Zen<3lofi

color matching for this Cosmos is kind of hard. Had to go look in my old colored pencils collection. There’s one with no brand and no color name printed on it! And the Artist’s Loft brand has names that don’t match the color.

currently have a more balanced perspective on things. After listening to the grief podcast and watching a youtube video talking about how fraud and scams are the most common crimes in south korea, and the least often solved because money moves faster than the police.

It’s another form of violence. Financial violence. And it could have a mild to severe influence on someone’s life.

this drawing was inspired by my favorite pair of socks, using 45 lb weights on the incline leg press for the first time, and something else.

saw a very average looking guy using the leg press … with six 45 lb. weights on each side - plus an additional 25 lbs at the end.

It looked like an obscene amount of metal. I asked him how long it took him to get up to six and he thought and said five years.

I really wonder, do legs need to be that strong? What does it feel like when they are?

learned a little about this painting and thought it would be interesting to try to copy a version in pencil. ‘The Potato Eaters’ by Vincent Van Gogh

last thing to color in is the water bottle, and then the drawing will be finished. Using a watercolor colored pencil called Jade Green.

from a video by GuYi-1989

a gold necklace

sugar 5 grams fiber 9 grams

went to TJ Maxx a while back to try and find a bath mat and a notebook. The previous bath mat got some mold on it cuz we don’t have a good place to hang it to dry. Now it’s washed and in the car as a dog mat.

The products theme at TJ Maxx was like … Victorian / literature / British / French style florals. A lot of the cups and totes were focused on Jane Austen.

I’m really liking the notebook! They were $6 and $4.50

Found a heavy-ish cotton bath mat from of all brands, Brooks Brothers?!? And that was kinda pricey at like $16.99

from A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.

did a smaller one that’s more simplified to try and get familiar with the chunks of patterns. It’s still quite difficult.

thought it’d be an interesting challenge to draw the patterns on a butterfly’s wings … (Swallowtail Butterfly)

https://norfolknaturalist.ca/2023/09/29/callopistromyia-the-peacock-flies/

I saw a Peacock Fly once and it was so cool. I hope I can find the photos and videos I took of it on my phone …

I found one good use for these sticky notes - - - a basic habit tracker, for the habit of tidying up on a near-daily basis. Entries with a ‘b’ refers to ‘bathroom’.

woohoo! finished this one. It’s a nice feeling to flip through and see a finished one. Though it’s also a nice feeling to flip through and see a partially finished one.
The drawing for May has been unfinished cuz I got stuck on drawing the chain of a necklace. It’s not exactly hard, but tedious?

#julycoverpage #26

it’ll be interesting coloring in the two types of lights

what are the pros and cons of an apron made out of this thin plasticky vinyl material…?
It wouldn’t get stained … it would be very light ….

however, you can get stains out of fabric with hydrogen peroxide … with some baking soda added …

so I’m not going to get it.
(was very tempted by several things at the dollar store)

thinking about determining between communication that is actually urgent vs. is made to feel urgent.

basically, most things are actually not urgent. There were some recent, past experiences where it was urgent and important, though what I could do about it was limited. That’s the definition of a complex situation I suppose.

then there is my dad’s communication. He still says he is a Trump supporter. His speech and behaviors seems to involve traits of rage-baiting. It makes political events become more personal.

one thing I’ve discovered in growing food plants indoors for fun, is that aphids are very pervasive. I’m trying to puff some DE (diatomaceous earth, food-grade) on the soil … amazingly, one of the plants still put out a flower, even though it’s been weakened by aphids and it’s been cloudy for a few days.

#butternutsquashseeds

Badtz Maru: least favorite Sanrio character Bowling: one of the least favorite activities that I don’t get the appeal of

But, it’s still nice to have a cute post it.

