Photo Diary #6: The Long Catch-Up

I haven't done one of these in...9 months?

Long time no see.

Unless you follow my instagram, in which case, “Hello, again!”

I have a few things to show you, like finger puppets and other nonsensical snippets of a life you don’t live.

For instance, Paparazzi tapestry sweater intended for as a Valentine’s Day 2023 present to my wife, which (after a truly insane series of events) arrived unexpectedly in March 2025.

Speaking of my wife, here she is! We’ve been together for 3,241 days (nearly 9 years) as of today, 5/7/25.

Our Valentine’s Day date consisted of rooftop drinks, tavern food, and an Adults Only night at COSI. Pictured: textures.

Pictured: The Monkey, but the version Disney copyrighted for Toy Story 3, not the Stephen King-Oz Perkins movie version. Why does COSI have this?

Meanwhile, I’ve taken to writing offline. This journal may contain thoughts that might get me arrested! If they can find the key! (The glove, in case you’re dying to know, is to prevent fountain pen ink from staining my fingers. As it turns out, I’ve been holding pens wrong my entire life. I will not remedy this.)

I’ve also taken a different approach to world-building by way of crafting and figuring out the context surrounding it later. This was originally a bisque choir boy, which I sculpted over and painted. Now he’s a matchstick acolyte.

Pictured here: the original guy (the leftmost boy).

I’ve been painting, too. This monk’s gaze and shiny skull pierces my heart every time I look upon him. I don’t necessarily mean that in a good way, but he lives in my home office now.

I have a sketchbook as well! I was a faithful doodler from elementary school through high school, and then I just quit. I’ve always wondered, now that 12 years have passed, what my art would look like if I had kept the habit. Well, my fingers aren’t arthritic yet! Time to learn!

Speaking of art, this piece by Asic Mitchell, “Infantry Lineman,” captivated me the moment I spotted it in the gallery of the West Salem Art Hotel. See, I was playing with some fantasy-flavored world-building ideas at the time, and this piece seemed straight out of my head. I had to have it.

I turned 30 on the first of May. Thank god.

I didn’t think I’d make it. I’m glad I did.

I did a little photoshoot to commemorate my previous three decades as a millennial (I guess) living through recessions and wars and unprecedented times. I dunked myself in the bathtub while wearing a funeral dress. I think this photo is so funny; I’m so wet and pathetic here!

I was playing with the bullshit idea that women expire once they leave their twenties. I like this vengeful emergence from the tub and the washed-out color grading of this shot. Very Evanescence. Very "Truth Coming from the Well Armed with Her Whip to Chastise Humanity," except I’m wielding a copy of The Art of War. Can’t be killed, be it society or my own hand.

Non sequitur for levity: butch & femme cutlery. I WISH I had bought them.

Anyway, most of my time has been dedicated to scattershot endeavors, chilling with my family, and taking pictures of Chickpea at every opportunity.

I mean…isn’t she so perfect?

Let me end this post by saying, “Hey, I’m doing okay. The world, politics, and general crises aside, it’s all right. To quote the title of my current daily playlist, ‘I will fucking survive this.’”