Little Gardens for Invalids

AAAAAAADVENTURE TIME!

Hi tumblr. It’s certainly been awhile! The big things that have happened since my last update (months ago, eep!) are:

1) Was diagnosed with a spinal disease and some other spinal-cord related issues, but I totally don’t have cancer, which is a real relief! Mostly, this hasn’t changed my life too much. It’s 100% pain management until I can see a surgeon for aforementioned issues, and wait lists are loooong where I live (likely another 6-9 months before my first consult). Consider yourself updated!

2) I legally hitched myself to the dude you’ve seen in my pictures! The bespectacled brown guy. While my feelings about the institution of marriage have been and likely always will be complicated, my feelings for him are decidedly uncomplicated: I think he’s pretty wonderful and am glad to have thrown a big party to let my community know just how wonderful, and have a catch-all excuse to see so many loved ones from around the globe.

So, about this picture: Here’s me and my partner as Adventure Time characters Finn and Fionna. We’ve been watching the heck outta this charming little animated series, and I have a tendency to doodle while watching TV/movies…thus, this little ridiculous illo came into being.

So, this “tiny hiatus” might become less-than-tiny. It’s nothing to worry about - at least, not yet - but my health is getting a little worse, and I need to spend every not-working minute practicing intense self-care. Basically, there is something wrong with my spine/spinal cord, and unfortunately the first run of tests haven’t given my medical team any answers. I’m still waiting for an MRI which will hopefully point me towards recovery. For now, here’s a little picture i made last night. I think it’s the most accurate self-portrait I’ve ever done.

Day Seventeen: Your Favourite Holiday.

Passover, duuuuh.

I mean, I friggin love all things leavened, don’t get me wrong, but I also love the excitement of preparing the house and the event-of-the-year-like mentality that goes into seders. Hours and hours of discussion, debate, song, reclining on pillows, and EATING - what’s not to love? Bonus: It’s just days away! TIMELY. RELEVANT.

Here’s a very poor quality photo of a drawing I did tonight of a seder plate.  You’ll have to forgive my Hebrew script, which looks like it was written by a not-particularly-skilled child. YEAH!

Day Sixteen: Something That Represents Your Favourite Song.

I don’t know if Birdhouse in Your Soul by They Might Be Giants is my -favourite- song, per se, but I do really love it, and I’ve wanted to do a lil painting of this for awhile. 

Blue canary in the outlet by the lightswitch! Who watches over yooooou! 

Funny story: for the longest time, A. thought the song went “You can hear him in the oven by the lightswitch/who watches over you”. 

Eventually I’ll make a rill nice version of this to tattoo on my right thigh. Aw yiss! 

Day Fourteen: A Character from Your Favourite Board Game (or Video Game).

I hate fun.

Not actually, but I do really, really dislike board games. Like, maybe in a too-intense way. My partner  makes fun of me for this all the time, saying “You hate fun!”

I don’t, though! Board games just bring out a really hideous side of me. A really hideously competitive side of me. I once (years ago) stood up on a table after winning Settlers of Catan, screaming “In your FACE! In your FAAAACE!” to the losers. 

The losers were my employees. 

So yeah, I usually avoid board games at all cost. They make my heart rate race like whoa. It’s actually hilarious except that it gives me major anxiety!

Also, I didn’t grow up with any sort of gaming console, so I have only once in my life played a video game. My friend Alison tried to teach me how to play Super Mario. After hours, I could not even clear the first level. YIPES. 

I do like playing scrabble on my phone, though. Perhaps because it’s drawn out over the course of days, my competitiveness eases up a bit.  

Day Thirteen  Twelve: A Group Picture.

I have nothing to say about this, except that I wish I was at this birthday party right now.

I’ll post today’s drawing (Day Fourteen) later today, before sundown in my time zone.

xo. 

Day Twelve  Thirteen: A Character from Your Favourite Book.

Full disclosure: today is actually Day Twelve (“A Group Picture”). I spent a couple hours (!!) on a painting of the kids from BBC’s Misfits, but it just turned out…bad. Real bad. You know those days where your pen is just not connecting to your heart, or vice versa? Today was that kinda day. 

But I really, really didn’t want to miss a day of the drawing challenge, so here’s the consolation prize: a quick doodle of Rosa Saks Clay from one of my favourite books, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,  by Michael Chabon. 

I recommend reading the book if you’re interested in:

-comics

-Houdini (and magic and picking locks)

-Judaism

-sad but beautiful prose that makes your heart hurt a lil bit

-Antarctica

These are actually ALL my favourite things. Like, I’m kinda amazed an author put all of those things in a book and I got to read it! What a world we liiiiive in.

P.S. I will do a new, awesome, and totally-worth-the-delay Group Picture tomorrow. Yeah! 

Day Eleven: An Inanimate Object.

Or in this case, six inanimate objects. Pretty self-explanatory! Work keys on the left, home keys on the right. 

A little anecdote: I’ve worked at my current workplace in some regard (mostly, part-time casual) for almost 5 years. It was only last year that I received the coveted bathroom key! All the bathrooms are locked (which infuriates me), so I always had to use a key attached to a stick that the clinical receptionists keep at the front desk. It was often missing, or if someone took it, it meant that only one person at a time could use the toilets, even though it’s got five stalls. SO INEFFICIENT! Anyway, my bitching and complaining finally paid off last May and I was given a manager’s key after he resigned. I actually let out a victory cry.

Day Eleven: Your Favourite Food.

Are there words for how much I love sammiches? No. Or at least, I sincerely doubt it. The sandwich is pretty much the most ingenious food idea I’ve ever friggin heard, and  it’s so versatile!

Above is my staple sammich: brown bread with seeds, collard greens, avocado, cheese, tomato, and mayo. But my all-time favourite is BBQ tempeh and avocado with rapini and lemony tahina on pumpernickel. YUM. 

EDIT: Holy sheeeeyut! More than 1/3 of the way through the 30 Day Drawing Challenge! 

Day Ten: Something You Couldn’t Live Without.

I puzzled over this one for awhile. Umm…sammiches? Homemade lemonade? A place to live?

But I guess what this day’s challenge is really about is this: What keeps you going? What makes your life worth living?

(COOOORNBALLAH)

And for me, it’s making things. With pens, with paper and glue. With a needle and thread or a sheet of felt. That’s what I friggin love to do!

By the way, A. & I were dog-sittin’ for the past week, so we’ve had precious little time back at our apartment for scanner-fiddlin’. Working on it! For now, you gotta take these shitty phone pictures! So sorry.