I am liking this song. not really applying it to a romantic relationship tho.

wow I just realized youtube got really addicting for me from yesterday. And there’s also quite a few videos about how everyone should make videos. I guess they’re saying this for a few reasons, but a practical one relates to revenue / a form of passive income. People are so good at making videos!!!

https://image.nostr.build/bed566f21b7486d52208713cfb6541c2ebe38dc1030865de4f949e9f880affd4.jpg https://image.nostr.build/ece138d726fbc44b97c8eae30406bb083d4696f1eda40d88e6c6f83029c1fd1d.jpg https://image.nostr.build/56662126955885defb465310ea69b8e145607ee39b30b3d4108da17e637dfb1b.jpg https://image.nostr.build/36616ceea2d299ca81069772a96c93d29fd5fd3d183b424bc1959535a37075ea.jpg

“According to "Hilda's Book of Beasts and Spirits", Vittra are peaceful unless their homes are invaded or if they are disturbed during their hibernation, in which case they can become bad-tempered, which may explain the rude behavior of the Vittra Hilda and her friends came across to some degree.”

#junecoverpage #26

earth-toned washi (from a company called occasional motto). There was a dark green one that got used up first.

另一个生字/生词

finally finished the expired matcha from several years ago. been using it every morning for like a month. now can start using the newer one again. yay 🍵

一个生字 aka 生词

woohoo little snake plant is doing better in the larger purple bowl. I figured it was time to move it since it had stopped growing. Shortly after transplanting it, it’s putting out two new leaves. I thought any new shoots would come from the outer edge, but it’s actually growing from the center.

the unknown-named succulent that was in the purple bowl also seems to be doing better.

but my favorite part is how two random grasses also grew. I’m really hoping the two grasses grow into something big. Makes it feel like a more natural ecosystem.

https://image.nostr.build/e2dff9950e6a406f1965767858207ca877575d4d0065ddce5a9d8693e114876b.jpg https://image.nostr.build/2997bb34f6219d295a70aaf0d99c00b3ea3e4c0d655759d5f058c885b6dedf02.jpg https://image.nostr.build/8575f6c891209a78fe94e3c1d03c6e6efc2f15a24858ef43b9f5bc3011437392.jpg

favorite duvet cover got a rip, so decided to fix with embroidery thread. I think this is called the blanket stitch, which I really like. Used the light color just in case there’s unevenness with the stitching.

hehehe a super simple craft project that is remarkably satisfying

for the box that holds the earth toned and skin toned colored pencils. Quite a few of which I “borrowed” from 8th grade studio art class.

with names like ‘cloud blue’, ‘cool grey 20%’, ‘french grey 10%’, ‘light peach’, ‘sepia’, ‘crême’ … hence why I stole, I mean borrowed them in the first place.

the next necessary step with my foray into indoor food gardening ~ getting these 5 (giant) butternut squash sprouts into something with more space.

I’m gonna have to cut the soymilk cartons’ tops off. It looks small still, but it’ll be a 7” deep by 4” wide container for one sprout, vs. 5 crammed in a 4” deep with 6” diameter pot.

#butternutsquashseeds

a recommendation for AANHPI month

in some ways, the cheaper Artist’s Loft brand works better than the Prismacolor.

was finding it hard to color overlapping things that are so much black on black on black 😵‍💫 … it was helpful to use violet blue, a color I rarely use. It helped with contrast and breaking things up. Whew!

surprised, this turned out to be one of my favorite books. Laugh out loud funny. I was going to skip it … it was the last one I read. Because the cover looked so kid-ish … and the premise of giving two boys chemistry sets sounded so eeeesh. But it is about a step-family … and step-siblings … published in 1974

was trying out drawing something with night time since I never do that. Also thinking about the chapt. I had just read in the zen book called ‘God Giving’.

the incline leg press

just a boy and his crustaceans. an EXTREMELY cheerful sounding boy sharing how he rescued 8 - 10 crustaceans out of innumerably many who met a similar cruel fate.
but, those 8 - 10 are now fed plump clams and live sandworms.
I like to watch this right before bed. It’s so nice that he can feel such a bond with snow crabs.

so sturdy #butternutsquashseeds

this has become my year of growing stuff from seeds for the first time. I decided to try some chive seeds since that’s supposed to be a very easy indoor one. Learned there is also a chive that has pink flowers. (parents grew the white flowers one)

Then, a butternut squash had seeds that were already all sprouting (🤯for me and my partner; according to a Google search, this is common). So I planted 5 in a pot that is about 10 in. diameter. They are growing fast … except for one that is slower. I think I may have planted them upside down. The sprouts were coming out of the pointy side, so I put those facing up.

