Tag: Things of Note

Things of Note, 2023

A 4x5 grid of photos of nature, art, travel, and a cat.

This year was hard. From my newsletter: “As a whole, [2023] was a one of wild — and often painful — growth. Though I’m happy to have it nearly behind me, I do appreciate the lessons it reinforced: community is everything; joy is everywhere; art is central to my well-being; and I am, unquestionably, loved.”

  • Navigating the complexities of moving to Germany. Celebrating our first anniversary alone and getting a visa in the same week. England and a lawyer. Early mornings on the train and a thick pink folder with all the documents. Receiving, finally, my residency permit. Learning the subway stations by heart.
  • A clean bill of health, again — something I’ll never not be grateful for.
  • Growing my art practice. Hanging a piece at Out of Order. Messy May. Joining a studio and selling my work. The Kindred Collective. Joining the Get Messy teaching team for 2024. Late nights painting and listening to audiobooks.
  • Seeking community. Game days. All the dogs at the Ministry of Brewing. New tattoos. A week with mom in spring. The Social Melting Pot. El Jem. Awkward first friend dates. Drinks and Mexican food and Weihnachtmärkte and the Thermalbad. Düsseldorf and Bonn; cookies in camping chairs. Barbecues. A visit from Kris.
  • A hot, hot summer. Days on the Rhine. Pasta salad. Naps with ice packs. Florence with E. Layers of art and history. Wine and pasta and limoncello with a new Israeli friend.
  • Moving, twice. Purging everything and seeing my things distributed among loved ones. Saying goodbye to a favorite home, sunbeams, and all my routines. Later, months of apartment hunting; a final, slow move just before the end of the year.
  • Practicing self care: the Lewis Museum, a luxurious bath, books, the Santa Clause, puzzles.
  • Surviving. Cat fights and real fights. Missing home and friendly faces. Exhaustion. Gloomy days and gloomy moods. Two trips to Tunisia. Sarcasm and frayed nerves and bed at dinnertime.
  • Going back home: kitties and kombucha and game day and the ER and puzzles and Chipotle. Dutch Blitz. Target and Savers. Texts and calls and The Mysteries. Being reminded, again and again, of how loved I am, and how missed.

Past year reflections.

Published

Things of Note, 2022

A grid of twenty photos taken throughout the year. They include: a tabby cat; feet of a bride and groom on cobblestone; a orange wall and bikes; several notes; one of which says "You can do hard things"; a pine tree that looks like it's giving multiple middle fingers, and an arm and hand giving the middle finger back to the tree; a purple flower; the sign at Pike's Market in Seattle; a pile of mixed media ICAD cards; a stone with the message "Sing for joy" written on it; a digital collage; a backlit orange flower; the sign to the German embassy; a very happy sleeping cat; the ocean; red autumn leaves against a blue sky; board game pieces; details of a mixed media piece; a storefront at the beach; river ice; trees in fog.

As I wrote in my December newsletter, 2022 was a year of extremes. I feel like I’ve seen the bare bones of life: joyful new beginnings and bittersweet endings, the importance of community and togetherness, and the knowledge that nothing lasts forever.

  • The highlight of the year, by far: getting married in a perfect, intimate ceremony in Denmark. DIY wedding dress alterations. A surprise send-off. Hives of anticipation! Burgers in Copenhagen. Calling my mom while getting ready. Swans. Sushi. Cake. Family calls + screenshots. The very best weekend that has sustained us for an entire year.
  • Deepening friendships and leaning into belonging and unconditional love. Ani’s kindness and support. Fake tattoos and Schitt’s Creek. Bethany Beach. Wing night. Madeline at the splashpad. Reconnecting with old friends. Chimney swifts. Assateague. Dinners with my crew. Art-making at R. House. AVAM.
  • Rituals and habits: family game days. Art nights with Viv. The second full year of using a logbook. Running. Blogging daily for a whole month. Visiting the deer. Keeping a commonplace book. 1SE for an entire year. Learning to slow down, and remembering that small, consistent actions are the key to sustainability.
  • Our wedding reception in July. Seattle. Kayaking. Trash talking over MarioKart. Celebrating with family and friends; wedding speeches. Visiting Grandma. Smartfood and flirting and escape attempts.
  • Challenging lows. Biopsies and scary medical news and surgery. “Wait to panic.” Two grandparents diagnosed with cancer. Waiting and waiting and waiting for a visa. Packing up a whole home. Losing a perfect apartment.
  • A rich year of art, including two finished two art journals. Out of Order. Joan Mitchell exhibit at the BMA, twice. ICAD. Doing a collaboration with Max Devereaux. Being a featured artist for Under the Influence Art Journaling. Making so many new connections with artists online and in person.
  • Building new skills, including Photoshop and Illustrator. Playing with digital collage. Trying out Mastodon (and loving it). Launching my newsletter. Learning to use a Gelli plate.
  • Witnessing loved ones’ highs and lows. Pets traveling over the rainbow bridge. Multiple relationships ending. Mom’s 60th birthday. Ani’s wedding. Dad’s new kitten. A surprise promotion. Remembering that life is deeply precious and equally precarious.

Past year reflections.

