good deal for top notch produce. Now if I could just figure out how to eat all the vegetables without all the gastrointestinal issues that go along with vegetables. Seriously? Is it just me and my lack of a gallbladder? You can’t tell me that all vegetarians fart this much. It’s just wrong. What is the secret? Less olive oil? I know, TMI but surely someone has addressed this issue before. Being healthy should make me feel better, not worse!