#sageseeds -> #chiveseeds -> #butternutsquashseeds (+ a random #chinesecabbageseed & #wildspinachseed )

dips! (drawings in progress) that I would like to finish

tiny ones

in the bigger pot. I got this while volunteering at a botanical garden for something with kids. I went once and for some reasons, don’t think I want to do it again … 😋 but the two girls at my table had interesting name combos with their brothers. Piaf and Pierre, Florence and Terrence.

It seriously felt surreal when they told me... it came up in conversation when I mentioned I was feeding my sandwich bread to squirrels and sparrows during my lunch break. It’s cool/weird how bonding can happen so easily with kids.

this was my first time propagating a snake plant. I think I needed to because something happened at the middle of a leaf? So after cutting it off, I had the tip, and after letting it dry out so the cut part could close up, I planted it in some soil … and soon, another little shoot came up. Now it’s really tall and skinny and definitely too big for the little pot. Moving it into the purple plastic bowl. Snake plants like pots that are not too big.

lol and the 2nd mystery sprout turns out to be 白菜🥬 Chinese Cabbage.
I got a two gallon pot for $2.99, used two bags of organic soil to fill it up ($5.99 each). And let’s see how an indoor cabbage will do!

this is a weed! but an edible one that people like to forage for called wild spinach. ok I will grow it and maybe use it as a garnish.

ooOooh it just grew like this

PISCES AND A GEMINI 💥📣 ~ pressed up in the bathroom line ~

::::: this is taking so long to color :::::

‘one thing leads to another’

this is a mystery. the four sage sprouts from the second batch of 12 seeds clearly have a uniform look of sage leaves, with the texture that they have . . . which just make the first two sprouts (bigger ones on top) clearly look like they’re not. The rounded huge one looks more like a lettuce leaf, or radish greens. The one next to it, I don’t know. Is this normal variation?

the four little ones are also growing at a much slower rate than the two bigger ones did. although those have slowed down, I think.

#sageseeds eh, fun tho. Glad I tried growing a herb from seed.

two fortune cookie fortunes 🥠 🥠

some sketches about pain (from people’s abusive behaviors) and anger. sketched around last year and this year. words from the Imagine Dragons song Believer.

brown paper theme for the daily pages. maybe can put quotes on them.

4 seeds sprouted from the second batch of 12. On days 9, 10, annnd 11?? So a total of 6 sprouts from 16 seeds.

they are planted too close together, since I didn’t want to fill too many pots with soil.

Unlike the first two, which looked very different from each other, the next four all looked very standard and identical to each other (and not like the first two), which is interesting.

At first, they looked like stair steps in height, due to sequence of coming up. Then they evened out to be the same height.

I think in a day or two I’ll try to transplant the 5 in one pot into separate pots.

#sageseeds

Dandelions on Lawn 4.5” x 5.5” watercolor on sketchbook paper

Drawn on 3/21 in anticipation of the Spring lawn, which is now here

I like this website of book reviews

https://www.booknookrevs.com/nook

rereading chapt. 3 of Wild by Cheryl Strayed is making me want to post this picture. I wonder why.

clippings from outside has started.

more book based than drawing based this time. lyrics from a 1971 David Bowie song, then covered by AURORA in 2016 for the album GIRLS volume 3.

