what are we doing right now?

last updated: july 18th, 2024!

still unemployed and struggling financially, but not for long on that second part because our application to an artists' bursary was successful! we are making progress towards doing what we love full-time: we recently made a lot of prints of our artwork, which we are selling at a local art gallery and an indie bookshop.

we do a lot of performance poetry nowadays. like, a lot. we go to 3-5 different open mic nights a month, and have a lot of local poet friends. we also have a poetry gig coming up on the 4th of august, which will be nice and fun!

of course, since we perform so frequently, we also write pretty often. lately, the muse ariadne writing club has been a source of a lot of the inspiration. we also paint often, and have a big painting commission that we still need to complete.

we have also been buidling our photography skills by going to a photography club for young adults every week. there's going to be an exhibition (at the same gallery as the one we're selling prints at) that launches in august that's made up of work made by that photography group, which we're quite excited for!

we go to some art groups too, and recently started volunteering at an art group for autistic adults. that happens twice a month, and it's pretty chill. we also are probably going to start volunteering with a trans charity as photographers and peer supporters...

since it's july, we are taking part in artfight! it's the first year in a long time where we have felt that we are able to commit to making a lot of character art, and we are determined to do our best!

although, our focus is elsewhere right now, because we have decided that we're going to make a text-based game about our ocs! it's going to be a short interactive poetry horror thing, so hopefully not too much work, but it's still a big project that we have a lot of passion for.

to be honest, a lot of what we do is stuff we consider "work-related" and "productive", and we have an unhealthy complex about staying on that grindset. so we've been trying to allow ourselves to unwind sometimes, and just enjoy life. we do genuinely enjoy working, but there needs to be a balance, and when we find ourselves getting extremely stressed out about the idea of not working, we know we should be kinder to ourselves.

our (well, jáščer's and charlize's) wonderful girlfriend has helped a lot in that regard. hanging out with her is really chill and comforting and just plain fun, and the way she loves us helps us love ourselves more. we started dating on the 5th of may, so things are still a little new, but it feels "just right".

okay, but what about media and hobbies? well, we really like to read books, and are doing amazing on our goal of reading 36 new books this year (so far we have 19/36). we mostly read translated (usually japanese) contemporary fiction. our goal to watch 24 new movies this year is failing miserably, though, as we only have 5... but we are determined to get there!

so, in conclusion, things are cool and fun as usual, and the opportunities to be creative are numerous and immense! as we try to seize the day, we have to remember to take time for ourselves too. and to eat lots of egg fried rice, because it is very cheap to make.

learn more about now pages here!