A little late, but here I am with the second installment of my weekly journal. Let's travel back in time to last Saturday. That's when I wrote my last journal post and when I decided to stay home for the day. My sunburn lingered, I worked on piecing together a playlist for June, and I wrote my post.
Sunday. The awareness that summer classes were starting the next day loomed in the back of my mind. Thoughts of homework and essays and checking another e-mail account on top of my three other accounts slithered in between project ideas and anything else I was planning. There was also a feeling of immeasurable, childish excitement because on Monday I was seeing not only Phoenix, a band I'd been crazy about and dying to see live since middle school, but also The Lemon Twigs (Do Hollywood was one of my favorite albums of 2016). To distract myself, I polished up some things I'd been meaning to fix around my blog, including my portfolio*. So lots of coding and organizing and excitement and apprehension all day long.
*Self-promotion; go check out my portfolio, it's better organized now. Sort of.
Monday came quickly because working on my blog always steals my time with hardly any of my knowledge. Hours are devoured as fast as my dog swallows lettuce. He's really got a thing for lettuce. I don't know why.
Like Junie B. Jones waited for her sleepover at Lucille's Nana's home (I just read that one to my brother recently), I waited for the evening to come. I jumped out of bed early, ate breakfast, and got dressed and headed straight to the stairs so I could sit on them until I could drive to the Aragon Ballroom. Not really. It didn't go that far. I guess my story isn't quite parallel to Junie B. Jones'. Instead, I replied to e-mails, packaged orders, started on some office work--I haven't logged receipts since, well, the beginning of the year--sketched out business card layouts, and ignored the presence of my (very much) extant online classes.
Like Junie B. Jones waited for her sleepover at Lucille's Nana's home (I just read that one to my brother recently), I waited for the evening to come. I jumped out of bed early, ate breakfast, and got dressed and headed straight to the stairs so I could sit on them until I could drive to the Aragon Ballroom. Not really. It didn't go that far. I guess my story isn't quite parallel to Junie B. Jones'. Instead, I replied to e-mails, packaged orders, started on some office work--I haven't logged receipts since, well, the beginning of the year--sketched out business card layouts, and ignored the presence of my (very much) extant online classes.
With a packed day, the time to leave snuck up on me swiftly. I didn't even get a chance to head to the post office or really notice that it was late. I changed into pants, speculating the evening would be on the cooler side (big mistake; it was sweltering in the room) and threw on a blouse. I also opted for boots rather than my clogs so I wouldn't get stepped on. I tossed my tickets in my backpack and ran to the car. Traffic is always horrible, so I tried to leave as early as possible. Traffic was horrible. I parked, opened the door, and stepped into a deep, murky-green puddle. At that moment, I was very thankful I made the decision to wear boots and not my clogs.
The line wrapped around the building and was infinitely long, but actually pleasant to stand in. People were grilling and eating burritos and tacos in the sidewalk and everyone was undeniably excited. The time passed effortlessly and before long, it was time to get the tickets out. Squeezing towards the stage was fine. I was early enough to secure a nice place.
The line wrapped around the building and was infinitely long, but actually pleasant to stand in. People were grilling and eating burritos and tacos in the sidewalk and everyone was undeniably excited. The time passed effortlessly and before long, it was time to get the tickets out. Squeezing towards the stage was fine. I was early enough to secure a nice place.
The Lemon Twigs filled up the room with their eccentric brand of glittering, '70s soaked, baroque rock and inexplicable and contagious energy. I really don't think my words could do their performance justice, but try to envision the already exquisite Do Hollywood, about 50 times more amazing. I imagine if I were to travel back in time to the '70s, a perfect rock show would be reminiscent to this one.
Phoenix came on after about thirty minutes of eternal anticipation. And, they delivered nothing less of what I had expected. In fact, I couldn't even fathom how far beyond perfect their set was. Nearly two hours of all of the songs I loved screaming along to for years, seamlessly integrated with new gems from Ti Amo, bounced off the walls. A room filled to the brim with smiling faces and so much love was drenched in an unforgettable laser show. And when they started playing "Trying to Be Cool", my eyes welled with happy tears. It was definitely one of the best shows I had ever been to and I will never forget it.
Anyway on Tuesday, I hesitantly woke up. Exhausted and with aching feet, I got to work on commissions and then took a trip to IKEA with my little brother and mom. IKEA is my brother's favorite store. I ended up purchasing yet another basket (I have an obsession with baskets) and we grabbed a pale pink plate set. I'm especially enthused by the bowls in the set. We always spend a few hours there, so I didn't get as much done as I thought I would.
Wednesday and Thursday were dedicated to work. I drew all day on Wednesday and reworked a pattern for a business card. Thursday, I ran errands and stopped by the print shop to pick up some prints. I took my dog on a very long walk during which I sat on an overpass and drew some more. In the shade, the air was sweet and pleasant. I spent a few hours in the same spot, without a desire to move. Walking home, the clouds looked like freshly-spun, pale pink cotton candy and the moon began to glisten as a tiny dot in the sky.
Did you notice how this entire time I had been avoiding my online classes? Well, I tried to forget about them. But, I'm the type of person who needs to get everything completed off my to-do list before I can enjoy anything. So, the entire time my brain was nagging me to sit down and get to work. It drove me crazy until I finally buckled down on Friday and began what I had been dreading to complete. It took most of the day and it wasn't bad, just a lot of reading and video watching. And by the end of the day, I listened to Ti Amo for the thousandth time.
Everything complete for the week, Saturday came and with it, a heatwave. I began planning more illustrations for my project and played around with colored pencils. After the sun stopped beating down so hard on the pavement, I went out to shoot some photos (most of the photos in this post). I haven't posted a proper photo series since September? Mainly because it was too cold for good ideas. Which is why I love summer. I'm constantly brimming with ideas and if I'm not, I can just go outside and find inspiration nearly everywhere I look.
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