#marcoverpage #26

last night, I was sitting on the couch and started thinking about what a bummer it is that I didn’t take a photo early enough of the sage sprout that came out looking like a butterfly. Now it’s bigger and has two distinct leaf parts, and if I wanted to draw it, I wouldn’t have a photo reference. Well, better late than never … I reached over to get it to take a photo of it, and surprise surprise! the two leaf parts had closed up again! This was especially surprising because a new tiny leaf was already starting to come up in the middle.

So I got the photo of how it had looked from the start. Looked it up and this behavior / phenomenon might be “nyctinasty” or sleep movements of a plant. Common in plants of the bean family. Hmmm.

#sageseeds

the sage seeds are actually sprouting - one in each pot. One started out with a butterfly shape before separating out into two, and one looks like a tiny miniature sage plant. #sageseeds

#referencephotos #febcoverpage https://image.nostr.build/762b088c4d41e14a8ea451362316fb27128fb61b1ddcd790fbccb589908d4695.jpg https://image.nostr.build/ad228d9e5ad00048d7957861685d826a867ad37a957ae11b97918bf48b8afb7a.jpg

Used photos from the “pulled rickshaw” Wikipedia page for reference and learned some things about it.

16 countries & big cities used it - Africa (East Africa, Madagascar, Nairobi, South Africa), Asia (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong), India (Simla, Kolkata), Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, North America (USA, Canada - Halifax, Ottawa) … and the Philippines were the one exception.

“The pulled rickshaw never gained acceptance in the Philippines. Americans tried to introduce it to Manila in the early 20th century, but it was strongly opposed by local Filipinos who viewed it as an undignified mode of transport that turned humans into "beasts". The main mode of public and private transportation in the Philippines from the 18th to the early 20th centuries was the kalesa, a two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage.”

3•17•26 (day 8) - saw a tiny sprout. Not sure if it’s a weed or a sage.

3•20•26 (day 11) - planted 12 more seeds in the planter pot where nothing sprouted

#sageseeds

一笔画儿🙂💕 (who by?)

3•9•26 - planted 4 sage seeds

#sageseeds

https://image.nostr.build/c1020e7a44ba5d5fd0fd28b6d5a864f774fc3b8832add66a3cfba793e28d2b96.jpg https://image.nostr.build/6be1a1e4b6976e4b21fd7c51aa63bc11c35d018a0626c3c0aff1c3f379f04f7f.jpg

found this small crocus bulb in the middle of the narrow path of the wrinkle faced dog’s yard. Planted it and wondering how it will do indoors. Very cool that it responded within like 5 - 10 minutes to the planted condition! soil-water-sun, going from closed into what looks like one stalk, to opening. 😲

https://image.nostr.build/1a27d22995c212c4e07270b7dcd577598e7cb25bbea757a1567616fcf26ba101.jpg https://image.nostr.build/58f34dab69c299fb7fcc7bdbc779288e1ff92d5ff00bbc6c0ceac4c441bd59f2.jpg https://image.nostr.build/b5a9366bdba98f90151b6b7be0b6b4035696613d40df6a6a3031ae891ff1b744.jpg

what the helsinki is parma violet?

Added some words to the right side 🤓

Lyrics by:

Relient K (The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek, 2001) Olivia Rodrigo (GUTS, 2023)

“All in favor, all in favor sayyyyyyyy NEIGH!!!  We like the flavor, we like the flavor of … HAY!!”  


#LNY #bulletjournal #febcoverpage #26

https://image.nostr.build/fd06287bc963193ded640977996493a0a6af9792c9f65a4f0e80bde4970f47d4.jpg

https://image.nostr.build/3547a3d88d953b5ca5dbed5bc83a6b3082da27aa96f45a37308a82923ad3a05b.jpg https://image.nostr.build/a1f018064af7c4fa2c8903c1c5b29f18bd0a457c3a2eb8fe40cbc0e8160e38ba.jpg

decided to change the header & profile pics. This one is a photo taken of a watercolor jar, and a painting of a somewhat stylized fan art of Luz from The Owl House. Current one is from Earwig and the Witch (2012), written by Diana Wynne Jones, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, and animated by Studio Ghibli (2021).