Published

Things of Note, 2021

  • Wonderful friends who show up consistently and with so much love. Walks with Micaela, a surprise birthday picnic, “to make you laugh is a gift,” time with Liz and Madeline and the Mitchells, dinner and breweries with (and cookies for) Joanna, celebrating 25 years of friendship with Ani, continued weekly craft nights with Viv. Reminders that I matter and I am loved and I can lean in and ask for help. Among Us. Brigit’s bachelorette and wedding.
  • Traveling: Mexico and Tunisia. Dinner in a cave. Sweltering heat. Beach days and freckles. Kelibia. Native animals: wild cats and dogs and coatimundi and iguanas, and a tiny kitten. Winning over the family dog. Experiencing different ways of living. Rediscovering how much I love traveling. Learning that I love honoring my self.
  • Deepening a relationship with family. German and Arabic; making connections despite a language barrier. Family reunion and a copperhead snake and Christmas and trips to Harrisburg. Realizing how important in-person connection is to my mental health.
  • Deeping my relationship with myself. A wonderful therapist, and steady growth. High points and many, many low points. Unpacking trauma in the midst of a pandemic. Choosing to keep going every single day.
  • Moments of uncontrollable laughter. Family game days and Tik Tok and a lost phone and Anomia. “Pull! Pull!!” “Your mom’s a lamp.” Finding joy where I can. Laughing right into the new year. Dogs running to greet me when I pass the dog park.
  • Getting a vaccine, and a booster. Celebrating the continued health of those I love.
  • The joy and overwhelm and awe of the cicadas. The noise. The brevity of their emergence. The magic of watching the vulnerability and transformation of a final moult.
  • Making big decisions. A new job. An important trip planned for the new year. Building skills and planning the future.
  • Making lots of art. Participating in Elsie Magazine’s collage challenge, iHanna’s Postcard Swap (my contributions), Daisy Yellow’s ICAD project, and the new Fill a Tiny Journal project. Playing with acrylic inks. Painting over old wood panel pieces and starting again. Learning new things I love. Returning to bookbinding and working in a new, handmade art journal. Remembering how far I’ve come.
  • Witnessing the passage of time and the seasons. Starting to use the 1SE app again to capture daily life. Snow, thunderstorms, warm weather, chimney swifts. Autumn leaves. The first frost. “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives” (Mary Oliver).
  • Spending the final days of December reflecting. Being able to look back on an entire year of daily notes in my logbook, and realizing how many good moments I would have otherwise forgotten.

Last year’s reflection.

Published

Things of Note, 2020

In no particular order, and inspired by Austin Kleon and Malaka Gharib:

  • Rescuing baby rats from my car engine and a stray cat from my sidewalk. Meeting my neighbors and graciously accepting their help. Adapting to a new normal, zoomies and all.
  • Reading more than 20 books, including Deacon King Kong, Where the Crawdads Sing, Zealot, Parable of the Sower, and Austin Kleon’s trilogy.
  • Focusing on my mental and physical health. Shedding 20 pounds. Resuming therapy. Running a 5K.
  • Reuniting with my fiancé for the first time in 10 months because of the pandemic. Climbing Koenigswinter. Exploring the empty botanical garden in the rain. Playing Secret of Mana. NYE in three languages.
  • Connecting with other artists. Weekly art nights with Viv. Live art journaling with Katie Licht. Austin Kleon on Zoom. Malaka Gharib zine workshop.
  • Going on daily walks. Seeing goldfinches on thistle and the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction. Taking an accidental six-mile hike at Lake Roland. Getting to know the neighborhood dogs by sight.
  • Dad beating cancer and celebrating his 60th. Flying kites on the beach. Orange crushes. Mini golf in masks.
  • Exploring new interests and establishing new habits. Starting a logbook. Using the Clever Fox planner for the first time. Obsessing over Elvis and learning how to play “Don’t be Cruel” on the guitar.
  • Seeing my mom for the first time in a year. Bailey. Walking in the rain at Long’s Park. Sharing food on the front porch.
  • Visiting friends safely. Watching Hocus Pocus on a projector screen outside. Walking with Liz and Micaela. Thanksgiving with the Gramcocks.
  • Creating COVID & HOBBES and keeping it up for 100 days. Finally finishing the Busy Day Book art journal.
  • Practicing random acts of kindness. Supporting BLM and those struggling because of COVID. Providing transportation for a stranded family in the middle of July. Helping with a pharmacy bill.
  • Getting an iPad.
  • Obsessing over Elvis and learning “Don’t be Cruel” on guitar.
  • Bearing a long and stressful election season and celebrating its conclusion with friends. Starting the February debate inside sharing food and watching the last debate outside in masks. Taking a walk when the election was finally called, and grabbing food in the evening.
  • Supporting artists: Emma Howell, Aydin Hamami, Emily Cucalon, Tyler Thrasher, Se7en Captures, Mona Schaffer, Pamela J. Bates, Chocolate and Steel, Stacey Bradley, JennyJen42.
  • Receiving surprise mail from Jana Clinard Harris. Cards from my stepmom and notes from my cousin. Care packages. Collecting more handwritten notes.
  • Pre-COVID outings: Dad’s gallery show in York, PA. Seeing Wicked at the Hippodrome. Visiting the History of Black Abstract Art exhibit at the BMA.
  • Creatively engaging with loved ones from afar. Family games over Zoom. Surprise virtual birthday party planned by my brother. Long calls with Amin. Regular check-ins with elementary school classmates and reconnecting with old friends.
  • Challenging perfectionism and the fear of starting.
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